Employment in Knowledge-Intensive Activities in European Countries: Gender Perspective

In the modern economy of the 21
^st
century, knowledge and information play the main role in achieving a competitive advantage in the global market. Knowledge-intensive activities (KIAs) present a set of activities that enhance innovation processes that influence on quality and efficiency of the different business functions. In this paper, the authors examine employment in knowledge-intensive services for the year 2017 for selected European countries. The goal of the paper is to investigate differences among employees in total knowledge-intensive activities in European countries regarding gender. Cluster analysis was conducted to identify homogenous groups of selected variables regarding the percentage of total employment in knowledge-intensive activities. Research results showed that the percentage of total employment in general in total knowledge-intensive activities is higher than in business activities, especially for female compared to male. Besides, cluster analysis results showed that developed countries are leaders in KIAs compared to developing countries.