National Assessments on Gender and STI

The National Assessments on Gender and STI is a cross-national comparison of the status of women in national knowledge economies, including STI. It is a collaborative initiative of Women in Global Science and Technology (WISAT), the Organization for Women in Science for the Developing World (OWSD), the Elsevier Foundation, and GenderInSITE (Gender in science, innovation, technology and engineering).

The first phase – an assessment of six countries and one region – took place during 2012 with funding from the Elsevier Foundation: Brazil, India, Indonesia, the Republic of Korea, South Africa, the United States, and the European Union.

In the second phase studies in Latin America (Argentina, Mexico) and East Africa (Kenya, Ethiopia, Rwanda and Uganda), Senegal, and Nepal were completed and published.  The Panama national assessment was completed in early 2019 and is awaiting final editing before publication of the full study. Summaries of the study in English and Spanish appear below.

Key Findings

The major finding from these studies is that the knowledge gender divide continues to exist in all countries, even those which have a highly-developed knowledge society. In all countries in this review – which represent the leading knowledge-based economies in the world – the knowledge society is failing to include women to an equal extent, and in some cases, their inclusion is negligible.

  • Numbers of women in the science, technology and innovation fields are alarmingly low in the world’s leading economies, and are actually on the decline in many, including the United States.
  • Women remain severely under-represented in engineering, physics and computer science — less than 30% in most countries – while the numbers of women working in these fields are also declining.
  • Women have lower levels of access to the productive resources necessary to support active engagement in the knowledge society and related professions – property (land); finance; technology; and education.
  • Female parity in the science, technology and innovation fields is tied to multiple factors, with the most influential being higher economic status, larger roles in government and politics, access to economic, productive and technological resources, and a supportive policy environment. Findings also show that women gain ground in countries that have health and childcare, equal pay, & gender mainstreaming.
  • There is no simple solution: “Getting women into science” is insufficient and needs to be supported by a multi-dimensional approach which includes access to resources, gender empowerment, along with a strong educational system.

The Global Analytical Report of Phase One, November 2012 – contains all the data and all the analysis – enjoy!

Summary report of East African Studies – Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda, May 2016.

National Reports

All the data and analysis collected at the national level, including data not contained in the global analysis. Studies contain a wealth of valuable data.

Phase I

Phase II

Media Coverage

Main findings

The Scorecard on Gender Equality and the Knowledge Society compares the key indicators in each sector of the GE-KS framework across countries:

Scorecards – Country by Country (Phase I)

If you are a data maven, download the complete data for Phase I.