CERN personnel come from all over the world. (Image: CERN)
(IN BRIEF) CERN has concluded its five-year 25 by ’25 initiative, reporting significant progress in improving nationality and gender diversity across the Organization. Launched in 2021, the programme aimed to reduce nationality concentration within departments and raise female representation among staff and graduates/fellows to 25%. By the end of 2025, women accounted for 24.7% of the workforce, while nationality diversity improved through measures such as conscious hiring practices, diversity officers, and enhanced recruitment tracking. Looking ahead, CERN’s priority is to retain the diversity it has attracted and build on the initiative’s momentum to support inclusive, collaborative scientific excellence.
(PRESS RELEASE) GENEVA, 12-Dec-2025 — /EuropaWire/ — CERN has reached the conclusion of its five-year 25 by ’25 initiative, a programme launched in 2021 to strengthen both nationality and gender diversity across the Organization. As the initiative draws to a close at the end of 2025, CERN reports tangible progress against its two original aspirational objectives: reducing the concentration of single nationalities within departments and increasing female representation among staff and graduates/fellows to 25%.
Since the programme’s introduction, CERN has recorded a measurable broadening of nationality representation across its departments, alongside a decline in both the number and size of so-called “nationality clusters,” where one nationality accounts for more than a quarter of a unit’s workforce. One of the most lasting outcomes of this effort has been the introduction of the Conscious Hiring policy, designed to better align personnel representation with the financial contributions of CERN’s Member States and encourage more balanced recruitment decisions.
Progress on gender diversity has also exceeded expectations. Women now represent 24.7% of CERN’s staff and graduates/fellows population, up from 21% at the start of the initiative. With the target missed by just 0.03 percentage points, the organisation considers the result a strong indicator of cultural and structural change within its recruitment and talent development processes.
As of November 2025, the overall percentage of women across the employed Members of Personnel (staff, fellows, grads) is 24.7%, just 0.3% from the 25 by ’25 target. (Image: CERN)
According to Louise Carvalho, Diversity & Inclusion Programme Leader at CERN, the success of the initiative lies not only in numerical progress but in shifting perspectives. She highlighted that aspirational targets helped engage the broader CERN community, while encouraging hiring teams to reflect more consciously on how individual talent contributes to excellence within diverse teams.
The objectives set in 2021 were widely regarded as ambitious, particularly given historically low staff turnover and the long-term nature of scientific careers. With full backing from CERN’s leadership, departments were encouraged to adopt measures best suited to their local context. Common actions included appointing dedicated Diversity & Inclusion Officers, introducing offboarding surveys to better understand retention challenges, and deploying recruitment dashboards to track nationality and gender data throughout the hiring process.
Looking beyond 2025, CERN’s focus is shifting from attraction to retention. Carvalho emphasised that maintaining a strong sense of belonging for women and colleagues from under-represented nationalities will be critical to sustaining progress. Ensuring that diversity is reflected not only in recruitment outcomes but also in long-term career development remains a priority.
As an international organisation funded by its Member States, CERN continues to frame diversity as both a responsibility and a strength. The principles underpinning 25 by ’25 will now inform future inclusion strategies, reinforcing the idea that scientific excellence is driven by collaboration across cultures, backgrounds, and perspectives.
Emma Hattersley
For media requests only: +41 (0) 22 767 34 32 or +41 (0) 22 767 21 41
Email: press.office@cern.ch
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First published in this link of EuropaWIRE.
