According to data from 2024 by the “El Servicio Público de Empleo Estatal”, the Spanish State Employment Public Service, women constitute a substantial portion of the country’s labor force population. In 2024, approximately 11.5 million women participated in the labor force. Among them, over 10.1 million were employed, while nearly 1.4 million were unemployed and actively looking for work. In 2022, the share of women science and engineering researchers in Spain was 46.5% (Elsevier). Although women engineering scholars represent almost half of researchers in Spain, their research impact is less than that of their male counterparts.
2021-2024
Spanish Ministry of Labor and Social Economy
According to the Spanish Ministry of Labor and Social Economy, there has been a slight increase in the share of women engineers employed in Spain in the past 5 years. As of 2024, the share of women in engineering occupations was 25.0%.
*Females as a percent of total shown in figure
According to the Spanish Ministry of Labor and Social Economy, the share of unemployed engineers in Spain has remained stable in the past 5 years. As of 2024, the share of unemployed women in engineering occupations was 28.3%.
*Females as a percent of total shown in figure
2024
Spanish Ministry of Labor and Social Economy
Examining the 2024 labor data for women in engineering in Spain shows both progress and challenges. In terms of employment, women are making significant advances in various engineering fields. For example, women comprise over half of Environmental engineering occupations (55.0%) and 46.1% of Chemical engineers in the country. However, other areas require attention to achieve gender parity. Mechanical (15.5%), Electronic (17.1%), and Electric (19.3%) engineers have the lowest percentage of female employees.
Regardless of their qualifications, women face variable rates of unemployment across fields. Chemical and Environmental engineering have 51.9% and 55.6%, respectively. The occupations with the lowest percentage of unemployed women include Electric (14.6%), Mechanical (16.0%), and Aeronautical (16.7%) engineering. These statistics show the various problems dealing with the representation of women in the engineering labor force in Spain, emphasizing the need for targeted initiatives to address disparities and promote inclusivity within the field.
2022
Elsevier
Elsevier provided a field-weighted citation impact (FWCI) indicator to measure the academic impact of a publication. Examining research impact by gender in Spain reveals women have a lower research impact in engineering than men, and this finding holds across career stage. Although women scholars represent almost half of researchers in Spain, their (0.96) FWCI in 2022 was less than that of their male counterparts (1.02). To view additional information on research impact, including trends over time and data broken down by type of publication, visit the Progress Toward Gender Equality In Research And Innovation Dashboard.
Resources
- Elsevier. (2024). Progress Toward Gender Equality In Research And Innovation.
- Ministerial de Trabajo y Economía Social de España, El Servicio Público de Empleo Estatal. (2024). Informacion mensual/annual de mercado de trabajo por ocupacion.
- Ministerial de Trabajo y Economía Social de España, El Servicio Público de Empleo Estatal. (2024). Informe del Mercado de Trabajo de las Mujeres.
Additional Resources
- The UNESCO Institute for Statistics. (2024). Other policy relevant R&D indicators: Female researchers as a percentage of total researchers.