Gender equality

Gender equality week: Closing the gender talent gap

Published

1 month ago

November 5, 2025

From 3 to 7 November 2025, EP committees are discussing how to harness women’s talent through education, training and employment, to drive economic growth and progress, FEMM

Under the overarching topic of “Talent”, the sixth European Gender Equality Week will feature several committee debates and events, focusing on closing the gender talent gap in education and creating conditions where women can thrive. It will highlight equality – not just as a matter of fairness, but as a driver of economic growth and progress, by using women’s talent to the full.

Ahead of the week, Antonella Sberna (ECR, Italy), European Parliament Vice President responsible for Gender Equality Week, said: “The future of Europe depends on our ability to nurture talent: from classrooms to boardrooms, from laboratories to parliaments, Europe must become a place where every talent can flourish. Our task is to break down all those barriers that should no longer exist.”

Lina Gálvez (S&D, Spain), chairwoman of the Women’s Rights and Gender Equality Committee, added: “Talent is equally spread, opportunities are not. Let's challenge that. The time for equality is now.”

High-level discussion on the gender talent gap

On Tuesday 4 November 2025, from 16.00 to 18.00, a high-level event on 'Facing the talent gap. Creating the conditions for every talent to shine' will be hosted by EP Vice-President Antonella Sberna, in cooperation with Women’s Rights and Gender Equality Committee Chair Lina Gálvez. Participants will include: Henna Virkkunen, Executive Vice-President of the European Commission for Tech Sovereignty, Security and Democracy; Michaela Benthaus, space engineer and currently a young graduate trainee at the European Space Agency (ESA); Solange Fugger, an emergency medicine consultant at the Santo Spirito, Aurelia and Belcolle Hospitals in Rome; Johanna Pirker, computer scientist, educator, and game designer at Graz University of Technology, and professor at Munich’s Ludwig Maximilian University; Lella Golfo, president of Fondazione Bellisario; and Isabelle Le Galo Flores, Secretary-General of the European Economic and Social Committee.

You can follow the event live here.

On Wednesday 5 November from 10.30 - 12.00, Parliament’s President Roberta Metsola will take part in a public hearing in the Women’s Rights and Gender Equality Committee on Women’s Leadership in Politics.

A panel discussion will follow, with: Dr Maja Herman, psychiatrist, psychotherapist and art therapist; Joanna Burnos, founder of the LEADERIS Institute, entrepreneur and investor; Orla O’Connor, former Director of the Irish National Women’s Council (remote participation); and Dr Zahra Runderkamp, from the political alliance “Stem op een vrouw” (vote for a woman).

Read more about these and other events and follow them live on the EP’s Multimedia Centre website.

Background

Every year, the European Parliament hosts Gender Equality Week to assess progress, highlight achievements, and identify new ways to promote the rights of women and girls and achieve gender equality. The events are organised by Parliament's committees, delegations, political groups, and administration. The week was first launched in 2020 by the Committee on Women's Rights and Gender Equality.