Highlights:
- Institutional Policy & Non-Discrimination Framework: Outlines Thammasat University’s official policy on gender equality, ensuring fair access, non-discriminatory admissions, and equal treatment for female applicants and students.
- Strategic Access & Barrier Removal Framework: Sets out strategic pillars aimed at removing gender-based barriers, expanding recruitment, providing holistic student support, and building secondary school partnerships.
- Women Enrollment & Representation Statistics: Presents empirical data demonstrating high female student representation, including over 65% female undergraduate entry (1st generation) and strong participation in underrepresented fields across all STEM degree programs.
- Outreach Projects and Community Engagement: Bridges institutional policy with direct social impact by organizing a series of targeted outreach events for secondary school female students.
Institutional Policy and Commitment to Gender Equality
Thammasat University is deeply committed to fostering a gender-inclusive, equitable, and safe environment for all students, staff, and visitors. To establish a legally binding and actionable framework, Thammasat University published the official notification titled “Policy on Gender Equality and Non-Discrimination Against Women, LGBT People, and People with Disabilities.”
This policy explicitly addresses student access and participation in Section 3, titled “Guidelines to Non-discrimination and Gender Equality Promotion.”
Non-Discriminatory Student Recruitment and Admission (Item #2): Mandates that in the recruitment and selection of students for enrollment, admission, and scholarship provision, a strong institutional commitment across all academic disciplines shall be upheld, with a dedicated focus on encouraging and supporting the application, entry, and recruitment of women.
Equal Treatment for Female Applicants and Enrollees (Item #3): Establishes that all university personnel must embody the principles of equality and non-discrimination, ensuring that female applicants and enrollees are not subject to unequal treatment in recruitment, academic participation, or advancement.
Alignment with Global SDG Objectives: By addressing equity from the initial application stage through graduation, this policy directly advances gender equality (SDG 5) and reduces systemic inequalities (SDG 10) across all university campuses.
Strategic Framework for Equal Opportunities and Barrier Removal
To operationalize its equality mandate, Thammasat University implements a multi-dimensional strategy designed to remove gender-based obstacles and enhance female participation across five core pillars:
Pillar 1 – Promoting Female Application and Enrollment: Increasing female application and enrollment rates while ensuring equal access to academic resources, merit-based scholarships, and specialized support services.
Pillar 2 – Systemic Removal of Gender-Based Barriers: Identifying and eliminating gender-based obstacles by enforcing strict zero-tolerance measures against discrimination, harassment, and gender-based violence to safeguard female students throughout their educational journey.
Pillar 3 – Skill-Based and Non-Discriminatory Recruitment: Embedding non-discriminatory principles into all university admissions and employment processes, focusing strictly on relevant skills and academic background regardless of gender, age, maternity, physical status, or social class.
Pillar 4 – Supportive Campus Ecosystem and Mentorship: Creating a supportive environment by offering dedicated counseling services, female mentorship networks, and leadership development initiatives for female enrollees.
Pillar 5 – Secondary School Partnerships and Community Outreach: Collaborating with external partners, government agencies, non-governmental organizations, and secondary schools to conduct outreach activities, promote gender rights, and equip prospective female students with high-demand academic and professional skills.
Women Enrollment Statistics and 1st Generation Representation
The practical impact of Thammasat University’s gender equality policies is clearly demonstrated through its robust enrollment metrics and targeted initiatives in underrepresented fields:
High Total Female Enrollment: Between 2019 and 2025, a total of 188,445 female students were enrolled in undergraduate and graduate degree programs across Thammasat University.
Majority Female Representation in New Enrollees: In the 2024-2025 academic year, female enrollees accounted for 61.4% of total new students (7,432 out of 12,101) and 62.3% of all students starting a degree (6,242 out of 10,024).
Strong First-Generation Female Representation: Female representation among first-generation university students starting a degree around 65.2% (1,514 out of 2,3239) in the 2024-2025 academic year.
Pioneering Diversity in Underrepresented STEM Disciplines: Thammasat University actively fosters gender inclusion in technical fields, achieving 33.72% female representation for all newly enrolled students across its undergraduate engineering disciplines, including the Faculty of Engineering (TSE) and the Sirindhorn International Institute of Technology (SIIT). Across all STEM degree programs (Science, Technology, and Engineering), female students make up 46.47% of new enrollments, reflecting the university’s commitment to balanced representation in innovation-driven fields.
Outreach Projects and Community Engagement
Bridging institutional policy with direct social impact, Thammasat University faculties, campuses, and research institutes organized a series of targeted outreach events for secondary school female students:
19 August 2025 – Higher Education Counseling Activity at Rajini Bon School
Organized by the Undergraduate Admission Team of Thammasat Business School (TBS) at an all-girls secondary school. The team provided upper-secondary female students with direct guidance on undergraduate business curricula, portfolio preparation, and admission criteria, fostering greater female participation in business education.
16 September 2025 – Educational and Career Guidance Exhibition at Chalermkwansatree School
Organized by Thammasat University, Lampang Campus, for Grade 12 female students at an all-girls secondary school in Phitsanulok Province. The event delivered comprehensive information on admission pathways, portfolio criteria, and scholarships, providing regional female students with equitable access to higher education planning.
17 October 2025 – Doctor of Dental Surgery Program Guidance at MUIDS Thai University Fair 2025
Led by faculty members from the Faculty of Dentistry at Mahidol University International Demonstration School. Faculty introduced the Doctor of Dental Surgery curriculum and admission guidelines to over 800 students and parents, actively encouraging female entry into specialized healthcare disciplines.
30 May 2026 – East Asia Friendship Camp for Girls’ School at Satri Si Suriyothai School
Conducted by the Center for Asian Languages and Culture, Institute of East Asian Studies, at an all-girls secondary school in Bangkok. The camp enhanced practical proficiency in Japanese, Chinese, and Korean through interactive activity stations, boosting female students’ global competencies and university application confidence.
16 June 2026 – Academic Introduction, Public Relations Event, and Special Lecture on Gender Equality for Chonkanyanukoon School
Led by faculty from the Master of Arts Program in Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at Tha Prachan campus. The event introduced interdisciplinary offerings, delivered a special lecture on gender concepts, and provided a campus tour for female students, empowering them to pursue higher education in gender studies and social sciences.
Thammasat University systematically advances gender equality by grounding its admissions in non-discriminatory policies, sustaining majority female representation across degree programs, and proactively engaging secondary school female students through targeted community outreach. Through these combined measures, the university actively eliminates systemic barriers, expands access to underrepresented disciplines, and fosters sustained female leadership in higher education.
