The “leaky pipeline” metaphor describes the greater likelihood of women and girls leaving Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) fields at every point, relative to men and boys. Gender disparities occur both in recruitment—that is, who chooses to enter a STEM pathway—as well as retention—that is, who chooses to persist in a STEM major or occupation. In addition, women who persist in STEM careers are less likely than men to reach top levels of leadership in those careers. The “leaky pipeline” metaphor describes the greater likelihood of women and girls to leave STEM fields at every point, relative to men and boys. Gender disparities occur both in recruitment—that is, who chooses to enter a STEM pathway—as well as retention—that is, who chooses to persist in a STEM major or occupation. In addition, women who persist in STEM careers are less likely than men to reach top levels of leadership in those careers. The aim of this paper is to analyse the representation of women in green occupational groups, studying both their attraction to “green vocational education and training programmes” and their completion as well as their transition to the labour market. It is important to note that green vocational programmes are closely related to STEM vocational education and training (VET) programmes. In this sense, it is relevant to analyse whether the gender “leaking pipeline” phenomenon exists in green training programmes and occupational groups in the same way it does in STEM occupations. The quantitative breakdown by occupational group highlights a clear gender gap in female participation in GREEN VET programmes. Moreover, when women from green occupational groups enter the labour market, their employment conditions are systematically worse than those of men. It is worth noting the scarcity of studies on this issue, particularly quantitative ones, which indicates the limited scientific attention paid to analysing the gender gap in green vocational programmes and occupational groups. © 2025 Brian Towers (BRITOW) and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
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