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Less than 1 out of 10 startup founders in cutting‑edge technology fields are women

03.03.2026

in Press release
- A new EPO study shows increasing number of women in STEM, but they remain a minority among inventors, patenting‑startup founders and patent professionals
- The gender gap widens at every career stage despite evidence of similar inventive potential of women’s research
- Percentage of women participation varies strongly by country and by tech sector
Munich, 3 March 2026 – The EPO Observatory on Patents and Technology has published a new study on women in STEM today, exposing the slow progress and gaps in inventive activity, deep tech entrepreneurship, patent professions and the career pathways of PhD graduates. Released ahead of International Women’s Day, the report provides robust, pan-European evidence to support the EU’s Gender Equality Strategy, the objectives of the European Research Area, and Europe’s ambition to strengthen technological sovereignty under the New European Innovation Agenda.

“There is an obvious gain for Europe in boosting women’s participation in innovation,” said EPO President António Campinos . “Diversity is not a nice-to-have, it is fuel for breakthrough innovation. This study exposes the persistent roadblocks in our path to progress so that Europe can unlock the full innovation potential across research, patenting, and entrepreneurship. The EPO takes an active role in this mission. Today around a quarter of our examiners are women and this figure is increasing every year, thanks to targeted recruitment efforts. Last year, 31% of new examiner hires were women, and the proportion of women in our Young Professionals programme has stayed above 50%, ensuring a strong pipeline of future talent.”

The study shows that the share of women among inventors in Europe has increased only marginally in recent years, reaching 13.8% in 2022 (up from 13% in 2019). While women are increasingly present in inventor teams, they remain far less likely to be named as individual inventors, highlighting persistent structural barriers. Among countries, Portugal and Spain show promising trends with the lowest gaps.

Women remain strongly underrepresented in deep tech entrepreneurship

The gender gap is particularly pronounced in patenting startups. Only 13.5% of startups with patents include a woman founder. Differences across Europe are substantial: Spain, Portugal and Ireland show the highest participation rates, while the Netherlands, Austria and Germany record the lowest. These findings come just as the EU’s Industrial Strategy and European Innovation Council (EIC) stress the importance of inclusive innovation ecosystems to reinforce Europe’s competitiveness in strategic technologies.

Newer startups show higher shares of women founders (14% for younger ventures vs. around 5.9% for companies over 20 years old), suggesting that newly created startups are becoming more diverse. However, companies co-founded by women appear to face greater challenges in scaling: women’s representation declines in later, more advanced funding rounds.

Widening gaps over time and untapped potential for innovation

Across all countries, women remain under‑represented among patenting PhD graduates, even though they are strongly present at doctoral level. The gap widens at each career stage, reflecting a persistent “leaky pipeline” that becomes especially visible when researchers move toward commercialising their inventions. The study also finds that women’s research has comparable inventive potential to men’s, suggesting that lower female participation in patenting is not due to a lack of high‑quality research results, but rather to social, institutional and economic factors shaping career opportunities.

Women’s participation varies sharply across technology fields. Pharmaceuticals (34.9%), biotechnology (34.2%) and food chemistry (32.3%) show the highest proportion of women inventors, reflecting the stronger female presence in life‑science‑driven research. In contrast, some of the most patent‑intensive engineering domains record the lowest levels: machine tools (5.7%), basic communication processes (5.5%) and mechanical elements (4.9%) sit at the bottom of the distribution. Universities and public research organisations display by far the highest proportion of women inventors (24.4%), while SMEs and individual applicants show the lowest participation rates.

Closing the gap in the patent profession landscape

The study takes a multi-dimensional look at women in science and innovation, going beyond inventors alone. It shows that women are also increasingly present in the professions that make the innovation system work: women now represent 29.2% of European patent attorneys, and that share is growing. These improving trends support broader efforts across Europe as a whole to promote diversity and inclusion in science and technology.

Further information

• Full study “ Advancing women in STEM ”
• EPO’s Women inventors page
• Event “ The future needs her: Advancing women in STEM”
• EPO’s Observatory on Patents and Technology

Media contacts European Patent Office

Roberta Romano-Götsch
EPO spokesperson

EPO press desk
[email protected]

About the EPO

With 6 300 staff members, the European Patent Office (EPO) is one of the largest public service institutions in Europe. Headquartered in Munich with offices in Berlin, Brussels, The Hague and Vienna, the EPO was founded with the aim of strengthening co-operation on patents in Europe. Through the EPO's centralised patent granting procedure, inventors are able to obtain high-quality patent protection in up to 46 countries, covering a market of some 700 million people. The EPO is also the world's leading authority in patent information and patent searching.

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