The document discusses gender gaps in education and skills. It provides data showing: 1) Women are less likely than men to not have an upper secondary degree, though fields of study tend to differ significantly between girls and boys. 2) Girls perform slightly below boys in mathematics on average internationally, though differences exist between countries. 3) Due to differences in fields of study, male university students tend to have higher numeracy skills than females. 4) Numeracy skills are linked to higher earnings potential. Initiatives to improve gender balance in STEM could boost economic outcomes.

1. Gender, Education and Skills
The persistence of gender gaps in education and skills
Marta Encinas-Martin
Senior Advisor
Global relations and co-operation
OECD Education gender ambassador

2. Gender differences in performance in
upper secondary education

3. -20
-10
0
10
20
30
40
50
Qatar
Jordan
Saudi
Arabia
United
Arab
Emirates
Finland
Malta
Thailand
Israel
North
Macedonia
Albania
Bulgaria
Georgia
Greece
Moldova
Norway
Slovenia
Dominican
Republic
Morocco
Hong
Kong
(China)
Iceland
Latvia
Netherlands
Sweden
Turkey
Kazakhstan
Brunei
Darussalam
Indonesia
Malaysia
Lithuania
Slovak
Republic
Kosovo
Baku
(Azerbaijan)
Serbia
Estonia
Lebanon
Luxembourg
Montenegro
Croatia
Philippines
Canada
OECD
average
Denmark
Macao
(China)
Czech
Republic
Brazil
Ireland
Germany
France
Bosnia
and
Herzegovina
Romania
Switzerland
Poland
Panama
United
States
Chinese
Taipei
Australia
New
Zealand
Ukraine
Austria
Spain
United
Kingdom
Japan
Belarus
Italy
Uruguay
Chile
Singapore
Korea
Belgium
Portugal
Hungary
Mexico
Costa
Rica
Argentina
B-S-J-Z
(China)
Colombia
Peru
Gender gap in science in PISA 2018
Score-point
difference
(Girls-Boys)
The gender gap in Science is low on average in OECD countries,
but there are marked countries differences

4. -25
-20
-15
-10
-5
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
Qatar
Thailand
Saudi
Arabia
Malta
Philippines
Iceland
Indonesia
Israel
United
Arab
Emirates
Cyprus
Brunei
Darussalam
North
Macedonia
Norway
Malaysia
Jordan
Finland
Hong
Kong
(China)
Albania
Georgia
Dominican
Republic
Lithuania
Moldova
Bulgaria
Sweden
Lebanon
Greece
Slovenia
Morocco
Kazakhstan
Netherlands
Poland
Bosnia
and
Herzegovina
Serbia
Czech
Republic
Chinese
Taipei
Macao
(China)
Denmark
Korea
Singapore
Kosovo
Slovak
Republic
Russia
Canada
Turkey
OECD
average
Romania
Ireland
Australia
Belarus
France
Spain
Latvia
Ukraine
Germany
Switzerland
Chile
Luxembourg
Baku
(Azerbaijan)
Panama
Montenegro
Uruguay
Estonia
Brazil
United
States
Croatia
Hungary
New
Zealand
Portugal
Japan
B-S-J-Z
(China)
Mexico
Belgium
United
Kingdom
Austria
Argentina
Italy
Peru
Costa
Rica
Colombia
Gender gap in mathematics in PISA 2018
Score-point
difference
(Girls-Boys)
Girls perform slightly below boys on average in mathematics, but not in all
countries – PISA 2018

5. Tertiary Education

6. 0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
2000 2005 2010 2015 2020
Proportion without an upper secondary degree among 25-65 olds
by gender, OECD average, EAG
Men Women
Women in the labour force are nowadays less likely than men not to hold an upper
secondary degree, than they were in 2000

7. However, Field of Study tend to be very
different between girls and boys

8. 0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
Education Health and welfare Engineering, manufacturing
and construction
Information and
Communication Technologies
(ICTs)
Percentage of women in each field of tertiary education,
Average of participating countries, EAG
2020 2005
University enrolments for women haven’t evolved since 2005 …
Women are more
numerous

9. 15-year-olds Girls and Boys have different career expectations
Boys
Girls
8
4
0
4
8
12
16
Doctors
Teachers
Nursing
and
midwives
Psychologists
Veterinarians
Motor
vehicle
mechanics
Engineers
ICT
professionals
Career expectation at age 15,
by gender and by year, PISA
Girls 2018 Boys 2018 Girls 2000 Boys 2000

10. Due to Field of Study choice…
at university, the use of maths is overwhelmingly
higher among men

11. As a consequence of field of study choice, male university students have higher proficiency
in numeracy than women - PIAAC
-25
-20
-15
-10
-5
0
5
Israel
Denmark
Australia
Mexico
Greece
Czech
Republic
Ireland
England
(UK)
Chile
Finland
France
Flanders
(Belgium)
United
States
Spain
Sweden
Netherlands
Japan
New
Zealand
Germany
Austria
OECD
Average
Italy
Poland
Northern
Ireland
(UK
Canada
Norway
Slovenia
Hungary
Estonia
Slovak
Republic
Korea
Singapore
Peru
Ecuador
Turkey
Lithuania
Kazakhstan
Score point difference
Numeracy gender gap among tertiary students,
women – men, by country, PIAAC Cycle I
Female students are
better at numeracy
Male students are
better at numeracy

12. SURVEY OF ADULT SKILLS
12
Different competencies lead to different
opportunities

13. 0
500
1 000
1 500
2 000
2 500
3 000
3 500
4 000
Below level 1 Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Level 4 or 5
Monthly earnings with bonuses
($PPP)
Earnings among 25 to 65 year olds
by numeracy levels and gender, OECD average, PIAAC cycle I
Men Women
Numeracy skills are related to higher earnings - PIAAC

14. Effect of narrowing the STEM gender gap on GDP
0.0%
1.0%
2.0%
3.0%
4.0%
5.0%
2015 2020 2025 2030 2035 2040 2045 2050
• Improvement in GDP per
capita by 0.7 to 0.9%
• Improvement in GDP by
€130 to €180 billion
• Improvement in GDP per
capita by 2.2 to 3.0%
• Improvement in GDP by
€610 to €820 billion
Rapid improvement in gender equality Slow improvement in gender equality
EIGE- Gender equality index 2022

15. For more information about OECD’s Work on gender
www.oecd.org/gender
For more information, contact:
Marta.Encinas-Martin@oecd.org
Thank you!

16. © 2023 OECD/NEA 23 June 2023
Dr Fiona Rayment, OBE
Vice Chair, NEA Steering Committee
Chief Science and Technology Officer
National Nuclear Laboratory (UK)
Gender Balance in the
Nuclear Sector
NEA Data, Policy and Initiatives to Enhance
the Educational Pipeline for Nuclear
Science

17. The Need to Improve Gender Balance
Dr Chien-Shiung Wu
1912-1997
Dr Marie Skłodowska-Curie
1867-1934
Dr Lise Meitner
1878-1968
The Challenge:
 Previous generations retiring, small talent pipeline
 Nuclear energy can help global effort to reach net-zero
 Perceptions about ‘masculine’ sector, lack of social trust
The Opportunity:
 New investment = opportunity to recruit diverse talent
 Diversity = higher innovation and performance
 Diversity = change nuclear culture & improve trust
Who is following these famous pioneers?
Findings:
• 25% of nuclear workforce
in NEA countries is female
 STEM roles: 20% female
 Leadership: 18% female
• Current hiring and promotions trends will not
improve gender balance
 Least change forecast in STEM & leadership
 Leadership roles in nuclear require STEM
• ‘Masculine’ nuclear culture
 Workplace hostility higher for women in STEM
 Lack of female role models in nuclear
Download the report 
oecd-nea.org/gender

18. OECD Council Recommendation on Improving the Gender Balance in the
Nuclear Sector
Attract
women into the
nuclear sector
Retain
& support women in
the workforce
Advance
& develop women as
leaders
What:
• International policy instrument by OECD Council
 High-level political commitment by 41 OECD
and NEA countries to implement nationally
• Targeted actions under three pillars plus data
 ‘Attract’ pillar includes provisions for
enhancing the educational pipeline
How:
• Leverages government purview over nuclear agencies,
contractors and funding recipients
• Welcomes broad range of nuclear orgs to join
Next Steps:
• Implementation tools, regular data collection
DATA REPORTING & ACCOUNTABILITY
‘Attract, Retain & Advance + Data’ Framework
Learn more:
oecd-nea.org/gender

19. Enhancing the Educational Pipeline in Nuclear Science
NEA Global Forum on Nuclear Education, Science, Technology and
Policy (Launched Jan 2021)
Engages with academic institutions to address international policy challenges,
including nuclear education & gender
Sample activity: Annual Rising Stars Workshop for female university students
and recent graduates to welcome to nuclear field and offer career and
leadership development
Learn more  oecd-nea.org/rising-stars
NEA Nuclear Education, Skills and Technology Framework (NEST)
(Launched Feb 2019)
Multinational partnership developing skills, practical experience and
knowledge in the next generation of nuclear experts through hands-
on international research projects
Gender balance strategy launched in 2021
Learn more  oecd-nea.org/nest

20. © 2023 OECD/NEA
In sum:
• Enhancing the educationalpipeline for women in STEM crucial for nuclear sector
• Report on women in nuclear sector illustrates challenges
• Women underrepresented in nuclear STEM jobs
• Little change at current trends
• OECD policy instrument commits countries to enhancing the educational pipeline
• NEA initiatives launched
Learn more:
oecd-nea.org/gender
oecd-nea.org/globalforum