Women in tech: A pathway to gender balance in top tech roles

Globally, women hold 32.0% of senior management positions in the tech sector, below the global average of 33.5%, and below other industries such as professional services (36.2%), asset management (35.5%), and healthcare (37.7%). 

The rapidly evolving field of artificial intelligence (AI) means that ensuring gender inclusivity in the technology sector is paramount. Fail to get it right and future generations will get left behind. With wide-ranging applications in the workplace from recruitment and hiring, performance evaluation, pay and compensation, and workplace analytics, Goldman Sachs estimates that generative AI alone could raise global GDP by 7%.ⁱ In doing so, it will revolutionise our working lives.

However, new inventions are often exclusionary to women if designed by a male-only team. For example, since the 1970s, crash test dummies have been based on male body types and it was only in 2022 that a team of Swedish researchers designed one based on women’s bodies to ensure car safety features work for both men and women.ⁱⁱ Even while AI is in its relative infancy, in comparison to where it is projected to go, there is already evidence of bias. A 2019 Harvard Business Review article outlines the lack of diversity and bias in AI English speech recognition software, sharing a US study that showed that the technology had the best accuracy rate for white men.ⁱⁱⁱ

Left unchecked, bias in AI systems can have profound consequences for gender equality. AI systems learn from data, and if this data is not representative of the entire population, the resulting algorithms can be biased. It is therefore crucial to include more women in AI development teams and on senior leadership teams in the technology industry to recognise bias, especially at this early stage of development.

As David Peneycad, Global chief operating officer at Grant Thornton International, says: “Gender diversity in technology project teams is not a social initiative, it is a business imperative. As organisations invest in their response to the revolution of AI, ensuring that all voices are heard will lead to a more effective and profitable outcome. It is incumbent on today’s business leaders to ensure that female technologists are supported and promoted so that the future of the industry is delivered by a more balanced and representative group. Anything less will be a leadership failure.”

When looking at which senior management positions women hold in the tech sector, it is clear more must be done to ensure women are closer to the development of the technology itself. Women hold just 20.2% of Chief Technology Officer positions in mid-market tech firms and 25.8% of CEO positions, compared to 45.3% of Human Resources Director positions.

More must be done to get women into senior leadership positions that are close to the development of new technology, to ensure it is developed equitably. Therefore, we’ve identified three areas for mid-market firms to focus on to help women reach positions in the tech sector that can influence the development of AI, and boost innovative thinking: Early careers, retention and transparency.

Women and tech - early careers

To develop a robust pipeline of female tech leaders requires focusing attention on the needs of younger women as they advance in their careers. Nurturing talent in a flexible workplace environment is pivotal to this, as our 2024 Women in Business report ‘Pathways to Parity’ found.

It is therefore encouraging that Grant Thornton’s 2024 Women in Business data shows that global mid-market tech firms have adopted one of the flexible working models, with 53.8% of global mid-market tech firms having a hybrid working model, compared to 45.2% across all industries. Conversely, just 36.7% require employees to be primarily office-based, compared to 47.0% globally.

This is important as, “A hybrid work environment can help overcome the demands of balancing personal and work commitments that some women may experience, when reaching mid-level management at a company,” says Andrea Schulz, National managing partner for the Technology industry at Grant Thornton LLP (US).

However, businesses should be cognisant of the challenges hybrid work can have to the progression of women early in their careers if not handled correctly by senior leaders. Simply adopting a hybrid working model is not enough. This needs to be backed with real intent to nurture talent remotely.

Nurturing talent in a hybrid working model means mitigating against the risk of employees missing out on the social connections needed to progress, or not being part of their company culture.

This requires leaders putting conscious effort into being visible and avoiding employee relationships becoming purely transactional, particularly with those at the beginning of their careers.

To help create intentional connections and support younger women on their career journey, one action senior leaders can take is to act as role models and provide mentoring opportunities to younger colleagues.

To be an effective role model, according to Yannis Krasonikolakis, Head of applied intelligence and predictive analytics, Technology, Grant Thornton Greece, requires the business to actively celebrate women’s successes, demonstrating to future female leaders the qualities needed to succeed: “We need to publicise the achievements of women, showing what they can do at the end of a year, or a decade, in a corporate environment.”

Retaining women in technology

Partly due to the growing prevalence of AI, the tech sector has undergone a ‘great layoff,’ equating to over 263,000 global jobs in 2023 alone.^iv In this environment, tech firms must ensure that job cuts do not disproportionately impact women. To know whether this is the case requires measuring turnover by gender; disappointingly, Grant Thornton’s 2024 Women in Business data shows that only 22.3% of technology firms do this.

Failing to measure staff turnover by gender means that firms are likely to be taking limited action to ensure their female leadership pipeline is secure.

“I don't think there's any intention behind women being disproportionately being laid off, but firms are not compiling or issuing any data,” says Andrea Schulz, National managing partner for the Technology industry, at Grant Thornton LLP (US).

If this measure is implemented as part of a standalone, actionable DE&I strategy (as recommended by our 2024 Women in Business report), it can act as a vital Key Performance Indicator to measure the success of other DE&I initiatives. For example, how does introducing a better return-to-work policy after maternity leave, or introducing a more flexible working pattern affect the retention of female staff? Tech firms cannot answer this question without measuring turnover in the first instance.

Yannis Krasonikolakis, Head of applied intelligence and predictive analytics, Technology, Grant Thornton Greece says: “Companies that prioritise workplace diversity can attract, and retain, better qualified talent, boosting overall performance. Female representation in tech companies fosters a positive work environment.”

Transparency in the technology industry

The tech sector ranks consistently as having one of the most pronounced gender pay gaps. For instance, European women in tech make, on average, 26% less than men.^v In an industry with such a wide gap, it is therefore vital that more mid-market tech firms measure gender pay inequality. However, only 40.4% currently do, according to Grant Thornton’s 2024 Women in Business data. It is especially concerning that this is below the global average of 46.8%.

It is unsurprising that a large pay gap would disincentivise women from pursuing a career in tech. Therefore, demonstrating progress towards alleviating wage gaps can help attract top talent, ensuring a diversity of voices are involved and, ultimately, leading to better business decisions being made.

“Building trust with employees through accountable and transparent actions helps to create an enhanced and inclusive workplace,” Rena Konomi, Head of intelligent automation services, Technology, Grant Thornton Greece shares, adding that this will help “attract the best talent in the market.”

By lagging behind their competitors in publicising progress on closing the wage gap, tech firms may find they are losing future female leaders before they even apply, weakening the talent pipeline. Publishing their wage gap is a vital first step for technology firms to overcome this.

Why urgent progress towards parity in tech is required

Amid the development of new technology, it is more vital than ever that tech firms push for parity for women in senior leadership positions, ensuring the equitable development of tech, such as AI. To do so requires a diverse set of voices to be involved in development teams, meaning that more must be done to promote and celebrate women in technology to reach senior management positions.

“AI is rapidly changing, it's about making sure that you're getting more diversity, and that generative AI is reflecting the views of everyone” Andrea Schulz, National managing partner for the Technology industry at Grant Thornton LLP (US) points out, highlighting how biased AI models is not an inevitable outcome, but a by-product of a lack of diverse voices around the table.

Firms need to make a determined and conscious effort to address the leadership pipeline to mitigate against the harm of gender-biased future tech. Focusing on the three recommended areas – boosting the prospects for early career women in tech, measuring turnover by gender and committing to greater transparency to attract women to the technology industry – is vital for the technology industry to focus on to help achieve gender parity of women in senior management positions.

To further learn how businesses can be part of the push towards parity, read our full Women in Business report. 

Women in business 2024

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i. Generative AI Could Raise Global GDP by 7% (goldmansachs.com)
ii. The crash dummy aimed at protecting women drivers - (bbc.com)
iii. Voice Recognition Still Has Significant Race and Gender Biases (hbr.org)
iv. Tech companies axe 34,000 jobs since start of year in pivot to AI (ft.com)
v. Women are earning 26% less than men in the tech sector - (totalent.eu)