On this occasion of International Women’s Day - 8 March - the European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE) presents a few facts and figures within art, culture and education putting gender equality on the agenda, demonstrating that inequalities still exist.

It is a goal of the European Union to achieve gender equality, and progress has been made in many areas. In connection to this year’s International Women’s Day, EIGE presents a list of inequalities that show a gender gap in three areas: art, culture and education. This illustrates that Europe still has a long way to go in achieving gender equality.

  • Amongst Europe’s most visited museums, only 10% have women directors.
  • Among all EU State participants at the Venice Biennale 1999-2011, only 27% were women.
  • Amongst eight European countries (Austria, Finland, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, and the UK), the average number of female art lecturers only amounts to 12%.
  • 59% of university graduates are women, whereas 82% full university professors are men.

The facts and figures on art, culture and education demonstrate that there is definitely room for improvement in reaching gender equality in these areas. I think that the debate in connection to 8 March gives us an excellent opportunity to discuss possible areas for improvement,” says Virginija Langbakk, Director of the European Institute for Gender Equality.

A few years back, José Manuel Barroso, President of the European Commission said that “more equality between women and men benefits individuals, the economy and society.” This is a very important point on which we ground our work and on which awareness needs to be constantly raised,” stated Virginija Langbakk.

Facts of inequality between women and men in the area of art, culture and education

Art

  1. Among all the participants of EU states at the Venice Biennale 1999-2011, only 27 % were women. (Source: The Venice Biennale)
  2. In 2010 Zaha Hadid won The Pritzker Prize, architecture's much coveted accolade; she was the first woman to do so in its 35 year history. Source: Design Museum, British Council.
  3. Amongst eight European countries (Austria, Finland, Germany, Italy, The Netherlands, Portugal, Spain and the UK), the average of female art lecturers is only 12 %. [Germany: ARCult Media/ERICarts/ZfKf, 2001].

Culture

  1. Amongst Europe’s most visited museums, only 10 % have women as director. (The report was done by Trivago among its 15 million users ( portal based in Dusseldorf, Germany).
  2. Among the 108 persons who have been awarded with the Nobel Prize in Literature only 12 were women [*].
  3. Starting from 1929 Oscars for the best director always went to men, Kathryn Bigelow becomes the first woman to get the price or prize in 2010 (Source: The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences (Oscar)).
  4. In 19 countries less than half of the persons working with culture (full time) are women. (2005: Malta 32%, Luxembourg 38%. 2009: Luxembourg 30%, Greece 39%. No figure available for Malta for 2009) Sources: Cultural employment data: Eurostat Pocketbook: Cultural Statistics, 2005, 2011. High Tech and Knowledge Intensive Services data for 2005, 2009: EUROSTAT, database on Science and Technology.

Education

  1. 59% of university graduates are women, whereas 82% full university professors are men. [She Figures 2009. Statistics and Indicators on Gender Equality in Science. European Commission Directorate-General for Research Communication Unit. EUR 23856 EN.];
  2. The proportion of women among full professors in Europe is highest in humanities and in the social sciences (27% and 18.6%) and lowest in engineering and technology (7.2%) [She Figures 2009. Statistics and Indicators on Gender Equality in Science. European Commission Directorate-General for Research Communication Unit. EUR 23856 E.].
  3. Women in scientific research are a minority, accounting for 30% of researchers in the EU. She Figures 2009. Statistics and Indicators on Gender Equality in Science. European Commission Directorate-General for Research Communication Unit. EUR 23856 E.].
  4. On average in the EU-27, women represent 37% of all researchers in the Higher Education Sector, 39% in the Government Sector but only 19% in the Business Enterprise Sector. She Figures 2009. Statistics and Indicators on Gender Equality in Science. European Commission Directorate-General for Research Communication Unit. EUR 23856 E.].
  5. In EU 27 only 27,6 % of the graduates in the field of Technologies are women (2009). There has been only slight positive change over the past decade. EIGE Review of the Implementation in the EU of area K of the Beijing Platform for Action: Women and the Environment

Facts of inequality between women and men in the area of art, culture and education (.pdf, 725KB),

Nelygybės faktai tarp moterų ir vyrų mene, kultūroje ir moksle (.pdf, 514KB)

Full list of 100 inequalities, published in 2011

date last updated: 13 March 2012, 18:00