5.3.3 Women’s access schemes

In 2025, Srinakharinwirot University (SWU) provided women's access schemes to help women access Higher Education, stay in their studies and succeed. SWU's women's access schemes combine mentoring, scholarships and other provision. The University's 2025 data show that women already make up a large share of its students and graduates, so SWU directs its schemes to the groups and fields where women still need more support: women who are the first in their family to attend university, and women in technical and STEM fields. In 2025 this included mentoring by lecturers and senior students for female students in electrical and technical work, and other provision through a link with the Department of Women's Affairs and Family Development (DWF), Ministry of Social Development and Human Security (MSDHS), which opens funding for women-focused projects through the Gender Equality Promotion Fund.

Women's Access at SWU: What the 2025 Data Show

SWU uses its gender data to decide where women's access schemes are needed most. In 2025, 5,111 full-time equivalent (FTE) female students started a degree at SWU. Of these, 2,657 women, or 51.99%, were first-generation students, meaning they were the first person in their immediate family to attend university. More than half of the women entering SWU therefore come from families with no previous experience of Higher Education, and they benefit most from mentoring, scholarships and other provision that help them adjust to university life and complete their degrees.

Women also complete their studies at SWU in large numbers. In 2025, the University awarded degrees to 6,854 graduates, of whom 4,724, or 68.92%, were women. The share of female graduates was 73.26% in Medicine and 70.60% in Arts & Humanities / Social Sciences, but lower in STEM at 59.87%. This gap shows that STEM and technical fields are where women's access schemes can add the most value, which is why SWU focuses its mentoring on female students in electrical and technical subjects.

Women also hold senior roles that allow them to act as mentors and role models. In 2025, women held 29 of the University's 65 senior academic and leadership positions, or 44.62%, including 4 Vice Presidents, 10 Assistant Presidents and 12 Deans. Female students at SWU can therefore see women leading at every level of the University.

Source: https://www.swu.ac.th/admin

Source: https://www.swu.ac.th/deans

Mentoring: Supporting Women in Electrical and Technical Fields

Electrical and technical work is a field in which women are traditionally underrepresented. In 2025, the Electrical Industrial Education major in the Department of Industrial Education, Faculty of Education, ran a mentoring scheme for its female students in which lecturers and senior students guided and supervised junior female students in real technical tasks. On 27 January 2025, female students joined the volunteer activity "Bringing Light Back to SWU" and repaired lamp posts on campus. From 28 to 30 March 2025, the Department ran the hands-on workshop "Using and Maintaining Electrical Appliances" at the Lopburi Home for Children and Families for 19 female students in Years 1–3 of the Industrial Education – Electrical major. Working together across year groups, senior students passed on practical skills to younger students while lecturers supervised the work on heating, cooling, lighting, motor and electronic-circuit appliances. This mentoring builds women's confidence and skills in a field where they are underrepresented and helps them continue and succeed in their studies.

Other Provision: SWU Promotes the Gender Equality Promotion Fund Call

As other provision, the Faculty of Fine Arts, Srinakharinwirot University, published the news item "The Department of Women's Affairs and Family Development Opens Applications for Project Funding under the Objectives of the Gender Equality Promotion Fund" in the public relations section of its website. The page gives direct links to the fund's project funding manual, the public edition of the manual, the response form for funding applications, further details and the fund's official Facebook page. Because all of these resources are public, female students, women staff and University units can easily learn how to apply and use the fund to develop schemes that widen women's access to education.

Source: https://fofa.swu.ac.th/dwf_proj_fund_200202/

What the Fund Supports for Women

According to the manual for applying for project funding from the Gender Equality Promotion Fund (public edition), the fund was set up under the Gender Equality Act B.E. 2558 (2015), Section 28. Its objectives include protecting people from unfair gender discrimination and, under Objective 5, promoting education, research and the spread of knowledge on preventing unfair gender discrimination. Under SDG 5, SWU focuses on the women's dimension of the fund: projects that remove the barriers women face because of their sex and give women fair access to education, skills and opportunities. The highlighted text on page 1 of the manual shows the legal basis of the fund and Objective 5 on education.

Source: Gender Equality Promotion Fund manual (public edition), page 1, linked from https://fofa.swu.ac.th/dwf_proj_fund_200202/

Who Can Apply and What Projects Can Be Funded

Page 2 of the manual defines eligible applicants as foundations, associations, clubs, public benefit organisations, community welfare organisations, state agencies or private organisations whose work or projects promote gender equality, prevent unfair gender discrimination, or promote education, research and knowledge on this issue. The definition of state agencies includes public higher education institutions, so SWU and its faculties can apply directly. The manual sets three funding levels: small projects of up to 50,000 baht, medium projects of up to 100,000 baht and large projects of up to 150,000 baht, with larger requests considered when needed. Funded projects fall into three types: 1) workshops, seminars and training; 2) campaigns and public relations; and 3) plans, data collection and research. Within these types, SWU units can extend mentoring programmes for female students, run training that prepares first-generation women for university study, and create other provision that helps women access and stay in Higher Education. Projects must be completed within the fund's fiscal year, which ends on 30 September.

Source: Gender Equality Promotion Fund manual (public edition), pages 2, 7 and 9, linked from https://fofa.swu.ac.th/dwf_proj_fund_200202/

Linking the Data and the Schemes

Taken together, SWU's 2025 data and activities show a clear link between need and action. Women already form the majority of SWU's graduates, yet more than half of new female students are first-generation and women's share of graduates is lowest in STEM. SWU responds with women's access schemes aimed at these groups: mentoring by lecturers and senior students for women in electrical and technical fields, scholarships and support for women who need them to continue their studies, and other provision through the Gender Equality Promotion Fund. With women holding 44.62% of senior leadership roles, female students also have strong role models across the University. This information is publicly available on the SWU website.