Vinnova’s 2025 report: Swedish life science a health-promoting growth engine shows a growing, increasingly diverse life science industry but that leadership gaps remain. One thing is clear: Sweden’s competitiveness will depend on how well inclusion is turned into real influence.
Swedish life science is growing in scale, exports and strategic importance. Vinnova’s new report shows a sector that fuels health, technology and national resilience. It also shows a rising share of women in leadership positions.
VILDA is proud to be part of this momentum. BioStock highlights VILDA as a key Nordic network that promotes women’s leadership through mentorship, networking and board readiness. The article places VILDA in the spotlight together with WiLD in Denmark and WiLD Norway. Visibility matters because role models shape who applies, who gets funded and who stays in the field.
What the new Vinnova report says
- Life science is growing across Sweden with more companies and a strong increase in exports.
- Employment has increased steadily since 2017 and gender equality has strengthened among employees and in leadership.
- Women now hold 46.3 percent of senior positions in life science. The comparable figure in other industries is 32.8 percent.
- In 2023, 31% of CEOs were women in life science companies, versus 18.4% in other industries.
- Women on company boards are increasing but at a slower pace than leadership roles.
- Venture capital into unlisted Swedish life science companies in 2024 was about 0.7 percent of all VC deployed. The sector needs more investment to realise its potential.
How this compares with listed companies in Sweden
AP2’s Kvinnoindex 2025 reports an all time high 36.5 percent women on boards of listed companies. In large cap the share is above 40 percent. Management teams have 29.2 percent women.
Top roles still lag. Only 9 percent of listed companies have a woman as board chair. Only 11.1 percent have a woman CEO. Progress has been slow since 2021.
What this means for life science
Life science outperforms the wider market on women in senior leadership with 46.3 percent. At the same time Vinnova notes that board representation grows more slowly inside the sector. The data sets are not fully comparable since Vinnova covers a broader population than only listed firms, but the direction is clear. Leadership parity is within reach while board seats and chair roles still trail.
The next generation of talent
Vinnova’s findings also show a clear shift in the skills supply. More women than ever are earning PhDs in life science, while the number of men in research training continues to fall. The next wave of scientific and industrial leaders will therefore be highly educated and increasingly female. The challenge ahead is not finding talent, but ensuring that systems and leadership cultures make room for it at every level.
VILDA is more relevant than ever
Networks that build board readiness, mentorship and visible role models move the numbers and strengthen competitiveness.
- The competence and leadership capacity are already there – almost half of all managers in life science are women.
- The pipeline to top executive roles is strong, with life science leading the way in gender-balanced leadership.
- Boards remain the bottleneck. Only one in four members and less than one in five chairs are women.
This clearly shows that leadership development and networking initiatives are working, but the structures inside boardrooms must evolve faster. To sustain this momentum and keep the sector attractive for future talent, VILDA plays a crucial role in fostering growth, visibility and inclusion at every level.
That is why VILDA is more relevant than ever. Not only to connect and mentor women in life science, but to ensure that the next generation of decision-makers reflects the talent, expertise and diversity that already exists in the sector.
“We celebrate the progress. We also see the gap. Board seats and especially chair positions remain bottlenecks. Until that gap closes VILDA will keep moving the needle.” Christina Östberg Lloyd, Chairwoman, VILDA.
