Back Girls and women among ICT students: what do we know?

Print Girls and women among ICT students: what do we know?

23 April 2020

© Ditty_about_summer/Shutterstock.com
More than 1.3 million people were studying Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) in the European Union (EU) in 2018. Overall, considering upper secondary and tertiary education, girls and women were still under-represented in this field, accounting for only 17% of all ICT students in the EU.
 
Among the EU Member States, Belgium stood out as 37% of the ICT students in Belgium were female in 2018. The share of female ICT students were close to one third also in Romania (32%), Bulgaria (31%), Greece and Sweden (both 30%). In contrast, female students accounted for less than 10% in the Netherlands (8%) and Luxembourg (9%).
 
Infographic: Share of female students in ICT studies, 2018
Data source: educ_uoe_enra03
 
However, the share of female ICT students were higher at higher education levels. Among ICT doctorate students in the EU in 2018, 22% were female. In Latvia, almost one half (47%) of the ICT doctorate students were female, closely followed by Croatia (43%). 
 
At EU level, the share of female ICT master students were the same as for doctorate students (22%). The highest shares were recorded in Estonia (36%), Bulgaria, Denmark and Romania (all 35%), where more than a third of the ICT master students were female, closely followed by Greece (33%) and Sweden (32%).
 
 
Notes: 
  • For more information on statistics available in this area, take a look at the overview of education and training statistics.
  • The European Union (EU) includes 27 EU Member States. The United Kingdom left the European Union on 31 January 2020. Further information is published here.
  • The figures presented refer to students studying at upper secondary level or above. Data by levels of education are classified according to ISCED 2011. Data by fields of education are classified according to ISCED-F 2013.  Such data are not available for post-secondary non-tertiary education (ISCED level 4) in Czechia and Italy. This level of education does not exist in Denmark, Croatia, Cyprus, the Netherlands, Slovenia and the United Kingdom .
  • This information is published by Eurostat to mark the International Girls in ICT Day, celebrated on the 4th Thursday in April every year. It is a global initiative aimed at raising awareness among girls and young women about the importance of digital skills and encouraging them to consider studies and careers in information and communication technologies.

 

To contact us, please visit our User Support page.

For press queries, please contact our Media Support.