Celebrating Women in Research and Innovation

New figures from Elsevier have made clear the critical role women play in the UK’s research and innovation ecosystem. 

At a time when Equality, Diversity and Inclusion interventions are increasingly being challenged, and in the context of severe national skills shortages, it is essential that the important contribution made by women researchers is fully recognised.    

Women now represent four in ten (41%) of active researchers in the UK, which is in line with the US (42%) and the average for the European Union (42%). Several nations in the study had higher shares of women in active research roles, such as Portugal and Argentina (both 52%), and Brazil (49%). However, the UK does outperform France (40%), Germany (35%) and Japan (22%) on this metric. 

The UK has also seen an improving trend in awarding grants to female researchers, with close to two fifths of grants awarded to women in 2022.  

Of equal note is the impact of research conducted by women. Elsevier’s data shows that the Field Weighted Citation Impact (FWCI) score of research conducted by women was 1.32 in 2022, far above the scores for female-led research in the EU (1.03) and the rest of the world (0.98). 

Elsevier’s data suggests that UK research papers authored by women are 80% more highly cited in patents than the global average; and nearly three times more cited in policy-related documents (277%).  

Looking at the wider global picture, the latest Times Higher Education World University Rankings for 2025 also showed that 55 of the top 200 higher education institutions have a female president or vice chancellor (27%). This was up from 25% in 2024 and 14% in 2015. 

It is important that we celebrate these successes and the wide range of interventions, including the likes of Athena-Swan, that have contributed to achieving them. But there’s still much work to do, and we need to ensure that women in research and business have the opportunities and support they need.

Recent research by the House of Lords, which considered the role of women in science and technology, showed that several barriers persist impacting female employment in STEM sectors. These include early academic STEM careers being characterised by short-term contracts, which act as a barrier to job security. Research from the House of Commons’ Science Innovation and Technology Committee also found that this career stage “often coincides with the time many women are considering starting families. As women are often the primary carer, they are more likely than men to end their STEM career at this stage.”  

The Equal4Europe project noted several barriers women face when pursuing academic careers. Balancing family responsibilities with the requirements of an academic career (which can include travel, international mobility and long hours); unconscious or implicit gender bias; and sexual harassment in male-dominated fields with a hierarchical power structure all negatively impact the number of women who pursue research careers.  

Minister for Skills, Jacqui Smith, outlined recently what the Government is doing to increase overall participation in STEM subjects, including raising the number of girls and women choosing STEM school subjects and careers. This includes an Advanced mathematics support programme, which Ms Smith stated includes “strategies to raise girls’ participation in mathematics post-16”.  

From leading world-class universities to driving cutting-edge developments in business, women are shaping the future. NCUB will continue to make sure that these contributions are recognised, valued, and celebrated – and that this translates into interventions that maintain and push forward the progress made so far.