麦肯锡 -欧洲科技与人工智能领域的女性群体：该地区能否弥合性别差距 Women in tech and AI in Europe Can the region close its gender gap

March2026

McKinsey

&Company

McKinseyTechnology

WomenintechandAI

inEurope:Cantheregion

closeitsgendergap?

TheriseofAlcouldbetheturningpointthatfinallyunlockswomen'sfullparticipationinthetechsectorifaddressedearly—orreducestheirshareevenfurther.

ThisarticleisacollaborativeeffortbyAnnaLieser,HenningSoller,KristinTuot,LievenVanderVeken,MartinaGschwendtner,MelanieKrawina,andSvenBlumberg,representingviewsfromMcKinsey

TechnologyandQuantumBlack,AlbyMcKinsey.

Thetechindustryaroundtheworldisintransition,withAlreshapingbothorganizationsandtheverynatureoftechwork.ForEurope,theimplicationsextendbeyondproductivityandinnovationandtoucheconomicgrowth,competitiveness,andinclusion.McKinseyanalysisestimatesthatsovereignAlcouldaddmorethane480billioninannualvaluetoEurope'seconomyby2030.YettheregioncontinuestotrailtheUnitedStates,whichisdefiningthepaceandscaleofglobalAlinnovation!

ForEurope,thistransformationisatestnotonlyoftechnologicalcapabilitybutoftalentstrategy.AsAlredistributesvaluetowardmoreadvanced,hybridroles,theregionfacesapivotalchoice:whetherto

allowexistinggendergapstowidenortoseewomenasacriticalleverinbuildingthenextgenerationof

Alleadership.

Today,womencouldplayadecisiveroleinstrengtheningEurope'stechtalentbase,yettheyfacea

triplethreatfromAI.First,theyareunderrepresentedintech:Inourpreviousreportonwomenintech,wefoundthatwomenaccountedfor22percentofemployeesincoretechroles.2Today,according

toMcKinseyanalysis,thatsharehasfallento19percent-anindicationthateffortstoaddressthe

persistentlackofrepresentationhavefailedtomakeprogress(seesidebar“Abouttheresearch”).

Second,manyofthetechlayoffsattributedtoAltodatehavebeeninrolesdisproportionatelyheld

bywomen(suchasproductanddesign),suggestingthatwithoutinterventions,thesharewilldrop

evenfurther.Finally,thesedevelopmentscomeasthewomenwhoremainintecharebumpingup

againstaglassceilingandcontemplatingleavingtheindustryaltogether,withsignificantdropsatthemanagementandseniormanagementlevels(insoftwarealone,theshareofwomenfalls15percentagepointsfromtheentryleveltotheC-level).

1"AcceleratingEurope'sAladoption:TheroleofsovereignAl,"McKinsey,December19,2025.

2SvenBlumberg,MelanieKrawina,ElinaMakela,andHenningSoller,"Womenintech:ThebestbettosolveEurope'stalentshortage,"McKinsey,January24,2023.

Abouttheresearch

McKinseyanalyzedthelatestEU

techworkforcedatatoseewhere

Europestandsonwomenintechandinterviewedseniorfemaletechleadersintheregiontoheartheirperspectivesonwhatworks.Ouranalysisforthis

articledrewprimarilyonthreesources:

一Theassessmentofacademic

achievement(primary,secondary,

andtertiaryeducation)wasbased

onpubliclyavailabledatafrom

Eurostat,theOECD'sProgrammeforInternationalStudentAssessment

(PISA),andtheTrendsinInternationalMathematicsandScienceStudy

(TIMSS).WefocusedonEU-27data.

一WeaccessedLinkedlndataacross

morethan500companesand37

countriesinEurope,includingprofilesoffourmillionworkersinrelevantjobcategories(productmanagement,

design,dataandAl,infrastructure,

andsoftwareengineeringand

architecture),togaininsightsintotheshareofwomenintheseroles.

一ProprietaryanalysisontheEuropeantechworkforceandskillgapswas

conductedbyFindem,incorporatinginsightsandcapabilitiesfromGetro(aFindemcompany).FindemisanAlplatformfortalentoutcomesthatprovidesvisibilityintoworkforce

composition,skills,andhiringtrendsacrossglobaltechcompaniesby

analyzingmorethan850millionprofiles.TheseinsightswereusedtodeepenandcomplementtheMcKinseyresearch.

Tofurtheraugmentthisresearchandanalysis,weinterviewedtenfemaletechleadersatcompaniesinEurope.

Thedataavailableforthisstudydidnotconsiderdifferencesbetweenanindividual'sbirthgenderandtheirgenderidentity.Wehavethereforeusedtheterms"men"and“women”throughout.

WomenintechandAlinEurope:Cantheregioncloseitsgendergap?2

ButAlalsocreatesanopportunitytotapintounderutilizedsegmentsoftheworkforce-including

women.Asthenumberofentry-levelrolesintechdeclines,demandisemergingformid-andsenior-levelleaderswhocombinetechnicaldepthwithstrategicjudgmentandethicaloversighttodesign,deploy,andgovernAlsystemsresponsibly.Withtargetedreskillinganddeliberateadvancement

pathways,womencouldcapturemanyoftheseadjacentandfast-growingroles.

HowcanEuroperedesignitstechtalentmodelfortheAlerawhileexpandingopportunityand

competitiveness?Acceleratingwomenintothesefuture-criticalrolesisnotasideagenda;itisoneofEurope'smosttangibleleverstobuildtheleadershipAlnowdemandsandtostrengtheninnovation,governance,andcompetitivenessacrosstheregion.Tothatend,weoutlinethreesolutionstoclosingboththegenderandcapabilitygapsintech.

ThreedynamicswideningEurope'sgendergapintechandAI

AsAlreshapesrolesandvaluecreationintech,existinggendergapscouldwidenwithoutdeliberateaction.

EUwomenarealreadyunderrepresentedacrosstech-atrendthatappearstobegettingworse

Inourpreviousreportonwomenintech,³wehighlightedtwomaindrop-offpointsforwomen:fromhighschoolgraduationtouniversityenrollment,andfromuniversitygraduationtojobsintechroles.Thesepointsarestillpivotal,andoverallprospectsforwomenintechhavenotimproved.

TheshareofwomengraduatingfromEuropeantechdegreeprogramshasseenasmallupticksince

2022,accordingtoMcKinseyanalysis,risingto33percentofbachelor'sdegreesand39percentof

PhDgraduates(Exhibit1).However,thepipelinefromgraduateschooltothetechworkforcefellby20

percentagepoints,withtheshareofwomenintechrolesfallingto19percent.Thegapcontinuestowidenaswomenmoveuptheladderintheorganization,withjust13percentofwomenacrossmanagementrolesintechandonly8percentinseniormanagementroles(suchasdirectorandC-level).

ThewideninggapisreflectedinnotonlythedatabutalsothelivedexperienceofwomeninEuropeantech.Manyseniorleadersweinterviewedsaidthattheenvironmenthasworsenedoverthepastfewyears,withgenderparityslippingdowntheprioritylistformostorganizations.Asoneseniorleaderputit,"Diversitygoalsfadethemomentthehiringphotoistaken."

3SvenBlumberg,MelanieKrawina,ElinaMakelā,andHenningSoller,"Womenintech:ThebestbettosolveEurope'stalentshortage,"McKinsey,January24,2023.

Thewideninggapisreflectedinnotonlythedatabutalso

thelivedexperienceofwomeninEuropeantech.

WomenintechandAlinEurope:Cantheregioncloseitsgendergap?3

WomenintechandAlinEurope:Cantheregioncloseitsgendergap?4

Exhibit1

TheshareofwomenintechinEuropehasfallenfrom22percentto19percent,showingthatcurrentactionsaren'tenough.

ShareofwomeninSTEM¹pipeline,European²average,%oftotalpoolwithincategory

2025

-18

percentagepoints

3736-20

percentagepoints

22

19

BachelorBScgrad-

across

(BSc)

enroll-

ment⁵

Workforce

Acrosstechmanagementintheindustry

Techrole

company?

Primaryandsecondaryeducation

Masterofscience

Earlyhigh

school

capa-

bilities⁴

techcom-

panies⁶

Primary

school

capa-

bilities³

Tertiaryeducation

MSc

grad-

uation⁵

PhDgrad-uation⁵

3739

PhDenroll-ment⁵

3739

(MSc)

enroll-

ment⁵

ofscience

Anyrole

uation⁵

37

36

39

8%

ofseniormanagementrolesareheldbywomen⁷

13%

ofmanagementrolesareheldbywomen⁷

Definedastotalacrossnaturalsciences,mathematics,statisics,informationandcommunicationstechnology,engineering,manufacturing,andconstruction.

DefinedasEU-27countries.CalculatedthroughaverageIEATrendsinInternationalMathematicsandScienceStudyTIMSS)grade4testscoresacross

scienceandmathforEU-27participants,2022and2025.^CalculatedthroughaverageOECDProgrammefornternationalStudentAssessment(PISA)and

TIMSSgrade8testscoresacrosscienceandmathforEU-27participants,2022anǎ2025.5EurostatdataonstudentsenrolledintertiaryeducationforEU-27counties,2022and2025.Femaleshareintop10globaltechcompanieswithoperationsinEurope.Calculatedasweightedaveragefemaleshareofanyroleindata,analytics,andtechnologyreportedinaLinkedlnjobprofilelocatedinEurope.

McKinsey&Company

Womenareoverrepresentedinentry-levelroles,whichareshrinkingintheageofAl

AsAlhasautomatedcoretasks,demandformostentry-leveltechroleshasfallen.Ourresearchshowsthatwomeninentry-leveljobsinproductdevelopmentandsoftwareengineeringsawthelargest

declinesfrom2024to2025,at17and13percent,respectively.Al,data,andanalyticsisthesolejob

familywithrisingentry-leveldemand(up11percentformenand7percentforwomen).However,mencapturealargershareofthisgrowth,limitingwomen'sparticipationintheoneexpandingearly-careerpathway.Oneseniorleaderweinterviewedexplained,"Weusedtotellwomen,'Cometotech-it'sfullofopportunity.'Now,'mnotsurethat'strue.”

WomenintechandAlinEurope:Cantheregioncloseitsgendergap?5

Educationnolongeroffersareliablepathforwomenintothetechworkforce,andSTEMgraduates

arestrugglingtosecuretechroles:Ouranalysisfindsthatoverarchingdemandhasdeclinedby2to3

percentacrossalltechfamilies,furtherweakeningthelinkbetweeneducationandemployment.Further,alookatwomen'sshareofSTEMgraduationratesbycountryfoundnolinktotheirrepresentationin

theworkforce(Exhibit2).Thisdisconnectbecomesevenmorestarkwhencomparing2022and2025numbers.Women'sSTEMgraduationratesarerising,buttheirshareintechrolescontinuestofall.Morebroadly,genderequityisnotcorrelatedwithhighernumbersofwomenintech(seesidebar"Gender

equalitydoesn'tguaranteetechrepresentation”).

Exhibit2

Increasinggenderequalityineducationdoesnottranslateintoequalworkforceparticipation.

CorrelationofshareofwomeninSTEMeducationandworkforce

Shareof

womenintechin

workforce,

%

45

40

Latvia

Finland

EU-27

35

CroatiaEstonia

Bulgaria

Italy

Malta

Poland

Ireland

France

LithuaniaSpainPocle

DenmarkSweden

GermanyCzechiaAustria

LuxembourgNetherlands

2025303545

25

20

BdousSsboabl

Romania

15

15

Shareofwomeninpoolof

bachelorofsciencegraduates,²%

ICalculatedasweightedaverageshareofwomeninanyroleindata,analytics,andtechnologyreportedinaLinkedlnjobprofilelocatedinEurope.

2EurostatdataonstudentsenrolledintertiaryeducationforEU-27countries,2020and2022.

McKinsey&Company

Theglassceilingholdswomenbackfromseniorroles

AcrossEuropeantech,women'srepresentationdeclinessharplywithseniorityacrossallfivemajorjob

families(Exhibit3).Whilewomenaccountformeaningfulnumbersinsomeentry-levelroles-theyhold

morethanhalfofsuchrolesindesignandhavestrongrepresentationinproductmanagement-theirshare

Exhibit3

WomenintechandAlinEurope:Cantheregioncloseitsgendergap?6

Women'srepresentationdeclinesateachcareerstage,withthelargestdropbetweenentrylevelandmanager.

Shareofwomenacross5jobfamilies,%

DecreasefromentryleveltoC-level,

Decreasefromentryleveltomanager,

Design

Productmanagement

Al,data,andanalytics

25

Softwareengineeringandarchitecture-

Infrastructure

Entry

level

ManagerDirectoror

vicepresident

percentagepoints

percentagepoints

Individual

contributor

-16

-29

C-level

-18

Source:Findem;Getro;McKinseyresearchbasedon1,554,939scannedprofiles

McKinsey&Company

dropsateverysubsequentcareerstep.Thesteepestlossesoccurearly:Betweenentry-levelandfirst

managerialroles,women'srepresentationfallsbysevento18percentagepoints,dependingonjobfamily.

Theseearlylossescompoundthegendergapattheleadershiplevel.Inproductanddesign,womenseetheirrepresentationdropby29to32percentagepointsfromentryleveltoC-suite.Intechnicaltrackssuchassoftwareengineeringandinfrastructure,womenstartwithlowerrepresentationandexperiencecumulativedeclinesof11to15percentagepointsbyseniorleadership.EveninAl,data,andanalytics一theonlyjobfamilyshowingentry-levelgrowth-representationdropsby16percentagepointsbetweenentryandC-level,withaparticularlysharpdropatmidcareerleadershiptransitions.

IntheAlera,thisattritionisespeciallyconcerning.Leadershiprolesindata,product,andengineeringincreasinglyshapehowAlsystemsarebuiltandgoverned.Whenwomenexitearlyfromthese

pathways-andfromthesectoraltogether-theresultisanarrowingofperspectivesatpreciselythelevelsatwhichbias,accountability,andsocietalimpactmustbeaddressed.

Apatternthatemergedclearlyinourinterviewsisthatthevisiblepresenceoffemaleseniorleaders

materiallyimprovesretentionandadvancement.Asoneleadernoted,"IjoinedamajorDevSecOps

[development,security,andoperations]companybecauseanotherwomanencouragedmetoapply;shelaterbecamemymentor."Retainingandpromotingwomeninseniorrolesisthereforenotonlyanequityimperativebutalsoaprerequisiteforbuildinginclusive,high-performingAl-drivenorganizations.

WomenintechandAlinEurope:Cantheregioncloseitsgendergap?7

Genderequalitydoesn'tguaranteetechrepresentation

Countrieswithaproventrackrecordofchampioningwomeninsociety

mightexpecttohavesuccessin

achievinggenderdiversityintech,butouranalysisfoundthatnosuchlink

exists.Forexample,theNordicsscorehighlyongenderequalitycomparedwithallEUcountries,withFinland

(0.88)andSweden(0.82)attheupperrange(exhibit).Butthesecountries

stillhavelowfemalerepresentationintechroles-36percentand23percent,respectively.

Exhibit

GenderequalityisrisingacrossEurope,buttheshareofwomenintechrolesisstalling.

WomenintechrolesvsGlobalGenderGapIndexranking,bycountry,2025

Shareof

womenintechworkforce,1%

Highequality,hightechparticipation

45-

Romania

Estonia

●CroatiaBulgaria

Malta

Poland

25-

GreecePortugal

Slovakia

Germany

CzechiaAustria

Luxembourg一

Netherlands

0.650.70.75

DenmarkBelgium

0.80.85

Finland●

Ireland

Lithuania

Sweden

Spain

35-

GlobalGenderGapIndex²

Circlesize=

relativesizeoftechworkforce

Calculatedasweightedaverageshareofwomeninanyroleindata,analytics,andtechnologyreportedinaLinkedlnjobprofilelocatedinEurope.ScaleofOtot,where1=parity.Globalgendergapreport2025,WorldEconomicForum,Junef,2025.

McKinsey&Company

WomenintechandAlinEurope:Cantheregioncloseitsgendergap?8

Structuralcausesofunderrepresentation

Ouranalysisexaminedtheunderlyingobstaclescontributingtofemaleunderrepresentationintechandfoundseveralpatterns.

Womenareoverrepresentedinlow-influencetechrolesmostaffectedbyAl

Femaleemployeesmakeup39percentofproductmanagementrolesand53percentofdesignroles.Atfirstglance,thislookslikestrongrepresentation(Exhibit4).Butthesepositionsarenottypically

commonintheC-suite,withfarfewerchiefproductorchiefdesignofficerscomparedwithchief

technologyorchiefinformationofficers.Inaddition,productanddesignaccountforjust10and5

percentofthetechworkforce,respectively.Asaresult,womenhavelessinfluenceoverthedirection,governance,anddesignofthebroaderAlandtechspace.

ProductanddesignjobsarealsoamongthemostatriskintheageofAlascoretasksareincreasinglyautomatedandroleexpectationsshift.From2024to2025,overalldemanddeclinedforrolesin

product(2percent)anddesign(3percent),especiallyattheentrylevel(17percentand11percent,

respectively).Meanwhile,womenremainsignificantlyunderrepresentedinhigh-impact,fast-growingareassuchasAlanddata,infrastructure,andsoftwareengineering.AsAlcapabilitiesaccelerate,theseimbalancescouldreinforceexistinggenderdisparitiesandconcentratewomeninroleswithdecliningdemandandlimitedstrategicinfluence.

Exhibit4

Alreshapesdemandacrossjobfamilies,reducingdemandinfemale-dominatedrolesandincreasingitinAl-nativefields.

Shareofwomeninkeytechfamiliesandevolutionovertime,2025and2022,%

Productmanagement¹Design¹Al,data,andanalytics

(10%ofworkforce)(5%ofworkforce)(9%ofworkforce)

33

+3

39

-7percentagepointchangefrom2022

Infrastructure²

(9%ofworkforce)

Softwareengineeringand

architecture

(67%ofworkforce)

2022datacombinedproductanddesignrolesinonefamily.

22022datasplitinfrastructureintocomputeandoperations,andDevOpsandcloud.

Source:FindemandGetro(aFindemcompany),2025:McKinseyresearchbasedonLinkedlnjobprofilesinEurope,2025;"Womenintech:ThebestettosolveEurope'stalentshortage,"McKinsey,Jan24,2023.

McKinsey&Company

WomenintechandAlinEurope:Cantheregioncloseitsgendergap?9

Corporateculturecanhinderadvancementforwomenintech

Choosingtohavechildrenisoftencitedasaprimaryobstacletocareeradvancementforfemale

professionals.⁴However,McKinseyresearchsuggeststhatmicroaggressionsandworkplaceculturepresentevenlargerobstaclestowomenintech.OurWomeninTechsurveyfoundthat49percentofwomenexperiencedsexismorbiasinthepastyear(thoughthisnumberwasdowntwopercentage

pointsfromthepreviousyear),and82percentsaidtheymustprovethemselvesmorethanmen.5Asoneofourintervieweessaid,"Iflspeakuptoooften,'′mlabeleddifficult.Ifldon't,I'minvisible."Subtleexclusionarycues(forexample,jokesorteamrituals)canfurtherdeterwomenfromenteringorstayingintech,evenwhenqualified.

Womenintechfrequentlyfeelisolated,whichcausesadditionalstress.6Oneintervieweenoted,"You'reoftenthefirstandonlywomanintheroom,"whileanothersaid,"Beingthe'onlyone'meanseverywordfeelsweighted.”

Inaddition,womenfrequentlyactasthe“socialglue”ofteams,performingessentialbutunrewarded

workculturetasks.Womenreceive44percentmorerequeststovolunteerfortasks-suchasresolvingconflictsorcoordinatingevents-thatarenotrecognizedinreviews.?Comparedwithmalecounterparts,theaveragewomanemployeespendsanadditional200hoursayearontasksthatdon'tcontributetocareeradvancement-morethanamonth'sworthof"officehousework."BOnefemaletechleaderina

majorDevSecOpscompanynoted,"Imentorfourpeopleunofficially;it'sinvisiblework."

Hybridschedulesandflexibilityhavealargerimpactonwomen

PreviousMcKinseyresearchhighlightedthatprofessionalwomenfaceparticularchallengesin

balancingworkandfamily.Companyeffortstoaccommodateworkingmotherscanhavehidden

trade-offs:Evenininclusivecultures,takingadvantageofflexibleworkschedulescanslowcareer

advancement.Inourinterviews,womenreturningtoworkaftermaternityleavereportedlostmomentumandreducedclientvisibility.Butthereversecanalsoholdtrue:Someinterviewsubjectsatcompanieswithfullyremoteorhybridworkingmodels-foreveryone,notjustnewparents-citedflexibleschedulesasthebiggestacceleratorofcareerprogression.“Thesystemnowallofasuddenrewardsabilityand

notwhojoinstheafter-workdrinksanddoesn'thavetoleaveat5p.m.sharptopickupthekids,"asoneintervieweeputit.Companiesthatencouragetheirentireworkforcetoadoptflexibleschedulescanseeapositiveimpactacrosstheboardwithoutpenalizingwomenfortakingadvantageofsuchprograms.

Techcompaniesarenotprioritizingsponsorship

Someorganizationshavescaledbacktheirdiversity,equity,andinclusion(DEI)efforts.Theleadersweinterviewedexpressedfatigue,becauseDEleffortsrelyonindividualgoodwillratherthan

embeddedaccountability.Butevenbeforethisshift,manycompaniesthatprioritizedDElinitiativesreportedthattheydidnotachievesustained,tangibleresults.Progressdependsonallies,not

systems:Manywomenhaveamentor,buttheyarelesslikelytohaveasponsorthanmen.9This

matters,becausesponsoredwomenare200percentmorelikelytoseetheirideasimplemented.10

4AmyBorrett,"Whyhavingababyremainsacareerobstacleforwomen,"FinancialTimes,March6,2025.

5WomeninTechSurvey2025,WebSummit,2025.

6KevinSneaderandLareinaYee,"Oneistheloneliestnumber,"McKinseyQuarterly,January29,2019.

7LindaBabcock,MariaP.Recalde,andLiseVesterlund,"Whywomenvolunteerfortasksthatdon'tleadtopromotions,"HarvardBusinessReview,July16,2018.

8ElleHunt,"Norewardorrecognition':Whywomenshouldsaynoto'officehousework,"TheGuardian,May9,2022.

9AlexisKrivkovich,DrewGoldstein,andMeganMcConnell,WomenintheWorkplace2025,McKinsey,December9,2025.

10CassandraMelvinandJolieLeBlanc,Sponsorshipofwomendivesinnovationandimprovesorganizationalperfomance,Acentureand

SEMI,2020.

ClosingEurope'sgenderandtalentgapintech

Whilethecurrentsituationappearsbleak,theAldisruptionreshapingeverypartofthetechindustry

offersauniqueopportunitytoacceleratefemalerepresentationinEuropeantech.Companiesshouldbepreparedtoimplementaholistic,enterprise-wideprogramthatintegratesculture,skills,andoperating-modelinitiativestailoredtowomen'sexistingcapabilitiesaswellasorganizationalneedsandpriorities.Toensuresustainedimpact,companiescanembedacontinuousfeedbackloopbylinkingactionsto

KPlsandculturalmetricsforongoingmeasurement,iteration,andrefinement.

Afocusedsetofactionsacrossthreeareascouldraisefemalerepresentation,closecritical

skillmismatches,andstrengthenbothwomen'slong-termcareerprospectsandEurope'sAl

competitiveness.Theseactionsencompassdistinctlevels-organizations,teams,andindividualsupportsystems-enablingcompaniestofocusonareaswherechangehasthegreatestimpact(Exhibit5).

Exhibit5

TocloseEurope'sgenderandtalentgap,companiesneedtotakeaholisticapproachwithanintegratedfeedbackloop.

1.Reculture

Holdleadersaccountableforprogress

andresults

Createanenvironmentwherewomen

feelsupported,respected,visible,and

encouragedtogrowandlead

Promotepsychologicalsafety,

role-modeling,andvisibleleadershipsupport

2.Realignskills

Investincompany-wideAland

dataliteracy

Ensurewomengain,retain,anddeepen

relevanttechnicalcapabilities

Developpersonalizedupskillingplans

combinedwithcertificationstohelp

growingroles

womentransitionintothefastest-

3.Reimagineoperations

Embedgenderequalityintocompanystructures,includingtargets,careerpathsandKPlsStandardizebenefitsandsupportprogramstoensurewomenareassessedsolelyontheirperformance

Assignhigher-valueresponsibilitiestowomenratherthantasksoutsideofjobroles

Eachofthesedimensionsmustbeaddressedat3differentlevels

Individual

Personagrowth,access,

andmotivation

Team

Dailybehaviors,

workflows,leadership

style,andlocalpractices

Organizational

Company-widestructures,policies,budget,and

strategicpriorities

McKinsey&Company

WomenintechandAlinEurope:Cantheregioncloseitsgendergap?10

1.Reculture

Cultureisthestrongestpredictorofwhetherwomenstayintechandadvance.Companiesthatimplementarangeoftangibleactionsacrosstheorganizationcouldenhancetheworkenvironmentforwomen.

Onanorganizationallevel,holdingleadersaccountablehasprovedeffective.Approachesinclude

providingmoretransparencyintorepresentationgoalsforwomenintechnicalandleadershiproles,

reviewingprogressquarterly,andtyingoutcomestoexecutiveKPls.Redesigningperformancesystemstofocusonimpactcouldalsohelpleveltheplayingfield.Onefemaleexecutiveatacompanywithafullyremoteworkforcenotedthatperformancereviewsassessedemployeesonoutputsratherthanvisibilityorworkstyle,anemphasisshefeltcontributedtoherpromotions.

Apositiveday-to-dayexperiencecanalsohaveanimpact.Whathappensinmeetingsoftendetermineswhetherwomenstay.Structuredrituals-round-robininput,rotatingfacilitation,writtendecisions-

reducebiasandmakecontributionsvisible.Ensuringequitableaccesstoprojectassignmentsisalsoessential,andthepresenceoffemaleleaderscanhaveanimmediateimpact.Onefemaletechleadersaid,“Evenatuniversity,aprofessor'sgendermakesasignificantdifferenceinwhosignsupfortheircourses.IfafemaleSTEMprofessoroffersacourse,usually30to40percentofstudentsarewomen.Formaeprofessors,thatnumberisabout10percent.”

Womenasagroupdonotlackambitionorconfidence,buttheyfrequentlylacksponsorswhoactively

opendoorstohigh-visibilityassignmentsthatcouldacceleratetheiradvancement.Pairingmidcareer

womenwithseniorsponsorswhocommittoconcreteadvocacyactionsandprovidingtransparentcareerpathsandrolemodelsmateriallyimproveretentionandprogression.Oneinterviewsubjectnoted,"WehaveafemaleCTOwhoisextremelygood:professionalandcapable.Role-modelingissoimportant.”

Cultureisthestructuralbackbonethatdetermineswhetherwomenthriveintech.Organizationsthat

embedfairness,inclusiveteampractices,andsponsorshipintohowtheyoperate-notassideprogramsbutascoreroutines-createtheconditionsforwomentosucceedandforEuropetocompeteinan

Al-drivenfuture.

2.Realignskills

Alwilltransformthelaborforceinthecomingyears.McKinseyGlobalInstituteanalysisindicatesthat17percentofskillsarelikelytobecomelargelyAl-led,72percentofskillswillsupportworkdonebya

combinationofpeopleandAl,and11percentarelikelytobeforpeople-ledwork."ThetransitiontowardskillsforAl-ledworkwillleadtoashiftinroles:Intheseareas,peoplewillstepbackfromhands-onworktofocusondesign,validationofresult