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Record Participation by Women in WIPO Academy Courses

March 6, 2017

In 2016 a record breaking 24,880* women took WIPO Academy distance learning courses. On the occasion of International Women's Day 2017, the Academy is, for the first time, publishing a selection of gender-related statistics. In the coming years we will continue to monitor and develop our gender-related performance indicators.

At a glance

GIF image with gender statistics outlined above

  • In national intellectual property (IP) offices, participation in distance learning courses is 55% female to 45% male.
  • The under 21 age group sees the highest proportion of female participants at 54% female to 46% male.
  • The type of IP courses with the highest proportion of female participants (52% female to 48% male) is in the field "copyright and related rights".
  • 43% of women taking WIPO Academy courses list their profession as "academia".
  • Participation in WIPO Academy distance learning courses in 2016 stands at 51% female, 49% male.

*All data is provisional. We will be releasing a final compendium of gender-related data later in 2017.

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