STATUS AND TRENDS OF WOMEN IN SCIENCE: New Insights and Sectoral Perspectives 2025

This factsheet provides an update on the status and trends of female researchers, using a unique global dataset and offering a more detailed picture of where women are training and working in science. It draws on disaggregated data across sectors—public, private, higher education and non-profit. It also highlights women in quantum and water sciences, as special themes for 2025. Data series from UNESCO Member States coordinated by the UNESCO Institute for Statistics show three major gender gaps: Globally, young women are more likely than young men to enroll in higher education, with 46% of women and 40% of men enrolling in advanced studies within five years of completing their secondary education. But women account for 35% of science graduates. Women form a persistently low share of scientific researchers. Just one in three researchers globally is a woman. Women are moving towards equitable representation in the research workforce in academia and the public sector while men continue to dominate in the private sector, in the majority of countries. Version française disponible. https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000393768