Monitor toolbox by theme
Main indicators areas
STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics)
“By 2030, the share of students enrolled in STEM fields in initial medium-level VET should be at least 45%, with at least 1 out of every 4 students female.”
“By 2030, the share of students enrolled in STEM fields at tertiary level should be at least 32%, with at least 2 out of every 5 students female.”
“By 2030, the share of students enrolled in ICT PhD programmes should be at least 5%, with at least one out of every three students female.”
“At least 20 million people should be employed as ICT specialists by 2030.”
Main indicator
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Enrolment in STEM in initial medium-level VET, measuring the share of students enrolled in natural sciences, mathematics, statistics, information and communication technologies, engineering, manufacturing and construction fields out of the total volume of students enrolled in vocational upper-secondary and post-secondary non-tertiary education. Eurostat (UOE joint data collection) [educ_uoe_enrs10]
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Enrolment in STEM at tertiary level, measuring the share of students enrolled in natural sciences, mathematics, statistics, information and communication technologies, engineering, manufacturing and construction fields out of the total volume of students enrolled in tertiary education. Eurostat (UOE joint data collection) [educ_uoe_enrt04]
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Enrolment in ICT programmes at doctoral level, measuring the share of students enrolled in programmes in the Information and Communication Technologies field out of the total volume of students enrolled at doctoral level. Eurostat (UOE joint data collection) [educ_uoe_enrt04]
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Share of women in STEM in initial medium-level VET, measuring the share of women enrolled in natural sciences, mathematics, statistics, information and communication technologies, engineering, manufacturing and construction out of the total volume of students enrolled in the respective fields in vocational upper-secondary and post-secondary non-tertiary education. Eurostat (UOE joint data collection) [educ_uoe_enrs10]
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Share of women in STEM at tertiary level, measuring the share of women enrolled in natural sciences, mathematics, statistics, information and communication technologies, engineering, manufacturing and construction out of the total volume of students enrolled in those fields in tertiary education. Eurostat (UOE joint data collection) [educ_uoe_enrt03]
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Share of women in ICT at doctoral level, measuring the share of women enrolled in information and communication technologies out of the total volume of students enrolled in information and communication technologies programmes. Eurostat (UOE joint data collection) [educ_uoe_enrt03]
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ICT specialists, measuring the number of employed ICT specialists, by sex and educational attainment. Eurostat (ICT Specialists' Data) [isoc_sks_itsps, isoc_sks_itspe]
A closer look
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Enrolment in STEM can be broken down by sex (initial medium-level VETand tertiary education) and by detailed educational level (initial medium-level VET and tertiary education). Eurostat (UOE joint data collection) [educ_uoe_enrs10, educ_uoe_enrt04]
Similar indicators
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Graduates in STEM fields in both initial medium-level VET and tertiary education. Eurostat (UOE joint data collection) [educ_uoe_grad02]
Context
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Employment rate of recent graduates by field of education (EU average only) and in STEM, measuring the share of employed 20 to 34 years old who have left education and training between one and three years ago. Eurostat (EU Labour Force Survey)
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Stock of population with a STEM degree, measuring the share of population aged 25 to 64 who attained their tertiary education level in a STEM field. Eurostat (EU Labour Force Survey)
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Earning advantage of recent graduates in STEM, measuring the share of employed 20 to 34 and 25 to 39 years old who have left education and training between one and three and between six and eight years ago respectively by groups of field of education at graduation and decile groups of the gross monthly pay from the main job. Eurostat (EU Labour Force Survey)
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Gender balance in employment, measuring the proportion of female employment by European socio-economic groups. Eurostat (EU Labour Force Survey) [lfsa_esegg]
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Labour and skill shortages(EU average only) measuring online job advertisement rates by occupation. Eurostat [jvs_oja_eu]
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Inflow of tertiary graduates in STEM, measuring the ratio of tertiary graduates in STEM per 1 000 population aged 20-34. The indicator is also available per 1 000 population aged 20-29. Eurostat (UOE joint data collection)[educ_uoe_grad02,demo_pjangroup]
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STEM education outside the EU, measuring the volume of students in STEM in OECD, candidates and partner countries. OECD (UOE joint data collection)
Policy response
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Gender equality strategies encouraging women enrolment in STEM.
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Financial incentives to encourage students to study STEM subjects.
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Guidance and counselling measures encouraging women enrolment in STEM subjects in higher education.
GO TO 2025 EURYDICE system-level indicators on higher education and STEM
Further reading
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European Commission communication 2025 STEM education strategic plan.
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European Commission 2025 report on gender equality in R&I, and 2024 report on gender balance in the R&I field in the energy transition.
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European Commission 2025 report (forthcoming) on promoting STEM education in schools.
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European Commission 2023 report on employment and social developments in Europe.
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Cedefop 2024 technical report on 2025 skills forecast and 2023 report Skills in transition.
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European Labour Authority 2025 EURES report on labour shortages and surpluses.
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ENESET 2025 report on factors influencing STEM participation and effective intervention strategies.
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NESET 2024 report on addressing gender gap in STEM education across educational levels.
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