SHE FIGURES 2024

About She Figures

Since its first publication in 2003, the She Figures report serves as a key source of comparable, Europe-wide statistics on gender equality in Research and Innovation.

Through six chapters, the publication traces the ‘career trajectory’ of both women and men, from completing their doctoral studies to entering the workforce and advancing into leadership and decision-making positions in academia. Moreover, the report examines differences in working conditions and research outcomes produced between women and men.

Discover the focus of each chapter and explore key data trends below.

She Figures Index
The pool of graduate talent
Participation in science and technology (S&T) occupations
Labour market participation as researchers
Working conditions of researchers
Career advancement and participation in decision-making
Research and innovation output

2024 edition

A key novelty in the 2024 edition is the introduction of a pilot She Figures Index, a comprehensive tool to track progress on gender equality in research and innovation (R&I) across EU Member States over time.
Additionally, four in-depth policy articles have been produced by leading experts in the field of gender equality in R&I, providing insights into the latest data trends, as well as ongoing and emerging priorities. The articles cover the following themes: the evolution and impact of Gender Equality Plans (GEPs) within the EU, data collection processes and strategies for developing inclusive GEPs, inclusive innovation and the contribution of academic spin-offs to gendered innovation, and the impact of women’s participation in research teams on innovation and policy outcomes.
For each EU Member State, a country fiche has been developed, highlighting key results across thematic areas, ensuring that European citizens can easily access information on their country’s performance on gender equality across the years.
The updated She Figures Handbook offers the latest methodological guidance on data collection and the calculation of indicators.’

Note: Countries in the following charts are indicated with country codes. For the meaning of the codes please consult https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php?title=Glossary:Country_codes.

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She Figures Index

The She Figures Index is a tool designed to assess the progress of European Union (EU) Member States in achieving gender equality within the European Research Area (ERA).

It draws on a range of She Figures indicators across six key dimensions: pipeline segregation, research sectors, career progression, decision-making, research participation, and the incorporation of a gender dimension in research and innovation content (GDRIC). Each dimension, as well as an overall score, is assigned a value between 0 and 100, with 100 representing full gender equality.

According to the data presented in She Figures 2024, overall Index scores range between 60 and 88.

Chapter 2

The pool of graduate talent

Women represent 48% of Doctoral (ISCED 8) graduates at the EU level. Gender balance, defined as both women and men representing between 40% and 60%, is observed among Doctoral graduates in most EU Member States.

However, when data are broken down by broad field of study, significant/important disparities persist. In most Member States, women represent the majority (over 60%) of Doctoral graduates in Education but are underrepresented (less than 40%) in fields such as Information and Communication Technology (ICT), Engineering, Manufacturing, and Construction.

Source: Eurostat – Education Statistics (online data code: educ_uoe_grad02) and OECD (Graduates by field).

ISCED F-2013 broad fields of study: F01 - Education, F02 - Arts and humanities, F03 - Social sciences, journalism and information, F04 - Business, administration and law, F05 - Natural sciences, mathematics and statistics, F06 - Information and Communication Technologies, F07 - Engineering, manufacturing and construction, F08 - Agriculture, forestry, fisheries and veterinary, F09 - Health and welfare, F10 - Services.

Source: Eurostat – Education Statistics (online data code: educ_uoe_grad02) and OECD (Graduates by field).

Chapter 3

Participation in science and technology (S&T) occupations

Among the total labour force, women account for 3.4% of scientists and engineers (S&Es), compared to 5% of men. As similar trend is observed across most EU Member States. However, a more pronounced gender gap exists among self-employed professionals in S&E and ICT occupation. Women make up just 25% of self-employed professionals in these sectors, highlighting significant underrepresentation at the EU level.

Source: Eurostat – Human resources in science and technology (online data code: hrst_st_ncat) and Eurostat – Labour Force Survey – Active population by sex, age and citizenship (online data code: lfsa_agan).

Source: Eurostat – Labour Force Survey Annual Average Quarterly data, 2021.

Chapter 4

Labour market participation as researchers

Gender balance is achieved in the higher education (HES) and government (GOV) sectors, where women make up 44% and 45% of researchers, respectively. However, women researchers’ representation drastically decreases in the business economic sector (BES), where women represent just 22% of researchers. Given that this sector employs the largest share of researchers in the EU—57% of the total—this disparity underscores a substantial gender gap in a critical area for EU’s competitiveness.

Source: Eurostat – Research and development statistics (online data code: rd_p_persocc) and OECD-R&D personnel by sector and function.

Chapter 5

Working conditions of researchers

In 2022, approximately a fifth of both women and men researchers (19% each) worked under precarious employment contracts in the higher education sector. At Member State level, however, the prevalence of precarious contracts was higher among women than men researchers in most countries where data were available.

Data from 2023, using web scraping techniques, show that more than 50% of higher education institutions mentioned actions and measures towards gender equality on their websites in most countries. Comparatively, measures and actions towards gender equality were less likely to be published on public research organisations' websites.

*1: Data missing for Men
*2: Data missing for Women
Source: Eurostat - Custom extraction from LFS data.

Source: For the lists of Research Organisations (ROs): ETER, Cordis and the Statistical Correspondents of EU MS and countries associated to Horizon Europe. Number of Research Organisations web-scraped and number of ROs for which web-scraping indicated that they have taken actions and measures taken towards Gender Equality, by type of organisation (PROs/HEIs).

Chapter 6

Career advancement and participation in decision-making

At the EU level, when considering all fields, gender balance is achieved among Bachelor's, Master's, and Doctoral students and graduates. However, as women advance in academia, their representation decreases, especially at top positions. Women remain underrepresented in grade A positions (equivalent to full professorship) across all fields, holding only 30% of these positions. This underrepresentation is evident in the fields of Humanities and the Arts (38%), Social Sciences (35%), and Medical and Health Sciences (33%). In Science and Engineering, the gap is even wider, with women holding just 20% of grade A positions.

The gender gap between grade B and grade A positions is less pronounced in the fields of Engineering and Technology (6 percentage points) compared to all fields (10 percentage points).

Women are particularly underrepresented among heads of institutions, making up just 26%, while they represent 39% among the total number of board members at the EU level.

St.: Students, Gr.: Graduates
ISCED 6 – Bachelor’s or equivalent level.
ISCED 7 – Master’s or equivalent level.
ISCED 8 – Doctoral or equivalent level.
Grade C: The first grade/post into which a newly qualified PhD (ISCED 8) graduate would normally be recruited.
Grade B: All researchers working in positions that are not as senior as Grade A but definitely more senior than Grade C.
Grade A: The single highest grade / post at which research is normally conducted.

Source: Women in Science database, DG Research and Innovation - T1_questionnaires , Eurostat - Education Statistics (online data codes: educ_uoe_enrt03, educ_uoe_grad02).

Source: Women in Science database, DG Research and Innovation - T1_questionnaires , Education Statistics (online data codes:educ_uoe_enrt03, educ_uoe_grad02).

Source: Women in Science database, DG Research and Innovation - T7_questionnaires.

Source: Women in Science database, DG Research and Innovation - T5 & T6_questionnaires.

Chapter 7

Research and innovation output

Overall, women have a slightly lower research funding success rate than men (28% compared to 32%). Women’s representation on authorship teams has increased over time, reaching gender balance in the fields of Agriculture and Veterinary Science, Humanities and the Arts, Medical and Health Sciences and Social Sciences. However, women remain underrepresented as authors in the field of Engineering and Technology. During the period 2018-2021, women comprised only 9% of patent applicants, signifying their significant underrepresentation in inventorship. Over the past decade, there has been no significant increase in the proportion of women filing patent applications, with the majority of patents still being submitted by teams composed only by men.

p.p.: percentage points
Source: Women in Science database, DG Research and Innovation - T3_questionnaires.

Source: Scopus.

Source: PATSTAT.

Discover more about a country’s state-of-play on gender equality in R&Ι

Use this map to find out more about each country in the European Union by downloading the dedicated data country fiche.

Country fiches

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SheFigures 2024