Engineers Ireland has highlighted new Eurostat data showing that the number of women working as scientists and engineers in the European Union reached 7.9 million in 2024, representing 40.5% of the total workforce in these fields.
Ireland recorded a particularly strong performance, with 47.3% of its scientists and engineers being women, placing it among the EU countries with the highest female representation. Only Latvia (50.9%) and Denmark (48.8%) reported higher shares. At the other end of the spectrum, Finland (30.7%) and Hungary (31.7%) had the lowest representation of women in these roles.
The data reflects a significant upward trend over the past 16 years, with the number of women in engineering and scientific roles rising from 3.4 million in 2008 to 5.2 million in 2014, and reaching the current total of 7.9 million in 2024.
The share of women varies across sectors. In knowledge-intensive services, women make up 45.1% of scientists and engineers, while in services the figure is 45.0%. In manufacturing, female representation is lower at 22.4%, and 23.6% in other economic activities.
These figures highlight both progress and the work still to be done to achieve gender balance, particularly in STEM-intensive sectors such as manufacturing. Ireland’s above-average representation shows the impact of policies and initiatives aimed at encouraging women to enter and remain in engineering and scientific careers.
For more information, visit Engineers Ireland.
