European Commission
Directorate-General for Research and Innovation (DG RTD)
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RTD-GENDERINRESEARCH@ec.europa.eu
RTD-PUBLICATIONS@ec.europa.eu
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21/12/2022
21/12/2022
21/12/2022
She Figures provides a range of comparable, pan-European statistics on gender equality in Research and Innovation, and has been released every three years since 2003.
A large portion of the indicators included in She Figures present and explore the following themes:
Each edition of She Figures also aims to provide better understanding of emerging issues by introducing additional indicators.
Further information about She Figures publications, including downloadable reports and other publications can also be found on the webpage of the Publications Office of the European Union.
The Gender Statistics Database includes She Figures indicators since 2015 (reference year 2012).
The following classification systems are relevant for the She Figures indicators based on MORE surveys and included in the Gender Statistics Database:
Comprehensive information on the classification system used for the She Figures indicators is available in the She Figures handbooks for 2015, 2018 and 2021.
The She Figures indicators included in the Gender Statistics Database cover all the fields of R&D and IPC Classifications listed at point 3.2.
The indicators on international mobility and labour market conditions of researchers cover researchers only in the higher-education sector (i.e. those working at Higher Education Institutions).
For a full overview of all the statistical concepts and definitions related to the She Figures publications users are referred to:
Below we list only the statistical concepts and definitions that are relevant to understand and interpret the She Figures indicators included in the Gender Statistics Database.
Definition of Researcher:
The She Figures 2015 and 2018 apply the definition of “researcher” from the Frascati Manual (OECD, 2015), according to which (par. 5.35) “Researchers are professionals engaged in the conception or creation of new knowledge, products, processes, methods and systems and also in the management of the projects concerned”.
Internationally mobile researchers:
Part-time and precarious employment:
This definition of ‘precarious’ employment differs from that of the Labour Market and Labour Force Statistics which describes as ‘precarious’ contracts with duration of three months or less (http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/labour-market/quality-ofemployment)
For the She Figures indicators computed from the MORE2, MORE3 and MORE4 surveys, the statistical units are researchers (as defined at point 3.4) aged 25 and older.
For indicators computed from the MORE2, MORE3 and MORE4 surveys, the statistical population is researchers across EU27 countries, candidate countries (Albania, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Turkey), Associated Countries (Armenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Faroe Islands, Georgia, Iceland, Israel, Moldova, Norway, Switzerland, Tunisia, Ukraine and the UK), aged 25 and older.
The EU Member States, in addition to candidate countries (Albania, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Turkey) and Associated Countries (Armenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Faroe Islands, Georgia, Iceland, Israel, Moldova, Norway, Switzerland, Tunisia, Ukraine and the UK).
The time coverage of data in She Figures publications varies by indicator. Detailed description of time coverage for each indicator is available in:
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The She Figures indicators based on the MORE surveys are measured in percentages.
The reference period varies by indicator. The specific reference period for the data provided is clearly stated in each indicator description.
The EU is committed to advancing gender equality in the area of research and development. Particularly, the promotion of gender equality and gender mainstreaming in research is a clear objective and a legal obligation under the EU framework programme for research and innovation Reg 1291/2013).
More recently, the 2020 ERA Communication renewed the EU’s commitment to gender equality and gender mainstreaming in research through deepening existing priorities and initiatives.
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No direct identification of a person is possible from the indicators in the She Figures.
The She Figures reports are published one year after the data collection. Corresponding datasets containing the indicators from the She Figures included in the Gender Statistics Database are available through the EU Open Data Portal at the following links:
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The European Commission (Directorate-General for Research and Innovation) makes datasets freely available to the public. Datasets are made available no later than one year after completion of data collection.
She Figures datasets and accompanying materials are made available online via the EU Open Data Portal:
She Figures data collections takes place every three years. Publication and corresponding data files are disseminated one year after the data collection.
No regular news releases.
The She Figures publications are not published as an online database. Data files related to She Figures indicators 2015, 2018 and 2021 are available from the European Open Data Portal.
The She Figures publications are not published as an online database. Data files related to She Figures indicators 2015, 2018 and 2021 are available from the European Open Data Portal.
Some She Figures indicators are computed from survey micro-data. The underlying micro-data are not available for public access.
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She Figures 2015, 2018 and 2021 contain methodological appendices detailing data sources and methods. Additionally, these editions of She Figures are accompanied by specific handbooks, where users can find extensive information on the sources and the construction of each indicator.
The She Figures handbooks can be found at the following links:
Information on all aspects of data quality is available in the handbooks accompanying the She Figures 2015, 2018 and 2021 publications:
To ensure high quality of the data, a quality framework was devised. As part of this framework three different dimension were considered in selecting indicators: relevance, accuracy and availability. Each indicator was evaluated by grading it for each dimension as well as an overall assessment. Details on the data quality framework can be found in the handbooks accompanying the 2015, 2018 and 2021 She Figures publications:
Based on the European Statistical System (ESS) quality criteria, the She Figures indicators can be considered of high quality in terms of relevance, timeliness and punctuality.
The She Figures indicators are highly relevant for a wide range of users, from national governments, the EU, and international and national non-governmental organisations. The She Figures indicators use the most recent available data to describe the current situation in the single countries and at the EU level, and are published no later than one year after the data collections.
Some weaknesses have been identified in terms of accuracy and comparability over time / across countries for some She Figures indicators. Further details on this issue are provided at points 13. and 15. below.
The users of She Figures data include EU policy makers, national governments, and international organisations. The publications provide an insight into the situation regarding gender equality in Research and Innovation at the pan-European level. They aim to give an overview of the gender equality situation in research and innovation, using a wide range of indicators to examine the impact and effectiveness of the policies implemented in this area.
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The She Figures indicators are complete compared to relevant regulations and guidelines.
Indicators computed from survey data e.g. indicators on mobility of researchers and labour market conditions of researchers (from MORE2, MORE3 and MORE4 surveys) are overall accurate.
The main source of error for these indicators is sampling error (see 14.2), which is common for indicators computed from survey data. As noted in the methodological reports for the MORE2 and MORE3 surveys, sampling error was less than 5% for indicators computed at the country level and at the EU level.
Indicators computed from the MORE2, MORE3 and MORE4 surveys have a low sampling error (lower than 5%) and hence can be considered accurate if computed at the country and at the European level. However, as specified in the MORE3 methodological report, indicators computed at other subpopulation levels (e.g., field of science, gender, career stages) are not guaranteed to have the same accuracy, except at the EU level. See the discussion in: European Commission, DG for Research and Innovation, Survey on researchers in European Higher Education institutions – Annex to MORE3 study: Support data collection and analysis concerning mobility patterns and career paths of researchers (page 31), available at: https://cdn1.euraxess.org/sites/default/files/policy_library/survey_on_researchers_in_european_higher_education_institutions.pdf
Non-sampling errors for the She Figures indicators included in the Gender Statistics Database may be related to processing errors such as cleaning errors or mis-assignment of gender or the presence of outliers.
The She Figures handbooks 2015, 2018 and 2021 detail all the coherence and validation checks that were carried out to detect potential non-sampling errors and guarantee accuracy of the data.
The She Figures data collections take place every three years. Data refer to the most recent point in time available (this varies by data sources).
Normally, She Figures publications are released according to schedule. The 2021 publication was delayed due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Geographical comparability of the She Figures indicators included in the Gender Statistics Database should be judged separately for each group of indicators:
Comparability over time of the She Figures indicators included in the Gender Statistics Database was established based on Appendix 1 of the She Figures 2021 publication, which provides a correspondence table between the She Figures 2018, 2015 and 2021.
For indicators that, despite having the same name, were not comparable between the two data collections (e.g. because of major methodological changes), only the most recent year of data (i.e. the data reported in the 2021 She Figures) was included in the Gender Statistics Database.
Among the She Figures indicators that are comparable over time, the Gender Statistics Database includes:
The She Figures indicators on researchers with “precarious working contracts” are not fully coherent with the labour market indicators published by Eurostat, because the definition of precarious working contracts used by Eurostat is different from the one used in the She Figures. Eurostat defines “precarious working contracts” as those which are three months or less, while the She Figures defines precarious working contracts as those without contract, with fixed term contracts of up to one year, or with other non-fixed term, non-permanent contracts.
Each She Figures indicator included in the Gender Statistics Database has full internal coherence, as it is based on the same data source. It should be noted that data sources differ across indicators.
Data for the She Figures indicators in the Gender Statistics Database was collected by the European Commission, Directorate General Research and Innovation from a variety of external sources.
No cost burden has been placed on individual countries or EU Member States for the collection of the She Figures indicators.
Variables are being edited and corrected based on set of logical edits at data entry stage. No revisions are done after the publication for the data.
There is no fixed revision schedule.
The European Commission MORE2, MORE3 and MORE4 Surveys
Triennial
Indicators on the mobility and labour market conditions of researchers were computed from the MORE2, MORE3 and MORE4 surveys. These surveys were administered in 31 European countries (the 27 Member States of the European Union, the UK and 3 Associated Countries: Iceland, Switzerland, and Norway) through CAWI (Computer-assisted web interviewing) and CATI (Computer-assisted telephone interviewing) techniques. The sampling strategy was a two-stage random sample methodology. The MORE2 survey was conducted in 2012, the MORE3 in 2016-2017, and MORE4 in 2019-2020.
The She Figures handbooks 2015, 2018 and 2021 detail all the coherence and validation checks that were carried out to detect and correct potential non-sampling errors and presence of outliers and guarantee accuracy of the data.
For information on data compilation processes for each She Figures indicators, please consult:
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