In short
- The share of female researchers in the Netherlands is growing.
- Internationally, the proportion of female researchers in the Netherlands is low.
- This is partly due to a low proportion of female scientists in the business world.
Female researchers in the Netherlands by sector
Business | Research institutes | Higher education | |
2001 | 9,3 | 19,5 | 25,7 |
2003 | 8,7 | 24,8 | 28,1 |
2005 | 10 | 29,4 | 30,1 |
2007 | 13,2 | 30,1 | 30,3 |
2009 | 14,2 | 30,4 | 32,6 |
2011 | 14,9 | 33,6 | 40,8 |
2012 | 15,4 | 40,5 | 41,1 |
2013 | 18,2 | 39,8 | 41,4 |
2014 | 18,6 | 39 | 41,8 |
2015 | 18,8 | 38,5 | 42,2 |
2016 | 20,1 | 40,6 | 42,8 |
2017 | 20,3 | 36,9 | 43,1 |
2018 | 21,3 | 40,9 | 43,7 |
2019 | 22,3 | 41,4 | 43,7 |
2020 | 22,6 | 43,2 | 44,8 |
2021 | 24,2 | 45,5 | 45,7 |
Analysis
In the Netherlands the share of female researchers is the largest in the higher education sector, followed by the research institutes. The business sector is clearly falling behind on this aspect when compared to the other two sectors. This might be related to the more natural and technical orientation of the research in the business sector, when compared to higher education and research institutes. Between 2001 and 2021 the share of women has increased significantly in all sectors. As of 2013, the share of women researchers has grown fastest in the business sector. This could be partially explained through a data revision. As a consequence, some organisations that were previously classified as research institutes are now classified as businesses.
Comparison of female researchers in the Netherlands and in other countries
2021 | |
PRT | 42,56396853 |
ESP | 41,59680482 |
UK | 38,6 |
NOR | 38,5467428 |
SWI | 37,502872 |
IRE | 37,36350948 |
ITA | 36,09627635 |
DEN | 35,3 |
SWE | 34,62594804 |
EU27 | 33,707 |
BEL | 33,52072085 |
FIN | 32,80407202 |
EU19 | 32,37 |
AUT | 31,25168796 |
NLD | 30,24504165 |
LUX | 29,89855846 |
FRA | 29,87065766 |
GER | 29,35781409 |
CZE | 27,10106995 |
KOR | 22,1684911 |
JAP | 17,83431137 |
Analysis
The disparity between countries in the share of female researchers is large. For example, in Portugal, Spain, the United Kingdom and Norway a relatively high share of researchers is female. In contrast, the Netherlands has a relatively low share of female researchers, mainly caused by the relatively low share of female researchers at companies (She Figures 2018).
More international data on women in science can be found in the EU-publication "She Figures 2018".
For an explanation of the used definitions and abbreviations we refer to the webpage Definitions for Science in Figures.
Related publications
- Academic careers of researchers
- Women in academia
- Research grants: a stepping stone for women in their scientific career?
- University positions by age and gender
- Share of female university personnel by function category
- Share of female professors, in the Netherlands and EU countries
- Share of women amongst doctorate holders in the Netherlands