Data reveals increase in Romanian women in leadership positions over the last 20 years

There has been an increase in the proportion of women in the employed population structure and leadership positions in the past 20 years, according to the Social Monitor, a project by the German non-profit Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung Romania.

In the 2021 population and housing census, the total employed population in Romania was 7,689,000 people, a decrease of 819,000 compared to the 2011 census. The employed population includes all individuals engaged in an economic or social activity, with the purpose of earning income in the form of wages, payments, or other benefits.

Between the last three population censuses (2002, 2011, 2021), the gender structure of the employed population underwent significant changes, while the proportion of women in the total remained relatively constant, showing a slight upward trend, from 44% to 46%.

The participation of women in leadership structures (members of the legislative body, executives, high-level administrators, leaders, and senior officials) has increased dramatically, both in the public and private sectors: 34% in 2002, 40% in 2011, and 48% in 2021. Currently, the proportion of women in leadership structures exceeds that of women in the total employed population.

Moreover, the proportion of individuals in leadership positions is higher among employed women than among men (3.14% of employed women are in leadership structures, while among men, the percentage of those in leadership positions is 2.89%).

Women also constitute a majority, and their proportion is increasing, in the category of specialists in various fields of activity: while in 2002 women represented 51% of specialists, in 2021 the percentage reached 60%.

However, the employment rate of women in the labor market (59.1%) is much lower than that of men (77.7%) and below the average employment rate of women in the EU (69.3% in 2022). As a result, Romania has one of the largest gender differences regarding the employment rate.

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