Science and technology workforce: women in majority

In 2022, almost 76 million people in the EU aged 15 to 74 were employed in science and technology (+2.5% compared with 2021). Of the 76 million people employed in science and technology, 52% were women (no change compared with 2021). The women employed in science and technology worked predominantly in services, with the exception of Malta, where only 48% of women worked in services. 

Across the EU regions (NUTS 1), the highest shares of women employed in science and technology in 2022 were observed in Lithuania and the French island of Corsica (both 64%), followed by Latvia (63%). At the other end of the scale, the lowest share was recorded in the Italian region of North-West (45%), followed by Malta and the Italian regions of South and North-East (all 46%). 

Source dataset: hrst_st_rsex

Among the science and technology workforce, one significant subgroup is comprised of scientists and engineers. Scientists and engineers made up nearly a quarter (24%) of all people employed in science and technology in the EU (+3.6% compared with 2021), with the largest number of scientists and engineers across the EU countries employed in Germany (over 3.5 million). 

Despite women making up the majority of the people employed in science and technology, they were underrepresented as scientists and engineers, accounting for only 41% of total scientists and engineers in 2022. This share grew by only 2 percentage points (pp) over the last 10 years (from 39% in 2012 to 41% in 2022), but the absolute number of women working as scientists and engineers grew by almost 50% in that period (from almost 5 million in 2012 to 7.3 million in 2022).