Editing Central Asia (section)

=== Trends in researchers ===
Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan count the highest researcher density in Central Asia. The number of researchers per million population is close to the world average (1,083 in 2013) in Kazakhstan (1,046) and higher than the world average in Uzbekistan (1,097).<ref name=":13" />

Kazakhstan is the only Central Asian country where the business enterprise and private non-profit sectors make any significant contribution to research and development. Uzbekistan is in a particularly vulnerable position, with its heavy reliance on higher education: three-quarters of researchers were employed by the university sector in 2013 and just 6% in the business enterprise sector. With most Uzbek university researchers nearing retirement, this imbalance imperils Uzbekistan's research future. Almost all holders of a Candidate of Science, Doctor of Science or PhD are more than 40 years old and half are aged over 60; more than one in three researchers (38.4%) holds a PhD degree, or its equivalent, the remainder holding a bachelor's or master's degree.<ref name=":13" />

[[File:Central Asian researchers by field of science, 2013.svg|thumb|upright=1.35|Central Asian researchers by field of science, 2013. Source: UNESCO Science Report: towards 2030 (2015), Figure 14.4]]Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan have all maintained a share of women researchers above 40% since the fall of the Soviet Union. Kazakhstan has even achieved gender parity, with Kazakh women dominating medical and health research and representing some 45–55% of engineering and technology researchers in 2013. In Tajikistan, however, only one in three scientists (34%) was a woman in 2013, down from 40% in 2002. Although policies are in place to give Tajik women equal rights and opportunities, these are underfunded and poorly understood. Turkmenistan has offered a state guarantee of equality for women since a law adopted in 2007 but the lack of available data makes it impossible to draw any conclusions as to the law's impact on research. As for Turkmenistan, it does not make data available on higher education, research expenditure or researchers.<ref name=":13" />

{| class="wikitable"
|+ PhDs obtained in science and engineering in Central Asia, 2013 or closest year
! rowspan=3 |
! colspan="2" | PhDs
! colspan="4" | PhDs in science
! colspan="4" | PhDs in engineering
|-
! rowspan=2 | Total
! rowspan=2 | Women<br>(%)
! rowspan=2 | Total
! rowspan=2 | Women<br>(%)
! Total
! Women
! rowspan=2 | Total
! rowspan=2 | Women<br>(%)
! Total
! Women
|-
! colspan=2 | Per million pop.
! colspan=2 | Per million pop.
|-
| Kazakhstan (2013)
| 247
| 51
| 73
| 60
| 4.4
| 2.7
| 37
| 38
| 2.3
| 0.9
|-
| Kyrgyzstan (2012)
| 499
| 63
| 91
| 63
| 16.6
| 10.4
| 54
| 63
| –
| –
|-
| Tajikistan (2012)
| 331
| 11
| 31
| –
| 3.9
| –
| 14
| –
| –
| –
|-
| Uzbekistan (2011)
| 838
| 42
| 152
| 30
| 5.4
| 1.6
| 118
| 27.0
| –
| –
|}Source: ''UNESCO Science Report: towards 2030'' (2015), Table 14.1

Note: PhD graduates in science cover life sciences, physical sciences, mathematics and statistics, and computing; PhDs in engineering also cover manufacturing and construction. For Central Asia, the generic term of PhD also encompasses Candidate of Science and Doctor of Science degrees. Data are unavailable for Turkmenistan.

{| class="wikitable"
|+ Central Asian researchers by field of science and gender, 2013 or closest year
! rowspan=3 |
! colspan="4" rowspan="2" | Total researchers (head counts)
! colspan="12" | Researchers by field of science (head counts)
|-
! colspan="2" | Natural Sciences
! colspan="2" | Engineering and<br>technology
! colspan="2" | Medical and<br>health sciences
! colspan="2" | Agricultural<br>sciences
! colspan="2" | Social sciences
! colspan="2" | Humanities
|-
! Total
! Per<br>million<br>pop.
! Number of<br>women
! Women<br>(%)
! Total
! Women<br>(%)
! Total
! Women<br>(%)
! Total
! Women<br>(%)
! Total
! Women<br>(%)
! Total
! Women<br>(%)
! Total
! Women<br>(%)
|-
| Kazakhstan (2013)
| 17,195
| 1,046
| 8,849
| 51.5
| 5,091
| 51.9
| 4,996
| 44.7
| 1,068
| 69.5
| 2,150
| 43.4
| 1,776
| 61.0
| 2 114
| 57.5
|-
| Kyrgyzstan (2011)
| 2,224
| 412
| 961
| 43.2
| 593
| 46.5
| 567
| 30.0
| 393
| 44.0
| 212
| 50.0
| 154
| 42.9
| 259
| 52.1
|-
| Tajikistan (2013)
| 2,152
| 262
| 728
| 33.8
| 509
| 30.3
| 206
| 18.0
| 374
| 67.6
| 472
| 23.5
| 335
| 25.7
| 256
| 34.0
|-
| Uzbekistan (2011)
| 30,890
| 1,097
| 12,639
| 40.9
| 6,910
| 35.3
| 4,982
| 30.1
| 3,659
| 53.6
| 1,872
| 24.8
| 6,817
| 41.2
| 6,650
| 52.0
|}
Source: ''UNESCO Science Report: towards 2030'' (2015), Table 14.1