Women in industrial research Analysis of statistical data and good practices of companies

How will industrial research companies in the European Union find the talent they need to meet the competitive and technological challenges of the 21st Century? How will they enlarge R&D capacity when there are already shortages of highly qualified industrial researchers? This study is part of the new EU initiative to promote Women in Industrial Research (WIR). Based on statistical data and examples of good practice in Europe it gives information about the real situation of women in industrial research. For the first time official data from the European RandD survey and the European Labour Force Survey have been examined. Although the study confirms that women are underrepresented among industrial researchers, especially at senior levels, it provides encouraging perspectives by showing that the private research sector has recently begun to recruit more highly qualified young women