A Queensland study believed to be a world first reveals women using donor sperm to fall pregnant would rather seek donations from young men, contrary to earlier research findings.

More than 1,500 women who conceived with donor sperm from Brisbane in vitro fertilisation (IVF) clinic Queensland Fertility Group were studied from 2006 to 2015.

The results of the study reveal most women were more inclined to choose sperm from young men who had attained higher levels of education, with men in their early 20s being chosen faster than men in their 30s.

Queensland University of Technology behavioural economist Stephen Whyte, who conducted the study, said the finding contradicted previous human mating research.

"What was really interesting is we found that women preferred younger sperm donors, which sort of changes our understanding, or is opposed to our evolutionary understanding that women should favour older men," he said.

"Women bear a much heavier burden from reproduction than men, so women tend to favour — in the previous research, anyway — men with resources or the ability to provide resources across time."

'Young men should not be preferred by women'

Mr Whyte said naturally men accrued resources with age, so young men should theoretically not be preferred by women.

"In a normal mating market, women would prefer older men, but in an IVF setting women actually prefer younger men," he said.

Mr Whyte said while it was unsurprising a good education was one of the most desired characteristics in a donor, previous research had suggested females seeking a well-educated donor would more likely prefer older men.

"From an evolutionary psychology perspective, men with more education — that's a pretty good proxy for the ability to provide resources and it's also a good proxy for having children who have higher levels of intelligence," he said.

"What's interesting is that the two in unison, looking at women wanting increased or higher levels of education yet younger males, is interesting because the two are counter to each other.

"In a normal setting, they would be the other way round."

Mr Whyte said the study was a world-first, as previous research has only explored women's hypothetical sperm donor preferences.