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Empowering women in science: Tackling the industry’s gender gap

This International Day of Women and Girls in Science, we take a closer look at the current landscape, solutions and opportunities in science to help close the gender gap for women and girls.

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This year marks the 10th International Day of Women and Girls in Science, a global day recognised by the United Nations to celebrate the achievements of women in science, promote greater participation in the field, and serve as a reminder of the importance of achieving gender equality in STEM. 

From Marie Curie and Rosalind Franklin to Dorothy Hodgkin and many other female scientists of the past and present, science as we know it today would not exist without their groundbreaking and innovative work and yet, historically, women’s role in science has been undervalued and often minimised. 

While progress has been made, the field is still a long way from achieving true gender equality with reports from the UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS) that less than 30% of the world’s researchers are women. 

This International Day of Women and Girls in Science let’s explore why that is and what tangible actions we can take to change it. 

The current landscape for women in science

According to The Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET), more than one million women are now in STEM roles but still only make up 29% of the STEM workforce in the UK – so what does this mean for science careers?

We already know that less than 30% of the world’s researchers are women but UNESCO has also reported that:

  • 1 in 3 scientists worldwide is a woman.
  • Only 12% of the National Academy of Science members are women.

Numbers may vary across disciplines, but the fact remains that women are still largely underrepresented in science. 

Why are women underrepresented in science?

Stereotypes: Bias from an early age

Recent research shows that people still believe stereotypes that suggest that men are more brilliant than women, and surprisingly, beliefs in these stereotypes are stronger in developed and seemingly gender-equal countries. 

In the same study that surveyed more than 500,000 15-year-old students in 72 countries, girls were more likely than boys to think they lack talent when they fail. It also showed that girls as young as six start to avoid activities that they think are for really smart children, highlighting that self-confidence, existing stereotypes and early career choices are some of the reasons why gender gaps exist in the industry. 

Education: A promising start

In 2024, female students made up 47.8% of core STEM subjects at GCSE level, up by 5.2%, and showed the highest participation in Statistics, Computing, Additional Mathematics and Construction. Girls continued to outperform boys in GCSE Chemistry, Physics and Biology, with GCSE Chemistry being the top science subject (45.7% of female students achieved an A or higher). 

For A-Levels, there’s been a 5% increase in core STEM subjects with A-Level Physics showing 13.7% increase among female students in 2024. Female students outperformed male students in A-Level Biology, with 28.5% achieving A*-A (this was 31.5% for Chemistry and 31.7% for Physics).

Despite this data, there have recently been reports that less than one in six female students globally pursues a STEM degree compared to one in three male students. 

Data from the UNESCO Global Education Monitoring report show that women made up 35% of STEM graduates between 2020-2021, a figure that has remained unchanged for a decade (despite general growth in higher education intake). Additionally, the gap between the numbers of women and men choosing STEM degrees is wider in countries such as Sweden, Finland and Germany.

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The workplace: Hitting the glass ceiling

When it comes to work, it’s been reported that female researchers tend to have shorter, lower-paid careers, are underrepresented in high-profile journals, are not considered as often for promotions, receive smaller research grants and generally receive less recognition than their male colleagues. 

During the COVID-19 pandemic, female scientists reported a 5% larger decline in research time, compared to male scientists.

Likewise, female founders at tech startups struggle to get access to funding and women within large tech companies do not hold nearly as many leadership positions as their male counterparts. Take the UK, for example, where in 2022, ‘female entrepreneurs received less than a 2% share of the investments made each year’, according to a taskforce report by the Office for Equality and Opportunity (formerly Equality Hub). Similarly, in the US, female-founded startups raised only 2% of venture-backed startup investments in 2023. 

How to close the gender gap in science 

Currently, almost a quarter of adults in the UK believe more needs to be done to encourage young girls to pursue a career in STEM. 

While it’s obvious there’s plenty of work to be done to close the gender gap in science, real change requires multiple solutions and help from every angle, whether that be from non-profit organisations dedicated to getting more women and girls into science, in the workplace and at schools and universities. The real work comes from no one singular source but multiple organisations working together towards a common goal.

UNESCO’s Call to Action to Close the Gender Gap in Science

In 2024, UNESCO launched its Call to Action to Close the Gender Gap in Science, addressing three key solutions:

  1. Dismantling gender stereotypes and biases in science by making female role models more visible. This would be done by increasing funding opportunities for female scientists, advocating for more representation of female scientists in school textbooks, media and pop culture and ensuring equitable representation on boards and committees. 
  1. Opening educational pathways for girls in science through inspiring initiatives and educational strategies. This would be done by making sure that science is introduced at an earlier age and increasing funding for science scholarships and excellence awards. 

By also promoting learning outside of class times with after school clubs and introducing school initiatives for parents and guardians that combat common misconceptions about science, communities can work to boost more scientific opportunities and career pathways for girls. 

  1. Creating workplace environments that attract, retain and advance women scientists through equitable policies. This would be done by putting in place compulsory training on gender bias and stereotypes, implementing longer-term contracts, equal pay and salary transparency. 

Anti-harassment policies, encouraging employers to foster a non-hierarchal, transparent and supportive workplace culture would also make it easier to take action against gender-based violence in the workplace. 

Similarly, promoting women in leadership roles, implementing soft skills training programmes for women, being more aware of biases when creating algorithms, using tech to foster collaboration amongst women in science and monitoring country-specific data to track progress would ultimately encourage more data-driven decisions to close the gender gap in science. 

Other actions

  • Training for career guidance professionals who will be able to offer bias-free advice to students who are interested in a wide range of careers, including those in science.
  • Implementing more funding for mentorship programmes, internship schemes and apprenticeships for early-career female scientists and young women and girls looking to get into a specific scientific field.
  • Lessons on the history behind scientific discoveries and the contributions of female scientists. 
  • Open up opportunities for continuous learning on topics such as equity and inclusion and how to implement relevant policies in schools and the workplace.

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Progress starts with education, and accessible, quality education is key to breaking down barriers in science for women and girls. In an effort to open up more learning opportunities and promote a culture of lifelong learning, we offer hundreds of online expert-led science courses, created by some of the world’s top universities and institutions. From biochemistry and thermodynamics to life on Mars, celebrate the achievements of female scientists and discover the science behind the world around you with FutureLearn.

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