A Swedish university has agreed to pay damages to a group of women who had filed a class-action lawsuit against it for giving under-represented male students admissions priority.

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"Elin Sahlin and 23 other women will be paid damages worth 35,000 kronor (3,570 euros, 4,863 dollars). The women had sued the university for illegal discrimination after three men were given admission priority to the psychology programme," Lund University said in a statement.

The women had sought admission to the university's competitive psychology programme in the fall of 2008, but that year, only men were admitted.

That was because the university, one of Sweden's largest, had an admissions policy of favouring the under-represented sex in the event of equal merit, it said.

"In the psychology programme, the men were given priority because more women than men sought admission to the programme," the 40,000-student establishment explained.

Women represent about 60 percent of university students in Sweden, a pioneer in gender equality.

The Swedish government said last month it would abolish affirmative action at universities, which it allowed in 2003, since the practice has resulted in male students being given admissions priority for several popular programmes.

"The education system should open doors -- not slam them in the face of motivated young women," Higher Education Minister Tobias Krantz said.