Women in AI: Key Statistics Revealing the Gender Gap in Tech

Artificial intelligence, without doubt, is shaking up how we work, live, and create products and services for the future. By 2026, this transformation will have a unique and sometimes uneven impact on women. The stats don't lie: while women make up about half the global working-age population, they hold only around a quarter of tech jobs, and in specialized AI roles, that drops to just 26% (Digital Silk). As AI becomes ever more present, understanding how these changes hit women is key to ensuring tech actually works for everyone.

As we kick off 2026, it is a great time to explore how AI is transforming women’s realities: the risks to traditional careers, the bold leap into new roles, the entrepreneurial wins, and why a diversity of voices is the ‘secret sauce’ for better tech.

Setting the Scene

The Economic Impact of The AI Workforce

The rise of widespread AI usage was quickly followed by the creation of an AI workforce -  autonomous agents and systems that act as digital employees. They're especially good at handling routine tasks, increasing the productivity of each employee, enabling them to focus their energy on more strategic and creative work. However, it's also led to massive layoffs with the tech sector seeing more than 244,000 layoffs in 2025, especially visible in California, US, where most of the big tech companies have their headquarters (NetworkWorld).

The roles that are most vulnerable to automation are customer service, admin, and data entry; roles where women often dominate. In fact, according to the World Economic Forum, 57% of jobs at risk of automation are currently held by women. 

Also, research shows that only 26% of global AI-related jobs are held by women. Representation is even lower in cloud computing (15%) and data science (12%) (Digital Silk). There’s also a significant digital skills gap: globally, women are 25% less likely than men to have basic digital skills, and four times less likely to have advanced programming skills (UNESCO,2024)

But it’s not all doom and gloom! Upskilling is the name of the game. Roles that require communication, empathy, leadership, and creative problem-solving, the true ‘soft skills’ (that are actually tough for AI to master) are becoming more valuable. Women who adapt and seek out training can pivot into emerging, future-proof careers.

Women in Tech Leadership in 2026

Women hold less than 10% of CEO roles in the S&P 100 (Russell Reynolds Associates), and the picture in AI organizations is similarly stark. Analysis of 39 AI platform and application organizations found that women hold only 30% of overall leadership roles and just 10% of CEO and top tech roles. The majority of women leaders in these organizations are clustered in HR and legal functions, holding 86% and 55% of these roles, respectively, positions that rarely lead to the top job.

Women in The Tech Spotlight

The AI Ecosystem Needs Women’s Voices

AI is only as good as the team that builds it. Statistics show that homogeneous teams create narrow, sometimes biased technology, as they can't see their blind spots. Diverse voices tend to reduce individual biases when shaping AI products and services.

It's important to note that less than 30% of the global AI professionals are female, and that drops to 15% in leadership (Women & Tech Indiana). And we all know now that diverse teams are more innovative and better problem-solvers, leading to tech that works for real-world users, not just a chosen few.

So what are the real-world consequences? When development teams lack women, AI-powered hiring tools, medical diagnostics, and even voice assistants can reflect and reinforce harmful stereotypes (Women & Tech Indiana, UNESCO).

The AI Adoption Gender Gap Is Closing… Fast!

Although the gender gap in AI is very real, the good news is that women's adoption of generative AI is accelerating rapidly. In 2023, women's use of gen AI was just half that of men's. However, over the past year, the proportion of US women adopting GenAI has tripled, outpacing the 2.2x growth rate seen among men, narrowing the gap rapidly. 2025. The AI Literacy Institute synthesized several 2023–2025 studies, reporting that 37% of women vs 50% of men had used GenAI in the past year, about a 25% gender gap in AI adoption.

 Research from China's rapidly digitizing workplace shows that female professionals are not only adopting AI faster than their male counterparts, but also reporting lower levels of anxiety (China Daily). Women, particularly those with higher levels of education and workplace experience, are utilizing AI tools more frequently than men, demonstrating higher adaptability in digital transformation.

The Challenge of Empowering Women in AI

Despite the rapid adoption, there's a concerning trust gap in women leading in AI. Women express less trust than men that gen AI providers will keep their data secure. And not surprisingly, as women are also disproportionately harmed by AI’s replicated societal biases in areas like healthcare, hiring, credit and loans, deepfakes, and online harassment (don't get us started on Grok undressing women and children).

And let's not forget these examples of AI bias:

• Amazon's recruiting tool learned to discriminate against women because it was trained on a decade of resumes, mostly from men. It penalized any mention of "women's" and favored traditionally male credentials (Women & Tech Indiana).
• Facial recognition systems show error rates up to 34% for darker-skinned women versus less than 1% for lighter-skinned men, as Dr. Joy Buolamwini's MIT research revealed.
• Apple Card's algorithm gave women lower credit limits than men with equal or better scores, automating financial discrimination at scale.

Hence, it's not difficult to see why we have a "technology trust gap", which inhibits women's regular use of the technology and their full engagement with AI tools. Among GenAI users, only 34% of women say they use the technology at least once a day, compared to 43% of men, and only 41% of women feel that Gen AI substantially boosts their productivity, versus 61% of men, according to Deloitte Insights.

AI Ethics: Why Women Are Leading the Way 

As AI’s influence grows, ethical oversight is critical, and many women are stepping up to ensure we build responsible AI, which is great news for everybody. Afterall, a diverse team is more likely to anticipate bias and champion fairness.

They're taking charge by asking tougher questions like, "Will this algorithm disadvantage mothers returning to work?" or "Could this AI miss women’s symptoms in medical scans?" By actively identifying and correcting for these blind spots, women are making AI more transparent, accountable, and frankly better for everyone.

AI Impacts Mental Load at Home Positively 

For most of us, women, our job also continues at home. Especially for mums and caregivers, this “mental load” is real, and using AI can help manage it.

Here’s how women are innovating and leveraging AI at home:

• Meal Planning: Smart apps suggest recipes, build shopping lists, and work with what you have in the fridge.
• Family Logistics: Tools automate schedules, reminders, and even school pickups.
• Personalized Learning: AI tutors adapt to a child’s needs, making learning at home more engaging and tailored.
  It's no surprise that women are ahead of the curve in using these technologies for practical, family-centric tasks. 
• Pro tip: Women use AI-powered wearable trackers more often on a monthly basis than men (National University).

Female Founders Are Raising More VC Capital Every Year

While the tech world is infamous for its “bro” culture, female founders are rewriting the script. They’re not just building companies - they’re solving real-world problems.

• According to the Female Innovation Index 2025, 1,196 European female-founded startups raised €5.76 billion through 1,305 deals in 2024, representing 12% of total VC capital raised. While this marks a 12% drop from 2023, it's in line with the broader 11% decrease across all European startups.

Here are the standout trends, according to Eu.vc and Ainvest:

• AI adoption is booming: 77% of female founders currently leverage AI for their businesses, showing they're not just adapting to technology, they're leading with it.
• Deep tech dominance: 33% of all venture capital raised by female entrepreneurs in Europe in 2024 went to deeptech startups - 2% more than gender-agnostic startups. Key areas include synthetic biology, generative AI, and drug development.
• Growing exits: M&A (mergers & acquisitions) activity by female-founded companies grew by 15% in 2024, and three European female-founded companies achieved unicorn status: France's Newcleo and Pigment, and Germany's Cardior Pharmaceuticals.
• AI-driven innovation: 25% of the 50 largest financing rounds of 2024 raised by female founders went to AI-driven startups, including Swiss Cradle (€66M), UK-based Dexory (€50M), and Swedish Sana Labs (€50M). Female-led startups are outperforming expectations, with women-led AI companies securing 24.3% of U.S. VC exits and generating 2.5x more revenue per dollar raised compared to all-male teams.

But challenges remain. Women are still underrepresented in leadership: only 8% of CTOs are women, and female startup CEOs earn an average of $133,000 USD, compared to $153,000 USD for men (Digital Silk). Yet the momentum is shifting as female-led AI startups make waves with innovations in health, finance, and education.

SheAI: Turning Ideas Into Entrepreneurship

At SheAI, we're not just talking about empowering women in AI - we're doing it! We kicked off our first incubator and accelerator program in December 2025, with a three-day vibe coding buildathon, where participants learned how to vibe code and brought their ideas from concept to presentation in just 72 hours.

The results? Over 50 participants and innovators came together and created amazing projects that solve real-world problems. The energy, creativity, and innovation in the room proved what happens when women are given the tools, ai community, and support to build.

Here are our winners and their prizes:

🥇 First Place – 6 months free SheAI Platform and Mentorship was awarded to Artfully Create by Tomar Beh

🥈 Second Place – 3 months free SheAI Platform and Mentorship was awarded to Wealthy Cora by Foix Coral Mallofré

🥉 Third Place – 1 month free SheAI Platform and Mentorship was awarded to Druga by Fatiha Mostafa Roja

These aren't just projects - they're the beginning of businesses, solutions, and careers. And this is just the start. SheAI is committed to creating more opportunities like this, where women can learn, build, and launch AI-powered ventures with the support they need to succeed.

Check out SheAI's founders' story to learn how we are working towards gender-inclusive AI to close the gender gap in the field.

Let's Make The Future of AI Accessible & Inclusive 

Yes, AI is changing the game, but women have the chance to write the rules and shape the future of artificial intelligence. Whether it’s by upskilling, leading startups, speaking out for inclusive tech, or bringing a much-needed ethical lens and diverse perspectives, women are shaping an AI-powered future that’s better for all.

So the big takeaway? Your participation is needed for the future of artificial intelligence!

Join our global community of women experts, professionals, and entrepreneurs interested in AI. Your voice matters!

Author:
Ezgi Bilgi