Finland has the lowest rate of female scientists in the EU

Every February 11, the Day of Women and Girls in Science is celebrated in the world.

On the occasion of the event, the Statistical Office of the European Union (Eurostat) has published comparative data on the presence of women in science and technology. And Finland, a country that has been a pioneer in placing women in leadership positions in some sectors, in this case it ranks as the worst performer in Europe.

According to the figures released by Eurostat, in 2018 less than one third of scientists and engineers were women in Finland (29%). Finland is followed in the ranking, from the bottom up, by Hungary (30% of women), Luxembourg (31%) and Germany (33%).

In 2018, of 14.8 million scientists and engineers in the EU, 8.7 million (or 59%) were men and 6 million (41%) were women, says Eurostat.

Four member states with majority of women

However, in four member states the majority of scientists and engineers were women: Lithuania (57% female), Bulgaria and Latvia (both 52%) and Denmark (51%).

Men were particularly overrepresented in manufacturing (79% of scientists and engineers in this sector were male), while the gender ratio in the services was more balanced (54% male and 46% female).