Every Day Is Women's Day

International Women’s Day on March 8 reminds us that equal opportunities in science are not only a social concern, but also an essential factor for excellent research. Current data shows that Austria has made progress, but there is still a lot to do. The FWF takes specific measures to provide targeted support for women in research and break down barriers.
March 6, 2025
Nachdenkliche Forscherin an ihrem Arbeitsplatz
There’s still room for improvement when it comes to the advancement of women in top-level research. The FWF is implementing targeted measures in this direction. The photo “Contemplating results” by Roland Richter, entered in the SNSF’s 2024 photography competition in the category “Women and men of science.” © Roland Richter/Empa

Despite the progress that has been made, women are still underrepresented, particularly in higher academic positions, management roles, and in some disciplines, as illustrated in the European Commission’s recently published She Figures Report 2024.

She Figures 2024

The She Figures Index is a tool designed to assess the progress of achieving gender equality within the European Research Area (ERA).  A score of 100 means that gender equality has been fully achieved. Among the member states, Austria ranks 20th out of 27 with a score of 69.5.

Austria scored badly in the areas:

  • Career development (20th place)
  • Research sectors (22nd place)
  • Percentage of female doctoral students (25th place)
  • Research participation (26th place)

Improvements have been made in the areas:

  • Percentage of female researchers (31%)
  • Percentage of female professors (29%), although this number remains slightly below the EU average

Overall, the current report finds that Austria has not consistently advanced gender equality in the area of research and innovation. The numbers make it clear that Austria must continue and strengthen its efforts to break down barriers for women in research.

Further FWF activities in this area

FWF Wittgenstein Award-winning women (videos in German):

Current FWF statistics

The results of the FWF’s Equal Opportunities Monitoring show that between 30 and 35% of all applications submitted to the FWF since 2015 are by women. This number, which is subject to annual fluctuations, peaked at 35.2% in 2021 and was 32.8% in 2023.

In the field of natural sciences and technology, the percentage of female applicants has fluctuated between 18.3 and 23.3% since 2015; in 2023, it was 21.5%. The highest percentage of applications submitted by women in 2023 is in the social sciences at 43.7%. 33.8% of approved FWF projects had women as principal investigators in 2023. The current figures for 2024 will be published in April 2025.

FWF’s contribution to the advancement of women in research

As Austria’s main funding organization for basic research, supporting women researchers in their career development is a key priority for the FWF, and it has implemented the following measures intended to ensure equal opportunities:

  • Establishment of an Equal Opportunities and Diversity in Research Funding unit, which regularly monitors, reviews, and updates the measures described in the current Equality Plan
  • Coaching workshops and informational events about the FWF’s funding programs (including events specifically for women)
  • Consideration of applicants’ life circumstances, such as parental leave, caregiving obligations, or long-term illnesses
  • Target quota of 50% female principal investigators in the ESPRIT and FWF ASTRA Awards programs 
  • Applicants are required to reflect on sex-specific and gender-related aspects when describing their research approach as a quality assurance measure
  • At least one-third of a consortium should be made up of the underrepresented gender in collaborative programs; this is one of the deciding factors in the review and evaluation process.
  • Project funding for equality and gender mainstreaming measures in collaborative programs
  • Monitoring of gender distribution in funding decisions and executive bodies
  • Raising awareness of unconscious bias in the review process among the FWF’s executive bodies and employees
  • Providing information on avoiding discrimination, in particular sexual harassment, in its guidelines on Promoting a Safe and Inclusive Research Culture