Women working in science and engineering in Cyprus close to EU average

Women accounted for 44% of total employment in science and engineering in Cyprus in 2022 (18.5 thousand women out of 42.2 thousand employed in the sector), which was close to the EU average of 41% (7.3 million women out of 17.8 million employed), according to data released by Eurostat.

The figures were released on the occasion of the UN’s International Day of Women and Girls in Science which fell on 11 February.

According to this data, the number of women in this category of jobs in Cyprus increased by about 3,500 people in 2022 compared to 2021. On the EU level, there was an increase of 310,500.

Women working as scientists and engineers were primarily employed in the service sector, comprising 46% of scientists and engineers in this sector, whereas in manufacturing, only 22% of those employed as scientists and engineers were women.

In Cyprus, women working as scientists and engineers were also primarily employed in the service sector (46%), while the share in manufacturing stood at 43%.

Among the EU Member States, the proportion of female scientists and engineers varied widely in 2022, ranging from 53% in Denmark, Lithuania (52%) and Bulgaria (51%) to 31% in Hungary, Finland (32%) and Germany (34%).

Scientists and Engineers are a subcategory of the broad concept of people employed in science and technology. People are classified as working in science and technology if they work in occupations that could be involved in the systematic generation, advancement, diffusion, and application of scientific and technological knowledge, independently of the level of studies. This category also includes other occupations like technicians or associated professionals.

The highest shares of women employed in science and technology occupations in 2022, in regions by level 1 of the Nomenclature of territorial units for statistics (NUTS1) were observed in Lithuania (a single region at NUTS 1 level) (64.1 %), in the French region of Corse (63.9 %) and in Latvia (also a single region at NUTS 1 level) (62.7 %).  

At the other end of the scale, the regions with the smallest proportions of females employed in science and technology were recorded in the Italian region of Nord-Ovest (45.3%), Malta (45.8%) and the Italian region of Sud (46.1%).

In Cyprus, which is also a single region on the NUTS1 level, the share of women employed in science and technology occupations in 2022 stood at 51.4%, a little under the EU average (52.2%).

(Source: CNA)