UniFiji reports record-breaking female student achievements over 5 years

The University of Fiji has reported an unprecedented level of the achievements of female students across all sections and academic departments at the university over the past 5 years.

This was revealed in a report on gender specific data collected by the University on student enrollment and graduation as well as programme awards issued by the university at each graduation ceremony.

UniFiji Vice Chancellor Professor Shaista Shameem says there is no doubt that the university is a success model for women’s achievements.

She says in a week when the CEDAW Committee is meeting in Fiji, this record should be noted by the Committee in its report on Fiji.

Professor Shameem says that the university, at its most recent graduation ceremony last week, graduated 186 females and 97 males.

She says this reflects the overall 5-year picture, as the university has consistently graduated more female students than male students from 2020 to 2024.

She says the gender distribution in graduation data was a reflection of the total number of female students compared to male students enrolling at the university in all subjects annually over the same 5-year period.

UniFiji says in every year female student enrollments well exceeded male enrollments.

They say in 2020, in the under-graduate programmes, there were 2,058 female students enrolled compared to 1,181 male students, in 2021, the enrollment proportion was 2,138 female to 1,169 male students, in 2022 there were 1,962 female students to 1,062 male students, in 2023 there were 1,844 female to 940 male students and in 2024 there were 1,936 female compared to 956 male students.

They say student enrollments over the same 5-year period also showed more females than males undertaking post-graduate study at the University.

Professor Shameem says this was despite the fact that there are more males than females in Fiji’s total population for the 17 to 24 year olds, which make up the majority age group of the students at university.

2017 census data showed 51.49 percent males in this demographic cohort.

She also says that the awards for top students given in each of the programmes went to female more than male students in the 5-year period from 2020 to 2024.

Professor Shameem says a proud moment for the University came when at the April 4th 2025 graduation ceremony, a female student, Ayesha Reddy, received a 100 percent GPA of 4.5/4.5 in Mathematics, Physics and Education, an unprecedented record.

UniFiji also provided data analysis on the gender distribution of staff at the university over the same 5-year period.

Professor Shameem says the data on full-time academic staff at the university from 2020 to 2024 shows that, except for 2024, there were more male than female academics.

In 2020 there were 51 males to 45 females in the academic side, in 2021 there were 45 males to 36 females, in 2022 there were 37 females to 52 males, in 2023 there were 56 males to 42 females and in 2024 the gender proportion was reversed to 44 female and 37 male academics.

They say however, for the same period, there were more females than males in the administrative staff cadre, with the difference being much wider; for example, in 2020 there were 52 non-academic female staff to 33 male staff, in 2021 there were 61 female staff to 37 male staff, in 2022 there were 70 female staff to 53 male staff, in 2023 there were 58 female staff to 43 male staff and in 2024 there were 69 female and 55 male non-academic staff.

UniFiji says females occupied the two highest administrative positions - both the Vice Chancellor and the Registrar are female.

Professor Shameem says at another managerial level, the two heads of campuses and the University Librarian are females also.

She says other positions in senior management, including heads of department, Deans and Professors, are occupied by more males than females, giving some balance to the University’s highest administrative staff demographic profile which is all female.

The Vice Chancellor says overall, over the past 5 years, the university has employed more males than females in the academic sections but more females than males in the administrative sections, several of which also require post-graduate and higher academic qualifications, for example PhDs.

She says all appointments were made on merit and not affirmative action as the university’s employment policy emphasized equal opportunity irrespective of personal attributes of applicants.

Professor Shameem says affirmative action policies and practice of any kind for anything were no longer appropriate in a country which promoted non-discrimination in the Constitution, such as in Fiji, and all educational institutions should follow the law.

Professor Shameem says the reasons for the university attracting more female students than male were clear.

She says first, this was because the university follows an equity and equal opportunity policy that prohibits discrimination of any kind, particularly based on gender.

Professor Shameem says female students are supported in ways where the university’s capacity is specifically tailored to ensure that they are encouraged to continue their study with full support and to graduate with good marks.

She says the university also ensures that its female students feel secure in their learning environment and are encouraged to be independent thinkers and to express their views in a safe space.

The Vice Chancellor also says the university’s human values foundation ensures that male students at the University treat their female counterparts with respect and consideration for their ideas and opinions.

She says this goes both ways because mutual respect is one of the foundations of the human values approach in learning and teaching at the University.

Professor Shameem says the university also has a no drop policy on sexual harassment or violence and implements the policy strictly if anyone has breached it.

She also says the university leads by example when it comes to appointing staff who are also role models for all the students, not just female.

Professor Shameem says high academic achievements, articulate expression in public and private, active contribution to the communities, causing no harm to others, respect for nature and the animal world, fearless advocacy to represent and protect the vulnerable in society and a deep-seated commitment to nation-building are the basic principles of higher education at UniFiji.

Professor Shameem also says she is convinced that good values, safety, high academic goals, pastoral care and excellent role models are the reasons why female students are attracted to the University of Fiji.

However, Professor Shameem says that the university was also painfully aware that the situation of women in Fiji was an issue of concern and would be noted by the CEDAW Committee currently examining Fiji’s record as a signatory to the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women.

She says despite attempts over many decades to resolve the problem, violence against women is of epidemic proportions in Fiji.

Professor Shameem is urging the Fiji Government to ratify the Optional Protocol to CEDAW without reservations which would allow individual and group complaints to be made directly to the CEDAW Committee.