The Information & eGovernment Authority (iGA) has reported a significant rise in the number of faculty members in Bahrain’s higher education institutions, with a total of 2,137 academics in 2024, the highest number recorded since 2019. The data reveals that 65% of faculty members are employed in public higher education institutions, while the private sector accounts for 34.2% of the total. A noticeable trend is the increasing proportion of female faculty members, with women making up 46.8% of the total faculty in 2024.
The statistics show a near-equal distribution of male faculty members in both public and private sectors, with public institutions having 52.5% male faculty and the private sector having 54.2% male faculty. Female faculty representation is slightly higher in public institutions compared to the private sector, with 47.4% of female faculty in public institutions and 45.76% in the private sector.
The overall growth in faculty numbers has been significant, with an 8.5% increase between 2023 and 2024 and a 16.2% increase compared to 2019. The iGA data also shows a steady increase in faculty numbers over the past five years, with 1,839 faculty members in 2019, 1,922 in 2020, 1,899 in 2021, 2,013 in 2022, and 1,969 in 2023.
The public sector saw a 6.4% increase in faculty members between 2019 and 2024, while the private sector experienced a more substantial growth of 41% during the same period. This growth indicates a rising demand for higher education in Bahrain and the expansion of the country’s higher education landscape. The increased representation of female faculty members is also a positive step towards gender equality in the academic field.
