Happy World Teachers Day: Women dominate the teaching workforce

On the occasion of World Teachers Day yesterday, Eurostat released the latest data on the teaching profession in the EU, with women dominating the workforce by a significant margin.

According to the data, in 2019 the teaching workforce was predominantly female in all the EU countries. The highest share of female teachers was recorded in Latvia (87%), followed by Lithuania (85%), Bulgaria (84%), Slovenia and Estonia (both 83%).

Meanwhile, the country with the highest share of male teachers was Denmark (38%), followed by Luxembourg (35%), Spain (34%) and Greece (33%).

In 2019, there were 5.2 million teachers in the EU employed in primary, lower secondary and upper secondary education. This marked a 5% increase compared with 2013 (5.0 million).

Women accounted for the majority of this workforce. In 2019, 73% of teachers employed in primary, lower secondary and upper secondary education were women (3.8 million), a 6% increase compared with 2013 (3.6 million). Meanwhile, the number of male teachers increased by just 2% when comparing 2019 with 2013.

In terms of age, in 2019, there were 0.4 million (7% of the total) teachers less than 30 years old in the three education levels. This number increased by 10% compared with 2013. In the same year, 2 million teachers were aged 50 years or more, forming 39% of the total (from 38% in 2013).

UNESCO FACT SHEET: World Teachers’ Day 2021 fact sheet - UNESCO Digital Library