A new report dealing with gender equality in research and innovation in the EU reveals that only 32.8% of graduates in science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) in the EU were women. The ‘She Figures 2024’ report was released by the EU’s Publications Office on 11 February 2025, the International Day of Women and Girls in Science.
While women outnumber men in bachelor’s studies across all fields, their representation drops sharply as they progress up the educational and professional career ladder.
The She Figures report shows that women’s representation at the doctoral level has decreased in half of all narrow STEM fields since 2018. Those include biology, physics, mathematics, computer science, engineering and technology, and architecture.
With the demand for high-skilled workers in STEM on the rise, more needs to be done to promote greater gender equality and inclusion.
Dr Katalin Oborni, a sociologist at the HÉTFA Research Institute in Budapest, Hungary, who is working to overturn the gender imbalance in research, points to several possible reasons for this.
Girls may lack role models and suffer from low self-confidence when it comes to studying STEM subjects.
“Girls are often socialised to avoid STEM subjects,” said Oborni. “They grow up to assume ‘maths and science isn’t for me’, even if they have a natural talent in these subjects. And instead, they turn their attention to the humanities.”
Empowering girls and women in science
Oborni is part of a growing collective of researchers and policymakers dedicated to challenging the erroneous assumption that girls should avoid science.
She coordinates STREAM IT, a three-year EU-funded collaboration whose researchers aim to reduce persistent gender inequalities in STEM education.
According to her, although teachers interviewed on the topic notice these trends, they do not always stop to analyse the reasons for them or whether there is anything they could do about it.
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We want girls to feel encouraged to study maths and science at school and beyond.
This is where Oborni and her 21 partners – associations, universities, small and medium enterprises, research centres and foundations from 19 countries – hope to make a difference.
“We want girls to feel encouraged to study maths and science at school and beyond, and to know they can have fulfilling, prestigious careers in a related field,” she said.
Over the next two years – until the project ends in December 2026 – the STREAM IT research partners will engage with teachers and other educators to promote a teaching methodology known as STE(A)M – combining STEM subjects with the elements of the liberal arts.
Their work is inspired by the EU’s STE(A)M Manifesto, an interdisciplinary strategy aimed at making academic careers in science more attractive to women by encouraging creative thinking and highlighting the societal relevance of scientific endeavours.
The art of science
By adding the “Arts” to STEM, Oborni believes that the teaching of STEM can be made more creative and more relevant to real-life problems.
“It encourages critical thinking and makes STEM subjects more interesting and motivating for all learners.”
For instance, during a class about bridge construction, students might be introduced to the engineering challenges of creating the structure, but also the importance of design and aesthetics.
Or, during a class on stop-motion animation, they will need to use technology to create their animation, but also have to consider the artistic presentation of their characters.
This approach can be used in many subjects, from coding and robotics to sustainability and choreography, said Oborni.
According to her, STE(A)M is not about including art as a topic in itself, it is about using an approach inspired by the arts and humanities. The aim is to include creative problem-solving methods and real-world applications as a way to make STEM subjects more motivating for everyone.
The STREAM IT researchers are analysing the training that teachers undergo before entering the classroom and their methods for teaching STEM subjects. The aim is to identify weak links in the education pipeline that may alienate some students.
The team is also working to create “national inspiration hubs”. These are networking platforms where STEM educators will be offered interactive webinars and training workshops to guide them towards a more inclusive approach to teaching. Teachers will be able to meet online and exchange ideas.
Inspiring innovation in education
Juancho Pons, a project manager at Edelvives, a leading publisher of educational books for children in Spain, is also deeply motivated by the need to address gender inequalities in education.
He is coordinating a multi-country team of researchers that is striving to get the STE(A)M teaching methodology rolled out in schools across Europe.
Bringing together academic researchers and technology institutions from Croatia, Romania, Portugal, Sweden and Spain, the team is working together as part of an EU-funded alliance called STEAMbrace, which runs until the end of 2026.
By implementing a variety of STE(A)M activities in schools, universities and museums, they aim to foster a learning environment that is motivating for all students.
“We want all students to see STEM not as a subject they have to pass in school and then forget about, but as something truly interesting to embrace,” Pons said.
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Our society is poorer when any part of it is missing – it’s a loss of talent.
Like the STREAM IT researchers, the STEAMbrace team is creating a digital networking hub for teachers that will feature tailored training activities to promote STE(A)M.
They are also developing plans for a flagship STEAM week initiative, envisioned as an annual highlight on the EU calendar. This will bring workshops, expert talks and student competitions built around the STE(A)M theme.
All hands on deck
Pons firmly believes that both parents and teachers play a crucial role in encouraging girls and young women to pursue STEM careers.
In a constantly changing world, where science and innovation are so important, the global demand for STEM professionals is growing, and there is a significant shortage of talent.
For instance, Germany, Europe’s largest economy, lacked 320 000 STEM specialists as of April 2022, according to a report by the German Economic Institute. In the US, the deficit of STEM workers is 3.5 million in 2025, according to national reports.
Getting more girls and women involved in science will therefore expand the talent pool and help bring a more balanced perspective and approach to tackling scientific problems.
Many global challenges, such as women’s health, childcare and gender-related economic disparities, could urgently benefit from having female scientists who bring first-hand knowledge and empathy to these problems.
Therefore, encouraging girls to take up science in school is not just about fairness. It is also about building a smarter, more inclusive and innovative world.
“Our society is poorer when any part of it is missing – it’s a loss of talent,” said Pons.
Research in this article was funded by the EU’s Horizon Programme. The views of the interviewees don’t necessarily reflect those of the European Commission. If you liked this article, please consider sharing it on social media.
