As International Women’s Day is celebrated around the globe, Eurostat data show that female participation in employment in Malta lags behind the rest of EU member States.

There were fewer women managers across the 27 member states when compared with men, the lowest proportions being recorded in 2011 were Malta (at 24 per cent), Greece and Cyprus.

In contrast, the highest proportions were recorded in Latvia (45 per cent), Hungary and France.

Women dominate the teaching profession, particularly in primary education.

There were significantly more female primary school teachers than males across all the member States.

Malta’s proportion in this sector equalled the EU’s 2011 average of 85 per cent.

However, Malta’s proportion of female teachers at upper secondary level in 2011 was recorded at 43 per cent, the lowest across the 27 States.

The EU average stood at 59 per cent, with the highest percentages recorded in Latvia (80 per cent), Lithuania and Bulgaria.

On the other hand, at tertiary education level, there were fewer female than male academic staff (which includes lecturers and researchers) in the EU.

The lowest proportion was again recorded in Malta at 30 per cent.

The EU average stood at 40 per cent, with the highest percentages recorded in Latvia (59 per cent), Lithuania and Finland.

In 2010, 45 per cent of physicians in the EU27 were women, compared with 31 per cent in 2001. Also in 2010, the highest proportions were found in Estonia and Latvia (both 74 per cent) while Italy and Malta stood among the lowest at 37 per cent.

Figures issued by the National Statistics Office showed that Malta’s highest female employment rate was in the 25 to 34 age bracket, at 69 per cent.

On average, an employed woman worked about 32 hours a week, seven hours fewer than a male counterpart.

The unemployment rate for females stood at seven per cent, about one per cent higher than that for males.

The highest unemployment rate among women was recorded for those aged 15 to 24, at 14 per cent.

The inactivity rate for females was 56 per cent, dropping slightly over the past years but remaining higher than that for males.

During the scholastic year 2010-2011, a total of 12,728 female students enrolled in post-secondary institutions.

In 2012, 80 per cent of women were daily computer users and 79 per cent used the internet on a daily basis.

Twenty-six female candidates will be contesting tomorrow’s general election.

This accounts for a female participation of 15.5 per cent, an increase of five per cent over 2008. Fourteen women will contest on two districts.

The 12th district has the highest number of female candidates, with nearly one-fourth of the total.

In contrast, there are no women contesting the seventh district.

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