
“Lots of problems that need to be solved need scientists to try and answer those questions.”
Elin Barrett, Computational Scientist
Unilever GlobalChange location
Within Unilever, 52% of people in our global R&D teams are women and 55% are in managerial roles. But the wider scientific community is still a long way from gender parity.
According to research from UNESCO, women account for just 30% of the world’s scientists and researchers, and only 35% of all higher-education students enrolled on science, technology, engineering or mathematics-related courses.
Our ambition is to build the most innovative, high-performing R&D team in the industry, and we’re proud that so many women are thriving in a huge variety of science-based roles at Unilever, across the globe.
To mark International Day of Women and Girls in Science, we put our own women in science in the spotlight.

Elin Barrett, Computational Scientist

Emma Shaw, R&D Digital Commerce Manager

Marieke Kil, R&D Future Leader
In this video, you can hear about the diverse roles in our R&D team from innovators around the world and watch a round-table discussion with five of our scientists. They share what inspired them to work in STEM, their proudest moments, the advice they’d give to others considering a science-based career, and much more...
Watch the film below to find out what inspired them to work in science, their proudest moments, the advice they’d share with others considering a STEM career, and much more...

At Unilever we don’t test our products on animals, and we’ve been developing and using alternatives to animal testing for more than 30 years. Here five young scientists based at one of our UK R&D centres share what this work means to them

Meet 12 women blazing a trail in STEM roles across Unilever. They’re accomplished. Innovative. Inspiring. And we’re proud to share their stories…

Our focus on driving bigger, better and more impactful innovation delivered over €1 billion of incremental turnover in 2021, double the delivery in 2020. Here are just a few examples of our innovation in action.
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