A good observation. They make up 49% in the UK. Firstly, this difference is based on statistical extremes. Women and men are more the same than they are differ

A good observation. They make up 49% in the UK. Firstly, this difference is based on statistical extremes. Women and men are more the same than they are different, from a temperament perspective. Agreeableness is the big five dimension that stands out the most here. Men are more likely to be disagreeable, women agreeable. Disagreeable people are more likely to be into "things" vs people. Agreeable is the opposite. In more egalitarian nations, where women are given more equal opportunities, they are actually MORE likely to follow careers that follow this temperamental observation. You can look to western europe, and then the Scandinavian countries as an example of progressively more egalitarian society.