Business and management is now the most popular degree subject in the UK, attracting one in five higher education students. Yet it is also one of the few broad subject areas where women are in the minority, and that gap is not closing. Female enrolments on business degrees are rising, but male enrolments are rising much faster. Here is what the latest figures reveal about women on business degrees in the UK, and what they mean if you are weighing up your options.
Overview: Scale and Share of Business Degrees
In the 2024/25 academic year, business and management accounted for around 20% of all UK higher education enrolments, making it the largest subject area across undergraduate and postgraduate study.
Women make up the majority of UK students overall, at roughly 56% of all enrolments in 2024/25. Business and management bucks that pattern. It is unusual among SHAPE disciplines (social sciences, humanities, arts, languages and education) in leaning male, according to the British Academy’s SHAPE Observatory: about 56% of business and management students are men, leaving women at roughly 44% of the subject. In other words, the biggest subject in UK higher education is also one of the few where women are outnumbered.
Trends Over Time: Is the Balance Shifting?
Over the past decade, business and management has grown far faster among men than among women. Between 2014/15 and 2024/25, female enrolments on business and management courses rose by around 26%. Male enrolments rose by nearly 81%. HEPI’s analysis suggests this surge in male numbers has actually helped stabilise the overall gender balance across UK universities, even as female enrolment continues to climb.
The important point is easy to miss in the headline figures. Rising female numbers look like progress, and in absolute terms they are. But with male enrolment growing more than three times as fast in percentage terms, the female share of business degrees has barely moved. Growth and closing the gap are not the same thing.
Undergraduate Versus Postgraduate Business Degrees
Among postgraduate business and management entrants, the gender gap narrows. Office for Students subject profile data covering 2018/19 to 2021/22 puts women at around 52% of entrants to postgraduate business and management degrees, compared with roughly 44% at undergraduate level.
The data does not explain why. The postgraduate pool typically includes more international students and people returning to study after time in work, so it is not simply a continuation of the undergraduate cohort. What the figures do show is that women on postgraduate business courses study in a noticeably more gender-balanced environment than their undergraduate counterparts.
Subject Choices Within Business: What Women Pick
The ‘business’ label covers a wide range of degrees, and the gender mix varies sharply between specialisms. Data published in the University of Bath School of Management’s Athena Swan Silver Award application shows how wide that variation can be within a single institution:
- Accounting and Finance was the most male-dominated course in the school: women were about 26% of students in 2024/25.
- Business Administration sat between 39% and 47% female from 2019/20 to 2024/25, settling at about 40%.
- International Management was female-majority, at about 61% in 2024/25.
- Management with Marketing was strongly female-majority, at around 73% in 2024/25.
These figures come from one university and are indicative rather than national. But the pattern they reveal, women clustering in marketing, international and generalist courses while thinning out on quantitative finance courses, is worth checking against any university on your shortlist. It also matters beyond the classroom. Accounting and finance degrees feed directly into the professions that manage and allocate money, so a persistent male skew there shapes who ends up making financial decisions in UK business years later, widening the gender investment gap.
What It Means for UK Women Thinking of Studying Business Degrees
If you are considering a business degree in the UK, three practical conclusions follow from the data:
- Check the gender balance of your specific course, not just the subject. As the Bath data shows, the female share can range from 26% to 73% within one business school. Most universities publish course-level diversity data through Athena Swan applications or access and participation plans, so ask for it before you apply.
- Weigh undergraduate against postgraduate study. Women are far less represented in business and management at undergraduate level than at postgraduate level, where entrants are close to a 50/50 split. If classroom balance matters to you, a master’s degree is likely to offer it.
- Read trends, not headlines. Female numbers are rising, but male enrolment in business and management has grown faster over the past decade. A course or university that describes itself as ‘growing’ is not necessarily becoming more balanced, so look back five to ten years to judge the real direction of travel.
Unanswered Questions and Future Monitoring
The data is rich, yet gaps remain. Key areas where researchers need better information include:
- How gender identity beyond the male/female binary plays into subject choice and access.
- Retention, dropout and career outcomes by gender for specific business degree specialisms.
- The role of international versus UK-domiciled students: how many women in business degree classes are UK students and how many are from overseas.
- How the gender split among applicants compares with that among enrolments: do fewer women apply, or are they less likely to be accepted?
For broader context, see our key facts about women in business. And if a business degree is a step towards working for yourself, our guide to starting a business in the UK covers the practical next steps.
