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Workforce Data – March 2026

Women make up 48% of the UK workforce, a proportion that has continued to increase over time. However, representation within STEM remains significantly lower.

Here, we explore the latest data on women working in Core STEM roles across the UK. 

Core STEM

  • Women now make up 27.7% of the Core STEM workforce, up from 27.2% in September 2025 and approaching the all-time high of 27.8% recorded in June 2025.

  • There are now over 1.46 million women working in Core STEM occupations across the UK. Based on current trends, this could increase to around 1.7 million by 2030.

  • If progress continues at its current pace, the UK remains on track to reach 30% women in Core STEM by 2030. 

SET (science, engineering and technology) managers

  • Women now make up 19.2% of SET managers, up from 18.2% in September 2025. 
  • This growth is largely driven by an increase in women working as production managers and directors in construction, with almost 5,000 additional women in these roles since September 2025. 
  • Despite this progress, women still represent just 10% of production managers and directors in construction, highlighting the scale of the opportunity in senior STEM leadership roles.

Science professionals

  • Women now make up 50.9% of science professionals, seeing representation grow above 50% once more.  
  • Biochemists and biomedical scientists (57%) and biological scientists (52%) continue to show strong gender balance.  
  • We have also seen significant increases in the representation of women Chemical scientists: from 35% to 46% and Physical scientists: from 33% to 39%.

Science and engineering technicians

  • Women make up 28.7% of science and engineering technicians, up slightly from 28.4% in September 2025.
  • However, representation varies significantly across occupations. Laboratory technicians are now 54% women, while quality assurance technicians are 40% women.
  • In contrast, women make up just 7% of engineering technicians, highlighting a persistent challenge in technical engineering pathways.

Engineering professionals

  • Women now make up 11.4% of engineering professionals, up from 11.1% in September 2025.
  • This represents an additional 4,600 women engineers, bringing the total to approximately 68,000 women engineering professionals.
  • While representation remains below the peak of 15.4% reached in 2022, recent data suggests a gradual recovery.
  • Representation among electrical engineers has increased from 3% to 7%, while mechanical engineers have fallen from 8% to 5% women.

IT professionals

  • Women currently make up 20.9% of IT professionals, an increase from 20.2% in September 2025. 
  • This represents an addition of more than 24,000 women, bringing the total number of women in IT professional roles to over 340,000. 
  • The highest representation can be seen among IT project managers (37.3% women) and IT quality and testing professionals (34.7% women).
  • Women account for only 17% of cyber security professionals, despite growth in the wider IT profession. Given ongoing skills shortages in cyber security, this remains a significant opportunity area.

IT technicians

  • IT technicians are the only Core STEM category to see a decline since September 2025, falling from 24.5% to 23.7% women.
  • In contrast, database administrators and web content technicians continue to lead this category, with women representing 54% of the workforce.

Conservation and environment professionals

  • Women now represent 63% of conservation professionals and 53% of environment professionals. These are up from 59% and 46% in September 2025, respectively.
  • This demonstrates that STEM occupations linked to sustainability and the environment continue to attract strong participation from women.

All workforce data has been analysed and interpreted using Nomis official census and labour market statistics.

Core STEM includes science, engineering, and information and communications technology. Health occupations and skilled trades are not included within the scope of core STEM.

View the full breakdown of SOC codes.