Fact Sheet No. 51 June 2018 FS/2018/SCI/51
Women in Science
The UNESCO Institute This fact sheet presents the latest UIS data on research and experimental for Statistics (UIS) is the development (R&D) available as of June 2018. statistical office of UNESCO and is the UN The gender gap in science depository for global Overall, women account for a minority of the world’s researchers. Despite the statistics in the fields of education, science and growing demand for cross-nationally-comparable statistics on women in science, technology, culture and national data and their use in policymaking often remain limited. This fact sheet communication. presents global and regional profiles, pinpointing where women thrive in this sector and where they are under-represented. http://uis.unesco.org Researchers are professionals engaged in the conception or creation of new @UNESCOstat knowledge. They conduct research and improve or develop concepts, theories, models, techniques instrumentation, software or operational methods (Frascati Manual, 2015). The global map (see Figure 1) depicts the share of women in the total number of researchers by country. Figure 1. The gender gap in science Women as a share of total researchers, 2016 or latest year available
Notes: Data in this map are based on headcounts (HC), except for Congo, India and Israel which are based on full-time equivalents (FTE). Data for China are based on total R&D personnel instead of researchers. Data for Brazil are based on estimations. Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics, June 2018. 2 UIS Fact Sheet No. 51 | June 2018
The vast majority of data are presented in headcounts (HC), which are the total number of persons employed in R&D. This includes staff employed both full-time and part-time. The regional averages for the share of female researchers (based on available data only) for 2015 are: 28.8% for World 39.8% for Arab States 39.5% for Central and Eastern Europe 48.1% for Central Asia 23.4% for East Asia and the Pacific 45.4% for Latin America and the Caribbean 32.3% for North America and Western Europe 18.5% for South and West Asia 31.3% for Sub-Saharan Africa
Figures 2, 3 and 4 illustrate women researchers as a percentage of the total number. Based on headcount data, these figures include part-time and full-time researchers.
Figure 2. A breakdown of female researchers in the Americas Female researchers as a percentage of total researchers (HC), 2016 or latest year available
100% 90%
80%
70%
60%
50% 40%
30%
62.7%
61.6%
53.6% 53.2%
52.6% 51.8%
20% 49.9%
48.2%
48.0%
44.3%
42.5%
41.1%
41.1% 40.4%
38.4%
33.3%
33.1%
33.0% 32.4% 10% 31.9%
0%
CUBA CHILE
PERU-1
BOLIVIA-6
MEXICO-3
URUGUAY
PANAMA-3
BERMUDA-1 ECUADOR-2
TOBAGO-1
COLOMBIA-1
PARAGUAY-1 HONDURAS-1
ARGENTINA-1
VENEZUELA-1
COSTA RICA-2 COSTA
GUATEMALA-1
TRINIDAD AND TRINIDAD
NICARAGUA-14 SAINT LUCIA-17 SAINT EL SALVADOR-1 EL
Notes: -1= 2015, -2 = 2014, -3 = 2013, -6 = 2010, -14 = 2002, -17 = 1999. Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics, June 2018.
3 UIS Fact Sheet No. 51 | June 2018
Figure 3. A breakdown of female researchers in Europe Female researchers as a percentage of total researchers (HC), 2016 or latest year available
100%
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
51.0%
50.8%
50.7%
49.1%
48.9%
48.4%
47.9%
47.6%
47.2% 47.1%
20% 46.2%
45.0%
44.3%
44.1%
43.9%
42.2%
40.0%
40.0%
39.6%
38.6%
38.0%
37.9%
37.4%
37.3%
37.0%
36.5%
36.0%
35.9%
34.1%
33.7%
33.5%
32.5%
32.3%
30.8%
29.5%
28.9%
28.5%
28.0% 27.0%
10% 26.9% 25.4%
0%
ITALY-1 SERBIA
SPAIN-1
MALTA-1
ICELAND LATVIA-1
UKRAINE
BELARUS
TURKEY-1
FRANCE-1
POLAND-1
CYPRUS-1
GREECE-1
ALBANIA-8
FINLAND-1
IRELAND-1 AUSTRIA-1
ESTONIA-1 CZECHIA-1 SWEDEN-1
CROATIA-1
NORWAY-1
BELGIUM-1
ROMANIA-1
SLOVAKIA-1
SLOVENIA-1 DENMARK-1 HUNGARY-1
GERMANY-1
BULGARIA-1
LITHUANIA-1
PORTUGAL-1
LUXEMBOURG-1
SWITZERLAND-1
MONTENEGRO-1
NETHERLANDS-1
TFYR MACEDONIA TFYR
UNITED KINGDOM-1 UNITED
RUSSIAN FEDERATION RUSSIAN
BOSNIA/HERZEGOVINA REPUBLIC OF MOLDOVA OF REPUBLIC
Notes: -1=2015, -8 = 2008. Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics, June 2018.
4 UIS Fact Sheet No. 51 | June 2018
Figure 4. A breakdown of female researchers in Africa, Asia and the Pacific Female researchers as a percentage of total researchers (HC), 2016 or latest year available
100%
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40% 85.5%
30%
57.1%
56.1%
55.4%
53.3%
52.3%
52.1%
52.0%
51.4%
49.5%
49.4%
49.1%
48.6%
45.7%
45.0% 44.8%
20% 44.1%
41.9%
41.5%
41.4%
40.6%
40.3%
40.0%
39.8%
39.7%
39.2%
39.0%
38.7%
36.9%
36.4%
34.9%
34.8%
33.9%
33.8%
33.2%
33.2%
31.4%
30.7%
30.6%
30.1%
29.8%
29.8%
29.6%
29.3%
28.9%
27.8%
27.7%
27.1%
25.7%
25.3%
24.8%
23.7%
23.3%
23.2% 23.1%
10% 23.0%
22.6%
22.4%
21.8%
21.8%
21.2%
20.8%
20.0%
19.7%
19.5%
18.3%
16.5%
15.7%
15.2%
14.5%
14.0%
13.9%
13.3%
12.8%
9.8%
10.4%
10.3%
10.0% 7.8%
0% 4.8%
IRAQ
CHAD
TOGO
MALI-1 JAPAN
EGYPT
LIBYA-7
OMAN-1
TUNISIA INDIA-1*
JORDAN
NEPAL-6
KENYA-6
QATAR-1
GHANA-6
GABON-7
ARMENIA
ZAMBIA-8
GEORGIA
GUINEA-3
KUWAIT-1
GAMBIA-5
MALAWI-6 ISRAEL-5*
SUDAN-11
NAMIBIA-2 NIGERIA-9
ANGOLA-5
UGANDA-2
MOROCCO RWANDA-7 BAHRAIN-2
MONGOLIA
BURUNDI-5
ETHIOPIA-3
VIETNAM-1 CONGO-16*
SENEGAL-1
LESOTHO-1 TAJIKISTAN
ALGERIA-11
TANZANIA-3 THAILAND-1
PAKISTAN-1 LAOPDR-14
MALAYSIA-1
SRI LANKA-2
MAURITANIA AZERBAIJAN
ZIMBABWE-4 CAMBODIA-1
UZBEKISTAN
MAURITIUS-4
PALESTINE-3 KOREA, REP.
MYANMAR-14
SEYCHELLES
BOTSWANA-3
CONGO, DR-1 KAZAKHSTAN
SWAZILAND-1
CAMEROON-8
KYRGYZSTAN
SINGAPORE-2
INDONESIA-11
PHILIPPINES-3
MADAGASCAR
CHINA, MACAO
CABOVERDE-5
MOZAMBIQUE-1
SAUDIARABIA-3
BANGLADESH-19
SOUTHAFRICA-1
BURKINA FASO-2
NEW ZEALAND-15
CÔTE D'IVOIRE-11
PAPUA NEW GUINEA
IRAN,ISLAMIC REP.-3
BRUNEI DARUSSALAM-12 CENTRAL AFRICAN REP.-9
Notes: -1 = 2015, -2 = 2014, -3 = 2013, -4 = 2012, -5 = 2011, -6 = 2010, -7 = 2009, -8 = 2008, -9 = 2007, -11 = 2005, -12 = 2004, -14= 2002, -15= 2001, -16 = 2000, -19 = 1997. * = Based on FTE data. Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics, June 2018.
Please consult the UIS website http://uis.unesco.org to access the UIS database and subscribe to eAlerts on the Institute’s latest publications, data visualisations and data releases.
For more information on R&D data, please consult the UNESCO eAtlas of Research and Experimental Development at http://on.unesco.org/RD-map