Women and the future of infrastructure and sustainable industrialization

Infrastructure, inclusive and sustainable industrialization, and innovation shape how people live, work and access opportunities. Yet these sectors continue to overlook the needs and talents of the leadership of half of the population – women. Investing in women and ensuring they have equal access to these opportunities is not simply a matter of fairness; it is an economic necessity and essential for building more resilient communities. Let’s see why: 

Infrastructure, industrialization and innovation continue to be marked by gender inequalities. Although these sectors are key engines of economic growth, women remain underrepresented in infrastructure leadership, research, innovation and industry.

Across the UNECE region, women have made real gains in education over the past few decades. More girls are finishing school. More women are entering universities. Yet, when it comes to science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), progress stalls. Between 2019 and 2024, women accounted for more than 40 per cent of STEM tertiary graduates in 13 of 52 UNECE countries with available data, including Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia, and Türkiye.

To close this gap, infrastructure and industry investment decisions should include gender impact assessments and community consultations, ensuring women are recognized as both stakeholders and users.

Bridging gender gaps in innovation and industry boosts economies

When women participate in technology, manufacturing, infrastructure planning and innovation, economies become stronger and more resilient.

However, gender gaps widen as women move from education into the labour market. Between 2020 and 2025, women made up 24.8 per cent of science and engineering professionals in the UNECE region, up from 22.9 per cent in the previous five-year period. In information and communication technology (ICT), women’s representation increased from 19.3 per cent to 22.0 per cent.

Despite this progress, women remain significantly underrepresented in technology and innovation-intensive sectors. Persistent structural barriers, including gender stereotypes, biased recruitment practices, limited access to professional networks and the unequal distribution of unpaid care responsibilities, continue to shape career opportunities.

Closing the gender digital gap and expanding opportunities for women in STEM, research and infrastructure projects will help create innovation ecosystems that are inclusive and reflect all voices.

Innovation needs women’s leadership

Research and innovation are the foundation of the knowledge economy and the backbone of future jobs. While these fields remain male-dominated overall, some UNECE countries have achieved or are approaching gender parity among researchers.

Between 2018 and 2023, women outnumbered men among researchers in nine of 49 countries with available data, including Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, and North Macedonia. These achievements, however, may mask persistent barriers. Women continue to face unequal access to STEM careers, research funding, and senior academic and leadership positions.

Governments and industry should adopt gender-responsive industrial, innovation and infrastructure policies, including incentives and targets for women’s participation in employment, leadership, and entrepreneurship.

Women’s participation in invention and patenting also remains low. Limited access to finance, intellectual property systems, and innovation networks continues to constrain women’s contribution to technological development. Between 2017 and 2025, data show that in just five of 46 UNECE countries, at least four in ten patent applications include a woman inventor. 

Increasing women’s participation in research and innovation teams leads to more diverse ideas, broader solutions and technologies that better support women’s needs and advance gender equality.

Digital infrastructure and skills are central to industrial development and participation in the knowledge economy. Yet women continue to face persistent barriers in accessing technology and developing advanced ICT skills.

Globally, 70 per cent of men use the internet, compared with 65 per cent of women. Across the UNECE region, women are less likely than men to use computers or possess advanced digital skills. Between 2017 and 2022, women aged 16 to 74 were less likely than men of the same age to use a computer in 38 of 44 UNECE countries. The largest gaps are in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Türkiye, and Uzbekistan. Disparities are even more pronounced for advanced ICT skills.

Women and girls, particularly those living in rural areas, low-income households and marginalized communities, face additional barriers in accessing digital technologies, training and quality employment.

Without targeted action, the digital divide risks excluding women from emerging sectors and reinforcing existing economic and social inequalities.

What UN Women is doing across Europe and Central Asia

Across Europe and Central Asia, UN Women is demonstrating how targeted investments can advance gender equality while supporting women to be active agents in the infrastructure, industrialization and innovation fields.

In Albania, UN Women has supported gender-sensitive budgeting since 2015, helping ensure that public spending reflects the needs of women, men, girls, and boys and contributes to more equitable development.

In Bosnia and Herzegovina, rural women farmers gained access to agricultural programmes through a partnership that ran from 2022 to 2026, integrating gender criteria into public agricultural grant programmes.

In Georgia, women entrepreneurs are building digital marketing, e-commerce, and business management skills through a programme run in cooperation with the Georgian Farmers’ Association and the Georgian Chamber of Commerce and Industry. 

In Kosovo¹, rural women farmers are gaining access to modern agricultural equipment, boosting productivity, income, and gender equality in agriculture.

With just four years left until the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development deadline, it is worth asking how much progress has been made - and what challenges remain. Ahead of the High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development, taking place from 7 to 15 July, several goals will be reviewed in-depth, including SDG 9, which seeks to build resilient infrastructure, promote sustainable industrialization and foster innovation.

¹ For UN Women, references to Kosovo shall be understood to be in the context of UN Security Council Resolution 1244 (1999).