A focus on final-year exams at Oxbridge could be disadvantaging female students who are “less likely to take risks” and suffer from premenstrual syndrome (PMS), a report suggests.
A paper published by the Higher Education Policy Institute (Hepi) think tank explores possible reasons why men are more likely to secure a first-class degree at the universities of Oxford and Cambridge.
Across UK universities females generally outperform their male peers in graduating with first-class and upper second-class undergraduate degrees.
But almost all courses at Oxford and Cambridge have a first-class degree awarding gap favouring men, according to the report.
The slow pace of change is deeply unfair and means female students are not getting the most out of their experience of higher education
In 2022/23, the percentage of female students at Cambridge gaining first class undergraduate examination results was 22.4% – 8.3 percentage points below male students (30.7%).
The University of Oxford has a first-class degree gender attainment gap of around 8.5 percentage points.
The paper – written by parliamentary researcher and University of Cambridge graduate Famke Veenstra-Ashmore – said a combination of Oxbridge institutions’ history, structure and examination procedures “produce a system which favours men at the highest degree classification”.
It suggested that the tendency for final-year examination-based assessment methods to determine the overall grade for undergraduate Oxbridge degrees could be disadvantaging women as they are “less likely to take risks”, suffer from PMS and may be more likely to perform highly in coursework.
The report said: “Some argue the 100% weighting favours those more likely to postpone serious study to the end of their degree – a risk that men are more likely to take, as women tend to work more evenly across the three years of study.
“This may explain why women receive the majority of upper second degrees at many institutions and subjects, whereas male students are more likely to get first-class degrees (and conversely, lower second-class and third-class degrees) at Oxbridge.”
It added that extending exam periods and a larger distribution of classification weighting could benefit women as menstruation and PMS “can exacerbate the challenge of tight exam periods”.
The analysis, which looked at the percentage of male and female students achieving top degrees by different courses, suggested that the largest gaps in favour of men were in Theology at Cambridge (43.3 percentage points) in 2023/24 and Classics at Oxford (29 percentage points) in 2021/22.
The paper also argued that “representation issues” on certain Oxbridge courses – where supervisors and tutors are more likely to be men – could have contributed towards the degree awarding gap.
It added that Oxbridge’s “combative and confrontational” teaching style may disadvantage some groups and affect their exam performance.
Cambridge did not award degrees to women until 1948, and it is disappointing to see gender inequality is still baked into the system
The report has called for “bold reforms” at the prestigious universities, including an overhaul of assessment methods and a re-evaluation of the balance of exams to coursework, to address the awarding gap.
Miss Veenstra-Ashmore, author of the report, said: “Women still face significant institutional barriers to the highest levels of academic achievement at Oxford and Cambridge.
“The slow pace of change is deeply unfair and means female students are not getting the most out of their experience of higher education.
“Urgent action is required from both Oxford and Cambridge. Experimentation with assessment methods and teaching is possible.
“There is no reason why such large disparities in awarding should not be addressed with haste and genuine concern.”
Rose Stephenson, director of policy and advocacy at Hepi, said: “The universities of Oxford and Cambridge have historically been bastions of male privilege.
“Cambridge did not award degrees to women until 1948, and it is disappointing to see gender inequality is still baked into the system.
“I urge colleagues at these institutions to read this report and take urgent action.”
Professor Bhaskar Vira, pro-vice-chancellor for education at the University of Cambridge, said: “The university is investigating possible causes for the awarding gap in first class degrees, including variation across subject and time. This is also being examined as part of our current teaching review.
“Our findings so far suggest that there is no single cause, and while there are examples of progress in some parts of the university, more remains to be done.
“We will make sure this research is visible and share the lessons we learn. This will contribute to an action plan being set up to address the issue.”
Professor Martin Williams, pro-vice-chancellor for Education at the University of Oxford, said: “The University is committed to addressing gaps in degree outcomes where they exist and has set a target to eliminate the current gap between our male and female undergraduate students by 2030.
“Progress has been made in some subject areas, but the reasons for this gap are varied and highly complex.
“We are working hard to understand this issue through extensive engagement with students, and are introducing measures including flexible teaching, mixed assessment methods, study skills support, as well as enhanced data provision to enable us to better target support.”
