Gender equity in research funding outcomes in STEM and other fields

Two datasets show research funding of chief investigators and partner investigators.

Datasets used in these visualisations were provided by:

  • Australian Research Council (ARC)
  • National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC).

These datasets show the number of women and men applying for ARC and NHMRC funding, as well as the success rate of women and men researchers in STEM and other fields.

 

Research grant funding outcomes

Use this interactive data to see how many chief investigators and investigators applied for and received funding across years.

Source: Australian Research Council (ARC) (unpublished); National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) (unpublished)

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Similarly to 2023 and previous years, fewer women than men were named on grant applications for STEM research in 2024.

Across all STEM fields in 2024, 26% of applicants for ARC funding were women and 36% of NHMRC applicants were women.

As fewer women than men applied, fewer women than men gained funding, for example:

  • 588 women received ARC funding, with 471 as chief investigator. In comparison 1,567 men received ARC funding, including 1,182 as chief investigator.
  • 126 women received NHMRC funding, with 57 as chief investigator. 202 men received NHMRC funding, including 79 as chief investigator.

There was a higher proportion of women among applicants for funding for research in health fields than in STEM fields. For health-related research:

  • women represented 45% of ARC applicants and 45% of NHMRC applicants
  • women were named as chief investigators on 46% of ARC applications and 48% of NHMRC applications.

Success rates for women and men applying for research funding in STEM fields were similar. For example:

  • 23% of women investigators who applied for an ARC grant in 2024 were successful, down from 28% in 2023. In comparison, 21% of men were also successful, down from 26% in 2023.
  • 23% of women chief investigators who applied for an ARC grant in 2024 were successful, down from 25% in 2023. In comparison, 21% of men were also successful, down from 24% in 2023.
  • 14% of women investigators who applied for an NHMRC grant in 2024 were successful, down from 17% in 2023. The success rate for men remained stable at 14%.
  • 15% of women chief investigators who applied for an NHMRC grant in 2024 were successful, down from 18% in 2024. In comparison, 14% of men were also successful, down from 16% in 2023.

The ARC and NHMRC supplied this data. The datasets show the number of chief investigators and investigators who were named on applications, as well as application outcomes each year. Investigators may be double counted if they are involved in multiple research projects within the same year.

We define whether data falls in STEM, non-STEM or Health research fields on our methodology page. Some researchers working in Health or non-STEM research fields may still hold STEM qualifications or work in a STEM occupation. Users who prefer ‘field of research’ not to be grouped as STEM, non-STEM or Health should select all fields in the visualisation above.

Data available in the visualisation above for 2015 to 2022 uses the 2-digit Australian and New Zealand Standard Research Classification (ANZSRC), 2008 edition. This is the previous time series and will not be added to in future. For 2022 ARC data only, and for the purposes of this exercise, outcomes announced under ANZSRC 2020 were allocated back to ANZSRC 2008 at the 2-digit level of the classification.

For data from 2023 onwards, the visualisation uses the 2-digit ANZSRC, 2020 edition for both ARC and NHMRC data.

Read more about our methodology and this data.