Gender Dimension in Research
Gender Imbalance in Industry Workforce
Globally, women make up only 12% of the workforce in the transport and storage sectors.
This underrepresentation limits the diversity of perspectives in service design and decision-making, negatively affecting business performance and economic growth. (Source: World Bank, 2025)
In the European Union, women represent approximately 22% of the workforce in the transport sector. (Source: OECD ITF)
In the European rail sector, women account for around 20% of the workforce, with only 5% of train drivers being female.
(Source: European Commission, 2024)
Road Transport and Logistics
Across Europe, women account for 6% or less of the truck driver population. (Source: trans.info)
In the UK, women represent approximately 20% of the overall transport sector and only 3% of heavy goods vehicle (HGV) drivers. (Source: SMMT)
Maritime Transport
Globally, women represent less than 2% of the maritime workforce. (Source: CEVA Logistics)
Aerospace
Global data
Women constitute approximately 24% of the global aerospace and defense industry workforce.
Only 15% of technical positions in aerospace and defense are held by women.
Women are 23% less likely to occupy executive roles compared to their male counterparts. (Source: Guidant Global)
Globally, women make up about 6% of commercial pilots. (Source: The Guardian)
Women represent around 20% of air traffic controllers worldwide.
The percentage of female aircraft maintenance engineers and technicians has increased from 2.7% to 3.0% globally.
(Source: OACI)
European data
In the European Union, women account for 41% of scientists and engineers across all sectors. (Source: European Commission)
In Europe, women make up approximately 21.4% of air traffic controllers. (Source: OACI)
In the UK, women constitute 6.5% of pilots, with even lower representation among captains. (Source: The Guardian)
Organizations like Women in Aerospace Europe (WIA-E) are actively working to promote the visibility and leadership of women in the aerospace sector through events and community support. (Source: TADAE)
FOREST celebrates the International Day of Women and Girls in Science
On February 11th, the FOREST project proudly celebrates the International Day of Women and Girls in Science, recognizing their vital contributions to research and innovation. Commited to gender inclusivity, FOREST is actively working to close the gender gap in science.
We support women and girls in science
FOREST recognizes that increasing the representation of women at all levels is crucial for building more inclusive, sustainable, and circular transport systems. That’s why we prepared several interviews with the women that help move the FOREST science forward.
The FOREST project promotes gender equality and inclusivity by integrating gender considerations into research, technology, and industry development through Gendered Innovation (Task 5.5), led by AIMPLAS.
While its technologies are gender-neutral, FOREST actively ensures equal opportunities by promoting women's participation in technical, management, and decision-making roles and publishing a Gender Dimension Report (D5.6) to track progress.
