Learn about the types of people who become molecular biologists. This page goes into detail about the employment, gender, and ethnic ratios of the workplace.
Employment Type Mix, 2022
81% of molecular biologists work in full-time roles while 19% work part-time.
Gender Mix By Career Interest, 2022
This graph shows the distribution of females and males that are interested in becoming a molecular biologist. Four or five star ratings on CareerExplorer indicate interest.
More men than women are interested in becoming molecular biologists at a ratio of 1.28 to 1.
Actual Gender Mix, 2022
68% of molecular biologists are female and 32% are male.
Gender Bias, 2022
This is one of the most compelling statistics we collect. Gender bias shows the difference between gender interest in being a molecular biologist 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 molecular biologist and those who end up becoming one.
In this case there are significantly more men interested in becoming a molecular biologist 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 molecular biologists are White, making up 54% of the population. The next highest segments are Other and Hispanic, Latino, or Spanish, making up 10% and 10% respectively.