Ahmedabad Cover Story
GCAS data shows 1.68 lakh male vs 1.54 lakh female admissions; women lead only in BA, men ahead in commerce, BBA and BCA
While women continue to make significant progress in higher education, admissions to non-professional undergraduate programmes in Gujarat’s public universities remain male-dominated. The latest Gujarat Common Admission Services figures show 1,68,131 male students have enrolled this year, compared with 1,53,929 female students. In total, 3,22,082 students have taken admission so far this academic year, including 22 transgender students.
Only three universities recorded higher female than male enrolment. Veer Narmad South Gujarat University admitted 29,966 female students against 29,316 male students, while The Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda enrolled 5,909 women against 4,809 men.
Krantiguru Shyamji Krishna Verma Kachchh University also recorded higher female participation, with 4,501 female admissions against 4,125 male.
“This is an interesting change as a couple of years back, more girl students enrolled in non-professional courses, as students from semi-urban and rural areas preferred these courses,” said a senior official in the education department.
Officials said the expansion of public universities across the state, from Kutch to South Gujarat and North Gujarat, and easier access to institutions closer home, have encouraged more girls to pursue undergraduate education. Even so, male students have emerged ahead in overall enrolment.
Women lead in BA, men lead elsewhere
Despite male students accounting for a larger share of admissions overall, women registered higher participation in the combined Bachelor of Arts category, which recorded the highest enrolment among all programmes: 1,42,445 students, including 71,388 female and 71,046 male, giving women a marginal lead of 342.
“Government’s scholarship for women in higher education is highly availed, and women from economically or socially disadvantaged sections use it to pursue their dream of education,” said another official.
Other major courses recorded higher male participation. Bachelor of Commerce logged 1,00,513 admissions, with 52,611 male students against 47,895 female, a gap of 4,716 in favour of men. Bachelor of Business Administration recorded 18,792 admissions, including 11,196 males and 7,595 females, men ahead by 3,601. Bachelor of Computer Application recorded 12,887 admissions, with 7,639 male and 5,246 female students, a gap of 2,393.
The data suggests that while women hold a slight edge in arts programmes, professional-oriented courses such as BBA and BCA continue to see higher male participation. The remaining universities also reported higher male enrolment overall.
BA remains the most preferred course
Bachelor of Arts remained the most preferred undergraduate programme, followed by Bachelor of Commerce (1,00,513), Bachelor of Business Administration (18,792) and Bachelor of Computer Application (12,887). Integrated law programmes, including BA LLB, BBA LLB, BCom LLB and BCom LLB (Honours), accounted for just 683 admissions, the least among the listed programmes.
University-wise admissions
