Women accounted for more than half of the science and technology workforce in both Cyprus and the European Union in 2025, according to Eurostat data, reflecting the growing role of female professionals across knowledge-intensive sectors. In Cyprus, women represented 51.8% of workers in science and technology occupations, while across the EU their share reached 52.5%.

Robust Growth Across The European Union

Across the EU, 81.6 million people aged 15 to 74 were employed in science and technology-related roles in 2025. That represented an increase of 1.8%, or approximately 1.5 million workers, compared with 2024. Since 2015, employment in the sector has grown by 25.3%. Women accounted for 42.8 million of those workers, representing 52.5% of the total science and technology workforce. Female participation increased by 2.3 percentage points compared with 2024 and was nearly 28% higher than a decade earlier.

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Diversification And Elevated Representation

Science and technology employment extends beyond traditional STEM occupations and includes a broad range of professional and technical roles across physical sciences, life sciences, social sciences and humanities. Although women now represent a majority of the overall workforce in these sectors, they remain underrepresented among scientists and engineers. In 2025, women accounted for 40.8% of professionals in those occupations. Even so, female participation in scientific and engineering roles has increased significantly. The number of women working as scientists and engineers rose from 5.3 million in 2015 to 8.2 million in 2025, representing a growth of 54.4%.

Regional Discrepancies Across Europe

There are pronounced regional variances within the EU. The highest rates of female participation in science and technology were reported in Latvia (62.4%), Hungary’s Great Plain and North region (61.1%), and Estonia (60.5%). Conversely, regions such as Corsica in France (42.7%), Malta (46.0%), and Italy’s Centro region (47.2%) recorded considerably lower figures.

The Pivotal Role Of Scientists And Engineers

Scientists and engineers accounted for approximately 24.8% of the overall science and technology workforce across the EU. Germany employed the largest number of professionals in these occupations, with 4.2 million scientists and engineers. Despite steady progress in recent years, the gender gap in scientific and engineering roles remains wider than in the broader science and technology workforce, highlighting the continued challenge of achieving more balanced representation in technical professions.