Learn about the types of people who become microbiologists. This page goes into detail about the employment, gender, and ethnic ratios of the workplace.
Employment Type Mix, 2023
75% of microbiologists work in full-time roles while 25% work part-time.
Gender Mix By Career Interest, 2023
This graph shows the distribution of females and males that are interested in becoming a microbiologist. Four or five star ratings on CareerExplorer indicate interest.
More men than women are interested in becoming microbiologists at a ratio of 1.29 to 1.
Actual Gender Mix, 2023
71% of microbiologists are female and 29% are male.
Gender Bias, 2023
This is one of the most compelling statistics we collect. Gender bias shows the difference between gender interest in being a microbiologist and the actual gender mix of people in the career.
If there is a significant difference, then it means there is a gender imbalance between those interested in becoming a microbiologist and those who end up becoming one.
In this case there are significantly more men interested in becoming a microbiologist than those actually working as one. It is hard to pinpoint the exact reasons why, but there are likely various forces at play, from changing interests over time to societal norms and biases.
Ethnic Mix, 2019
The largest ethnic group of microbiologists are White, making up 42% of the population. The next highest segments are Black or African American and Hispanic, Latino, or Spanish, making up 15% and 13% respectively.