Learn about the types of people who become scientists. This page goes into detail about the employment, gender, and ethnic ratios of the workplace.
Employment Type Mix, 2024
75% of scientists work in full-time roles while 25% work part-time.
Gender Mix By Career Interest, 2024
This graph shows the distribution of females and males that are interested in becoming a scientist. Four or five star ratings on CareerExplorer indicate interest.
More men than women are interested in becoming scientists at a ratio of 1.68 to 1.
Actual Gender Mix, 2024
60% of scientists are female and 40% are male.
Gender Bias, 2024
This is one of the most compelling statistics we collect. Gender bias shows the difference between gender interest in being a scientist and the actual gender mix of people in the career.
If there is a significant difference, then it means there is a gender imbalance between those interested in becoming a scientist and those who end up becoming one.
In this case there are significantly more men interested in becoming a scientist than those actually working as one. It is hard to pinpoint the exact reasons why, but there are likely various forces at play, from changing interests over time to societal norms and biases.
Ethnic Mix, 2019
The largest ethnic group of scientists are White, making up 52% of the population. The next highest segments are South Asian and East Asian, making up 14% and 12% respectively.