In 2011, a third of managers in the EU27 were women. There were fewer female than male managers in all Member States, with the highest proportions of female managers recorded in 2011 in Latvia (45%), Hungary (41%) and France (40%), and the lowest in Cyprus (15%), Greece (23%) and Malta (24%).
More female than male teachers in primary and upper secondary education…
Women dominate the teaching profession, particularly in primary education. There are significantly more female than male teachers at primary education level in all Member States. In 2011, 85% of primary education teachers in the EU27 were women, with the highest percentages in the Czech Republic and Slovenia (both 97%), Italy, Lithuania and Hungary (all 96%), and the lowest in Denmark (69%), Luxembourg (74% in 2010) and Spain (75%).
While there are also more female than male teachers at upper secondary education level in the EU27, the pattern is less pronounced. In 2011, the proportion of female teachers at upper secondary level was 59%, with the highest percentages in Latvia (80%), Lithuania (79%) and Bulgaria (78%), and the lowest in Malta (43%), Germany, Spain, Luxembourg and the Netherlands (all 50%).
…but fewer female than male academic staff in tertiary education
On the other hand, at tertiary education level there are fewer female than male academic staff (which includes lecturers and researchers) in the EU27. In 2011 the proportion of female academic staff was 40% in the EU27, with the highest percentages in Latvia (59%), Lithuania (55%) and Finland (50%), and the lowest in Malta (30%), the Czech Republic, France and Italy (all 36%).
Highest proportion of female physicians in the Baltic Member States
In 2010, 45% of physicians in the EU27 were women, compared with 38% in 2001. In 2010, the highest proportions were found in Estonia and Latvia (both 74%), Lithuania (70%) and Romania (69%), and the lowest in Luxembourg (30% in 2011), Belgium (36%), Italy and Malta (both 37%).
Highest proportions of part-time work amongst women with children in the Netherlands, Austria, Germany and the United Kingdom
One way to reconcile work and family life is to work part-time. In 2011 in the EU27, almost a third (32%) of employed women aged 25 to 54 having one child of less than 6 years worked part-time, while for employed women with three children or more, where the youngest is aged 6 or less, half (50%) worked part-time. For employed men, the rates were significantly lower (5% and 7% respectively). While the proportion of women working part-time increases when having children and also with the number of children, the proportion of men remains relatively stable. Amongst employed persons without children, 22% of women and 7% of men worked part-time in 2011.
Both for women having one child aged less than 6 and for those having three or more children, where the youngest is aged 6 or less, the highest proportions of those working part-time were observed in the Netherlands (81% for those with one child aged less than 6 and 92% for those with three or more children), Austria (60% and 69%), Germany (56% and 77%) and the United Kingdom (48% and 67%).
Flexible working hours most used in the Nordic Member States
Another way to reconcile work and family life is to have some form of flexible working hours, which depends on personal choice, on national legislation and on the policy applied by the employer. In the EU27, 26% of female fulltime employees aged 15 to 64 used flexible working hours in 2010 and 29% of men. The largest shares for both women and men were registered in Finland (53% of female full time employees and 59% of male), Sweden (49% and 47%), Denmark (both 44%), Germany (39% and 41%) and Austria (36% and 39%).
