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
statistics in the fields of
Overall, women account for a minority of the world’s researchers. Despite the
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%
62.7%

61.6%

53.6%

53.2%

52.6%

51.8%

30%
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%

31.9%

20%

10%

0%
SAINT LUCIA-17
COSTA RICA-2
URUGUAY

EL SALVADOR-1

MEXICO-3

PERU-1
BOLIVIA-6

TRINIDAD AND

PANAMA-3

CUBA
VENEZUELA-1

HONDURAS-1
NICARAGUA-14

ECUADOR-2

BERMUDA-1
COLOMBIA-1
PARAGUAY-1

CHILE
GUATEMALA-1

ARGENTINA-1
TOBAGO-1

Notes: -1= 2015, -2 = 2014, -3 = 2013, -6 = 2010, -14 = 2002, -17 = 1999.
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics, June 2018.
 3

0%
10%
40%
70%

20%
30%
50%
60%
80%
90%
100%
LATVIA-1 51.0%
TFYR MACEDONIA 50.8%
LITHUANIA-1 50.7%
REPUBLIC OF MOLDOVA 49.1%
CROATIA-1 48.9%
SERBIA 48.4%
BULGARIA-1 47.9%
MONTENEGRO-1 47.6%

Notes: -1=2015, -8 = 2008.

ICELAND 47.2%
BOSNIA/HERZEGOVINA 47.1%
ROMANIA-1 46.2%
UKRAINE 45.0%
ALBANIA-8 44.3%
PORTUGAL-1 44.1%
ESTONIA-1 43.9%
SLOVAKIA-1 42.2%

Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics, June 2018.

RUSSIAN FEDERATION 40.0%
SPAIN-1 40.0%
BELARUS 39.6%
UNITED KINGDOM-1 38.6%
GREECE-1 38.0%
UIS Fact Sheet No. 51 | June 2018

CYPRUS-1 37.9%
NORWAY-1 37.4%
TURKEY-1 37.3%
POLAND-1 37.0%
SLOVENIA-1 36.5%
Figure 3. A breakdown of female researchers in Europe

ITALY-1 36.0%
IRELAND-1 35.9%
BELGIUM-1 34.1%
SWEDEN-1 33.7%
SWITZERLAND-1 33.5%
DENMARK-1 32.5%
FINLAND-1 32.3%
HUNGARY-1 30.8%
Female researchers as a percentage of total researchers (HC), 2016 or latest year available

AUSTRIA-1 29.5%
LUXEMBOURG-1 28.9%
MALTA-1 28.5%
GERMANY-1 28.0%
FRANCE-1 27.0%
CZECHIA-1 26.9%
NETHERLANDS-1 25.4%
 4

100%

10%
20%
60%
70%

30%
40%
50%
80%
90%

0%
TUNISIA 55.4%
SOUTH AFRICA-1 45.0%
EGYPT 44.1%
MAURITIUS-4 41.9%
CENTRAL AFRICAN REP.-9 41.5%
SWAZILAND-1 41.4%
SUDAN-11 40.0%
CABO VERDE-5 39.8%
NAMIBIA-2 38.7%
LESOTHO-1 36.4%
SEYCHELLES 34.9%
ALGERIA-11 34.8%
MOROCCO 33.8%

* = Based on FTE data.

MADAGASCAR 33.2%
ZAMBIA-8 30.7%
TANZANIA-3 29.8%
UGANDA-2 29.8%
BOTSWANA-3 29.6%
SENEGAL-1 29.3%
MOZAMBIQUE-1 28.9%
ANGOLA-5 27.1%
KENYA-6 25.7%
ZIMBABWE-4 25.3%
LIBYA-7 24.8%
NIGERIA-9 23.3%
MAURITANIA 23.1%
GABON-7 22.4%
RWANDA-7 21.8%
CAMEROON-8 21.8%
GAMBIA-5 20.0%
MALAWI-6 19.5%
GHANA-6 18.3%

Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics, June 2018.

CÔTE D'IVOIRE-11 16.5%
BURKINA FASO-2 15.2%
BURUNDI-5 14.5%
ETHIOPIA-3 13.3%
CONGO-16* 12.8%
MALI-1 10.4%
CONGO, DR-1 10.3%

releases.
TOGO 10.0%
GUINEA-3 9.8%
UIS Fact Sheet No. 51 | June 2018

CHAD 4.8%

MYANMAR-14 85.5%
AZERBAIJAN 57.1%
THAILAND-1 56.1%
KAZAKHSTAN 53.3%
GEORGIA 52.3%
52.1%

-11 = 2005, -12 = 2004, -14= 2002, -15= 2001, -16 = 2000, -19 = 1997.
ARMENIA
KUWAIT-1 51.4%
PHILIPPINES-3 49.5%
KYRGYZSTAN 49.4%
MONGOLIA 49.1%
MALAYSIA-1 48.6%
SRI LANKA-2 45.7%
VIET NAM-1 44.8%
BRUNEI DARUSSALAM-12 40.6%
UZBEKISTAN 40.3%
IRAQ 39.7%
CHINA, MACAO 39.2%

Experimental Development at http://on.unesco.org/RD-map

BAHRAIN-2 39.0%
TAJIKISTAN 36.9%
PAKISTAN-1 33.9%
QATAR-1 31.4%
INDONESIA-11 30.6%
SINGAPORE-2 30.1%
Female researchers as a percentage of total researchers (HC), 2016 or latest year available

OMAN-1 27.8%

Please consult the UIS website http://uis.unesco.org to access the UIS database
IRAN, ISLAMIC REP.-3 27.7%
CAMBODIA-1 23.7%
SAUDI ARABIA-3 23.2%

For more information on R&D data, please consult the UNESCO eAtlas of Research and
LAO PDR-14 23.0%
Figure 4. A breakdown of female researchers in Africa, Asia and the Pacific

and subscribe to eAlerts on the Institute’s latest publications, data visualisations and data
PALESTINE-3 22.6%
ISRAEL-5* 21.2%
JORDAN 20.8%
Notes: -1 = 2015, -2 = 2014, -3 = 2013, -4 = 2012, -5 = 2011, -6 = 2010, -7 = 2009, -8 = 2008, -9 = 2007,
KOREA, REP. 19.7%
JAPAN 15.7%
BANGLADESH-19 14.0%
INDIA-1* 13.9%
NEPAL-6 7.8%

NEW ZEALAND-15 52.0%

PAPUA NEW GUINEA 33.2%