UNISSULA Tracks Graduation Outcomes by Gender and Maintains Support Schemes to Address Potential Gaps

Universitas Islam Sultan Agung (UNISSULA) monitors student graduation and completion outcomes by gender as part of its commitment to equal educational opportunity and student success.

The university uses cohort-based student data to compare women’s likelihood of graduating with men’s. For the 2021 student cohort, UNISSULA tracked female and male students through 2025 and compared their completion outcomes.

This monitoring enables the university to identify whether differences exist between women and men and to maintain appropriate academic and student-support mechanisms where disparities arise.

Gender-Disaggregated Graduation Tracking

The 2021 cohort consisted of 8,743 students, comprising 4,060 female students and 4,683 male students.

By 2025, a total of 7,043 students from this cohort had graduated. Of these, 3,420 were female students and 3,623 were male students.

The graduation rates were as follows:

The female graduation rate was therefore 84.24%, while the male graduation rate was 77.37%.

The difference between the two rates was 6.87 percentage points, with female students recording the higher completion rate.

Monitoring Women’s Likelihood of Graduating

The use of gender-disaggregated cohort data allows UNISSULA to measure women’s likelihood of graduating compared with men’s.

Rather than relying only on the total number of graduates, the university compares the number of students entering a cohort with the number from that same cohort who have completed their studies by the monitoring point.

This provides a clearer basis for evaluating completion outcomes and helps the university identify whether women or men experience a relative disadvantage in progressing toward graduation.

For the 2021 cohort monitored through 2025, the data show that women were not less likely to graduate than men.

Interpretation of the 2021–2025 Cohort Results

The results indicate that:

• 84.24% of female students in the monitored cohort had graduated by 2025;
• 77.37% of male students had graduated;
• the overall graduation rate was 80.55%; and
• the difference between female and male graduation rates was 6.87 percentage points.

In this cohort, there was therefore no graduation gap disadvantaging women.

However, UNISSULA continues to monitor outcomes by gender because completion patterns may differ across cohorts, faculties, study programmes, and academic periods.

Regular monitoring allows the university to identify emerging differences and respond appropriately.

Academic Support to Address Potential Graduation Gaps

Graduation monitoring is accompanied by student-support mechanisms intended to reduce barriers to study completion.

UNISSULA provides academic and non-academic support that can be used to assist students whose progress indicates a risk of delayed completion.

These support mechanisms include:

• academic advising;
• supervision of student academic progress;
• mentoring and student-development programmes;
• counselling and wellbeing support;
• academic assistance for students experiencing difficulties;
• support for completing final projects, theses, and other graduation requirements;
• financial support for eligible students;
• women’s mentoring and empowerment programmes; and
• other student-support services designed to help students remain engaged in their studies.

These mechanisms provide the university with practical means to respond when monitoring identifies differences in completion outcomes.

Academic Advising and Progress Monitoring

Academic advising is an important part of UNISSULA’s approach to supporting student completion.

Through academic supervision and progress monitoring, students can receive guidance regarding:

• study planning;
• academic performance;
• course completion;
• final projects;
• thesis progress; and
• other academic requirements related to graduation.

This approach allows potential problems to be identified before they develop into prolonged delays in study completion.

Mentoring and Student Development

Mentoring and student-development activities also contribute to the university’s broader approach to supporting graduation.

Female students have access to women-focused mentoring and empowerment programmes that strengthen confidence, leadership, participation, and personal development.

These programmes complement academic monitoring by helping women remain actively engaged in university life and by providing additional opportunities for guidance and support.

Counselling and Wellbeing Support

Academic performance and completion can also be influenced by personal and social circumstances.

UNISSULA provides counselling and wellbeing support to help students address challenges that may affect their ability to continue and complete their studies.

This support forms part of the university’s wider approach to reducing barriers to graduation and maintaining equal opportunities for student success.

Support for Students with Family Responsibilities

UNISSULA also recognises that students may face family and caregiving responsibilities that affect academic progress.

Support facilities and student services can help students balance their studies with personal and family responsibilities.

For women students in particular, such support contributes to maintaining participation and reducing the risk that family responsibilities become barriers to degree completion.

Responding to Identified Differences

The purpose of gender-disaggregated monitoring is not only to describe graduation outcomes, but also to provide a basis for action.

Where monitoring identifies a group with a lower completion rate, academic advising, mentoring, counselling, student-support services, and other relevant interventions can be strengthened or targeted according to the needs identified.

For the 2021 cohort, women did not experience a lower graduation rate than men. Nevertheless, UNISSULA continues to maintain these support mechanisms so that any future disparity can be identified and addressed.