Women in Space: From “Broken Rungs” to Better Pathways

Attracting women into the space industry matters.
But what happens once they are there?
Can they stay, be recognised, progress, and lead?

Women work across the space industry, from engineering and research to business, operations, policy, law, and communications. Yet their representation remains uneven, especially at senior levels.

The United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) found that women represent 30% of the workforce in the public-sector space organisations surveyed, but only 21% of executive leadership positions.

UNOOSA's more recent Space4Women Landmark Study, Phase 2 (2025) offers an interesting contrast. Among the 41 predominantly New Space SMEs surveyed, women held close to 40% of executive leadership positions.

The sample is not representative of the wider private space sector, but it shows that some organisations have achieved higher levels of women's representation in leadership.

What can we learn from these differences? And what would help more women build lasting careers in space?

Where Are Women Being Held Back?

Two concepts are often used to describe the barriers women encounter in their careers: the leaky pipeline and the broken rung.

The "leaky pipeline" describes the gradual loss of women at each stage from education into long-term careers.

Research by Jamin D. Speer highlights university major choice and the jump into first jobs as two major drop-off points for women in STEM.

However, entering the space sector doesn't always require a STEM background.

UNOOSA's Phase 2 study found that 24% of participants had studied a non-STEM subject, while 43% had not initially intended to work in space until an opportunity arose.

The industry needs engineers and scientists, but it also depends on professionals in law, finance, business development, communications, programme management, and many other fields. Some may never have considered space as a possible career.

Making these opportunities better known is one way to attract a wider range of talent.

The broken rung describes another barrier: unequal access to the first promotion into management.

McKinsey and LeanIn.Org's Women in the Workplace 2025 report found that only 93 women were promoted to manager for every 100 men in the US companies studied.

The World Economic Forum reports a similar pattern across industries. Its Global Gender Gap Report 2026 shows women's representation falling from 46% at the entry-level to 23% in the C-suite, based on LinkedIn workforce data.

Neither study measures promotion patterns specifically within the space sector. They do, however, raise questions worth examining: where do women encounter barriers to advancement in space organisations, and how are those barriers being identified and addressed?

What Makes Women Stay?

UNOOSA's 2025 study looks closely at women's experiences in the space industry.

It gathered contributions from 505 participants representing more than 70 nationalities. Most respondents reported feeling respected, valued, and safe within their organisations.

Yet a third reported experiencing overt bias, and the same proportion reported discrimination, at some point since joining the sector. Some described having their expertise questioned or their contributions undervalued.

These experiences are not always visible in workforce statistics.

Christelle Astorg-Lepine, SWAN President and Co-founder of Space Women Alliance, reflected on professional legitimacy in her account of working in launcher engineering and strategy:

“After years of experience in launcher engineering and strategy, I assumed, somewhat naively, that my legitimacy spoke for itself. It doesn't.” -  Christelle Astorg-Lepine, How You SWAN: Her Story

Career prospects are another important factor.

In UNOOSA's study, 60% of respondents identified future career opportunities as a reason to stay in the space sector, while 56% identified a lack of such opportunities as a reason to leave.

Although these figures describe stated motivations rather than actual departure rates, they show how strongly career opportunities feature in women's decisions about remaining in the sector.

Many people choose careers in space because they find the work meaningful. They also need opportunities to develop their expertise, take on responsibility, and pursue new roles.

What Can the Industry Do Differently?

A UNOOSA study shows that in several private space SMEs, women hold a higher percentage of leadership roles than general staff positions.

This usually coincides with concrete practices: 70% of companies with majority-female workforces had formal gender equality policies, compared to just 20% of other firms.

While policies alone aren't a guarantee, the report makes clear that real progress requires fixing broken systems rather than expecting women to adapt to them. Mentoring helps, but employers must take direct accountability for fair promotions and high-visibility assignments. Professional networks can then step in to build community and showcase expertise outside the workplace.

Clotilde Ravoux, SWANRise graduate and SWANElevate co-lead, described what she discovered through her exchanges with other women:

“These exchanges made me realize that the questions I had until then considered personal were, in fact, largely collective.” - Clotilde Ravoux, Thought Leadership: A Woman's Place

Her experience illustrates what professional communities can offer. They provide opportunities to hear different perspectives, recognise shared challenges, and build relationships with people beyond one's own organisation.

Where SWAN Fits

At Space Women Alliance, we connect women and allies across companies, disciplines, career stages, and countries.

We cannot make promotion decisions for employers or change workplace cultures on their behalf. But we can bring people together, broaden access to professional networks, and keep these issues visible in industry conversations.

SWANChampion brings women's perspectives into discussions across the space sector. SWANSpace helps make their experience and expertise more visible.

Through SWANConnect, members and allies meet, exchange experiences, and develop professional relationships beyond their immediate organisations.

Our mentoring initiatives support different career stages. SWANElevate helps students and early-career professionals explore the industry and navigate their first professional steps. SWANRise connects mid-career women with senior professionals who can share their experience and offer perspectives on career development and leadership.

Though these initiatives meet different needs, they work hand in hand. Newcomers need networking and career guidance, while mid-career professionals often seek recognition, new opportunities, and training for step-up roles.

An industry-wide network can provide access to people and experiences that may not be available within a single organisation.

Looking Beyond Recruitment

The space industry has invested considerable effort in inspiring the next generation to pursue careers in space. We should give the same attention to the women already working in the sector.

The findings from UNOOSA suggest that the opportunities available to women, their experiences at work, and their prospects for advancement deserve closer attention alongside workforce representation.

Employers, institutions, industry leaders, and professional communities each have a part to play.

Opening the door matters. So does what happens after women walk through it.

What is the biggest barrier to women's career progression in the space industry today, and what should our industry do differently?

Sources & References

1. United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA). Space4Women: Landmark Study on Gender Equality in the Global Space Sector, Phase 2. United Nations, ST/SPACE/96, September 2025.

2. United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA). Space4Women: Landmark Study on Gender Equality in the Space Sector, Phase 1. United Nations, 2024.

3. McKinsey & Company and LeanIn.Org. Women in the Workplace 2025. McKinsey & Company, 2025.

4. Speer, Jamin D. Bye Bye Ms. American Sci: Women and the Leaky STEM Pipeline. IZA Discussion Paper No. 14676, 2021.

5. World Economic Forum. Global Gender Gap Report 2026. September 2026.

6. Space Women Alliance (SWAN). How You SWAN: Her Story – Christelle's Story.

7. Space Women Alliance (SWAN).Thought Leadership: A Woman's Place, by Clotilde Ravoux.

Source note: The studies cover different populations and geographies. UNOOSA Phase 1 examines participating public-sector space organisations. Phase 2 includes a non-representative case study of 41 private space organisations and research into individual experiences. The McKinsey, IZA, and World Economic Forum studies provide the big-picture workforce data, while the SWAN articles share real-world, personal perspectives from inside the sector.