60+ Women in Tech Statistics You Need to Know in 2024: Trends, Gaps, and Challenges

The tech industry is rapidly changing, and the latest data, including numbers from 2023, provide a fresh look at the role of women in this sector. This article offers a detailed account of the latest women in tech statistics, looking at the advances and ongoing hurdles for women in tech.

It shines a light on the increased number of female developers, the persistent gaps in leadership and startup ownership, and the unique challenges faced by women of color.

Explore these findings to gain valuable insights into the challenges, opportunities, and experiences of women in tech.

Table of Contents Table of Contents

1. Women in Tech Statistics Highlights
2. The Role of Women in Tech Statistics
3. Women in Tech Data by Country
4. Women in Tech Employment Data
5. Women in Tech Gap Statistics
6. Diversity Gap in Tech Statistics
7. The Bottom Line
8. FAQs
9. References

Show Full Guide

Table of Contents

1. Women in Tech Statistics Highlights
2. The Role of Women in Tech Statistics
3. Women in Tech Data by Country
Show Full Guide
4. Women in Tech Employment Data
5. Women in Tech Gap Statistics
6. Diversity Gap in Tech Statistics
7. The Bottom Line
8. FAQs
9. References

The Role of Women in Tech Statistics

As the tech industry continues to evolve at a breakneck pace, the spotlight on diversity and inclusion has never shone brighter. Amid this focus, the role of women within the sector has become a central point of discussion, analysis, and action.

The latest women in tech stats offer both a comprehensive view and insightful reflections on how far the industry has come—and where it still falls short. From the increasing presence of women developers globally to the challenges still faced in leadership and startup roles, these statistics not only measure progress but also highlight the ongoing struggles for gender equality in tech.

Women in Tech Work Roles Stats

In the third quarter of 2023, in a survey of over 17,000 developers, 23% identified as female, according to Developer Nation’s Q3 2023 Survey.

This is up from 19% in 2021 and was driven primarily by the increasing presence of women in tech in certain regions across the globe.

In the first quarter of 2023, the highest representation of female coders was aged between 25-34 years old, according to Developer Nation’s Q1 2023 Survey. 

They made up 25% of coders. Younger female developers (18-24) worked for smaller companies, while older female developers (45+) were more inclined to work for larger organizations with over 10,000 employees.

Meanwhile, in 2023, women under 30 represented 26% of the cybersecurity workforce, according to ISC2 Cybersecurity Workforce Study 2023. 

While this is twice as many as the 60-or-older group, it still makes up a significant minority.

The pathways into cybersecurity differ by gender. Female cybersecurity professionals are more likely to take an education pathway into the field and less likely to come from an IT background.

In 2021, among US female STEM workers, 68% had science and engineering (S&E)–related jobs (healthcare workers, S&E managers, S&E precollege teachers, technologists and technicians), according to the National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics report for 2023. 

In fact, women represented nearly two-thirds (65%) of workers in S&E-related occupations.

Furthermore, among the college-educated workforce in S&E occupations in 2021, women’s representation ranged widely in different occupations.

The representation ranged from 61% of social and related scientists to 16% of engineers.

Women in Tech Leadership Stats

Women in leadership are just as ambitious as men, with both genders reporting an 81% interest in moving up to the next level, according to McKinsey & Company and Lean In, 2023.

This ambition is not only present but is also intensifying; since 2019, there’s been an uptick in women wanting to be promoted—rising from 70% to 80% in 2023.

The same report revealed that:

• A staggering 97% of women view their careers as important, marginally higher than the 96% of men who feel the same way.
• Highlighting the drive among younger generations, 93% of women under 30 are looking to be promoted to the next level.
• Contrary to expectations, the pandemic hasn’t quenched this drive. The increased flexibility that came with it did not deter women’s aspirations. Instead, their desire for advancement has remained robust, with 8 in 10 women aiming for promotion in 2023.
• Women of color exhibit even greater ambition than their white counterparts, with 96% acknowledging the importance of their careers and 88% aiming for the next level.

Despite their ambitions, women only make up 14% of tech leaders, according to the Nash Squared Digital Leadership Report, 2023. 

This mirrors last year’s statistics and reflects a broader trend that’s hardly changing over time.

In Q1 2023, mid-market companies (251-1,000 employees) and enterprises (1,001-10,000 employees) had the highest percentage of women in management positions, according to Developer Nation’s Q1 2023 Survey.

The share of women stood at 20% and 29%, respectively. Other organization sizes reported a share of 13% on average.

Women in Tech Founder Stats

Between 2016 and 2022, an average of 15% of tech startup founders were female, according to Startup Genome, 2023. 

Additionally, 31% of respondents reported having at least one female founder. The results confirm that women remain a minority among tech startup founders.

According to the same report, Oceania had the highest overall percentage of female founders, at 21.6%.

North America came in second place with an average of 15.7%, followed by Asia at 14.9%. Sub-Saharan Africa had an average of 14%. MENA was the region with the lowest percentage of female founders, at just 10%.

In 2023, companies with at least one female founder secured $44.4 billion in US venture capital (VC) out of the total $170.59 billion allocated last year, according to Pitchbook & NVCA’s Venture Monitor, 2023. 

Meanwhile, startups with entirely female founding teams raised approximately $3.1 billion, making up 1.8% of the total VC – the lowest percentage allocated to all-female teams since 2016.

The same report found that:

• The number of deals secured by female-founded companies was less than 25% of the total US VC deals in 2023.
• Companies with all-female founders were involved in just 6.5% of US VC deals, while those with at least one female founder participated in 24.0%.
• The proportion of first financings—a critical stage for new startups—saw a decline for female founders in 2023, continuing a worrying trend for women entering the startup arena.
• Despite the overall decline, there is a silver lining as more female-founded companies are reaching late-stage funding. This suggests that female-led startups that do secure funding are growing and scaling effectively.

Women in Tech Data by Country

Exploring the diverse landscape of the tech industry reveals a compelling story of progress, challenges, and the ongoing journey toward gender equality. This global overview, rich with women in tech stats, sheds light on the status of women across various regions—from North America to Europe, Asia, and Africa.

As we delve into the numbers, it becomes evident that while strides have been made in increasing the representation of women in tech, significant disparities still exist.

From the workforce composition in the United States to the educational pathways in Europe and leadership roles in Asia to pay gaps in Africa, these statistics offer a comprehensive snapshot of women’s evolving role in the tech sector.

Women in Tech in North America Stats

Even though women made up nearly half of all US workers (49%) in 2022, they only made up 26% of people working in tech, according to CompTIA’s State of the Tech Workforce, 2023.

In some states, the level of female representation among tech workers was higher than in others:

• District of Columbia: 31% of tech workers were women; 53% of all workers were women.
• Mississippi: 30% of tech workers were women; 50% of all workers were women.
• Maine: 30% of tech workers were women; 49% of all workers were women.
• South Carolina: 29% of tech workers were women; 50% of all workers were women.

In 2021, among high school graduates, women were 30% less likely than men to enroll in a postsecondary STEM program shortly after graduation, according to Statistics Canada.

When considering only those enrolling in bachelor’s degree programs, women were 36% less likely to choose a STEM field. Among bachelor’s degree students, the largest gap in STEM enrolment was in engineering programs.

Women in Tech in Europe Stats

In 2022, of the 76 million people employed in science and technology in the European Union (EU), 52% were women, according to Eurostat.

The women employed in science and technology worked predominantly in services.

Despite women making up the majority of the people employed in science and technology, they were underrepresented as scientists and engineers in the EU. 

Out of all science and technology jobs in the EU in 2022, 24% were specifically employed as scientists and engineers. Within these specific roles, only 41% were women.

The percentage of women in these roles has increased slightly, by two percentage points, over the last decade — from 39% in 2012 to 41% in 2022.

However, the total number of women working as scientists and engineers has seen a substantial rise of almost 50%, growing from nearly 5 million in 2012 to 7.3 million in 2022.

Across all European companies, women were most represented in product design and management roles in 2022, at a 46% participation rate as a percentage of available roles, according to McKinsey & Company, 2023. 

They also have a significant presence in data engineering, science, and analytics roles, making up 30%. However, there are fewer women in DevOps and cloud roles (8%) and in compute and operations jobs (15%).

However, a stark contrast is observed in the educational pipeline leading to tech roles. Only 23% of women studying STEM majors end up in tech roles. 

This is compared to 44% of men. Furthermore, women’s graduation rate in STEM disciplines is declining.

An initial 18% drop in the number of women in STEM classes happens between primary school and university, and a further 15% drop occurs during the transition from university to the workforce.

Furthermore, in 2023, one in three women in the UK were planning to leave their tech job, according to Tech Talent Charter, 2024. 

This figure is more alarming when realizing that one in four women who left a tech job in the last few years left for a non-tech job and that only one in six women who had been in their tech role for more than a year were planning to stay.

The most important factor in women’s decisions to leave their tech role was work-life balance, often linked to challenges in managing caring commitments. 

In fact, women in tech with flexible work arrangements had significantly higher retention.

Women in Tech in Asia Stats

In Q1 2023, women in East Asia made up nearly 30% of developers, according to Developer Nation’s Q1 2023 Survey. 

This is up significantly from Q1 2021, when women made up 15% of developers.

In India, in 2023, women made up 29% of India’s total pool of tech employees, according to Aim Research, 2023.

However, women held only 8% of tech leadership roles across sectors.

The share of women as a percentage of total employees working in technology was highest in the IT & KPO/BPO sector at 31%. 

Meanwhile, the manufacturing & production sector had the least number of women employees in 2023 (8%). This could be due to stereotypes in the sector which discourage women from pursuing these fields.

Women in Tech in Africa Stats

In Q1 2023, women in tech in the Middle East and Africa amounted to 20%, according to Developer Nation’s Q1 2023 Survey. 

This is up significantly from Q1 2021, when women made up 10% of developers.

In South Africa, in 2023, the gender pay gap for female developers was reduced by 17% compared with 2022, showing improvement across all experience levels, according to Offer Zen’s report, 2024. 

The most significant pay gap was among developers with over 10 years of experience, where women earned 17.4% less than men.

Women in Tech Employment Data

The proportion of women working in tech faces a consistent challenge: the percentage of women falls as the career level rises, according to McKinsey & Company and Lean In, 2023. 

In 2023, technology hardware saw these figures:

In technology software:

Of the 50 largest tech companies by market capitalization, only 2 (or 4%) have female CEOs.

Oracle Corporation’s Safra A. Catz and AMD’s Lisa Su are the only female CEOs in the top 50 tech companies by market cap as of March 2024.

Women in Tech Gap Statistics

Navigating through the intricate world of technology, the disparities in gender representation and inclusion paint a complex picture that demands attention. This detailed examination delves into women in tech statistics, uncovering the multifaceted challenges and gaps that persist in the industry.

From hiring biases to wage disparities and the nuances of remote work dynamics to the significant diversity gaps, the data sheds light on the ongoing struggle for equity.

Hiring Gap Statistics

In 2022, the hiring bias increased in tech, according to Hired’s Impact Report, 2023. 

38% of tech roles sent interview requests only to men, slightly up from 37% in 2021.

Furthermore, from October 2022 to June 2023, women made up 45% of laid-off tech employees, according to Axios. 

Although this means that there was a larger percentage of men being laid off (55%), the 45% becomes an unfair figure when you consider that women make up a small portion of the tech workforce to begin with.

Wage Gap Statistics

In 2022, the US wage gap between white men ($1.00) and white women ($0.95) did not change compared with 2021, according to Hired’s Impact Report, 2023. 

Other wage gaps between other ethnicities in terms of gender were as follows:

• Black men ($0.93) vs. Black women ($0.90)
• Asian men ($1.02) vs. Asian women ($0.99)
• Hispanic men ($0.97) vs. Hispanic women ($0.92)

Furthermore, in 2022, only 25% of women felt they had sufficient knowledge or resources to negotiate compensation that aligns with the market, their role, and their skills. 

This is in contrast to 39% of men. In fact, approximately 25% of women felt they required substantial assistance in this area, compared to 18% of men.

Examples of Pay Gaps For Women in Tech Across the World:

• In South Africa, the pay gap between male (average of R50,000) and female developers (average of R46,000) was 8% in 2024. The largest gap is seen in those with over 10 years of experience, where women earn 17.4% less than men (Offer Zen, 2024).
• In India, women tech professionals (median of 10.5 lakhs per annum) earned 17% less than their male counterparts (median of 12.7 lakhs per annum). Women tech employees with 10+ years of experience earn 20% less than men, the highest across all levels of experience (Aim Research, 2023).
• In Europe, data from 2022 and 2023 revealed a 26% (unadjusted, median) gender pay gap in the tech industry (Ravio, 2024).
• In Australia, tech companies in the “information media and telecommunications” sector have a 22.5% median salary gap and a 24% remuneration gap. Meanwhile, the “professional, scientific and technical services” sector faces a wider 26% remuneration gap and 25% base salary gap (Workplace Gender Equality Agency, 2024).

Remote Work Gap Statistics

The majority of women working in Tech, Media & Telecom (TMT) in 2022 were working in a hybrid manner (51%), with over a third working remotely (39%), according to Deloitte. 

Fully remote work seemed a strong frontrunner for productivity, motivation, emotional well-being, and work/life balance.

In 2022, the trend in the TMT sector showed 65% of female remote workers appreciating their work-life balance as good or excellent. 

This rate was notably higher compared to hybrid workers (56%) and surpassed by those in full in-person roles (82%).

Productivity echoed these sentiments, with remote workers reporting a 65% satisfaction rate. 

This was in contrast to a lower 56% for hybrid workers, while in-person workers led with an 82% rate of high productivity.

Regarding motivation, a majority of remote workers (65%) rated theirs as good or extremely good.

Hybrid workers reported a lower rate (53%), and in-person workers a slightly higher rate (70%).

Emotional well-being saw 52% of remote workers with positive ratings.

This stood out against 39% among hybrid workers and 33% for in-person workers.

The study indicated that stress levels were up for 37% of remote workers.

This was a less dramatic increase compared to 57% of in-person workers. Hybrid workers experienced the least increase in stress at 29%.

Feelings of burnout were reported by 43% of remote workers.

This was fewer than the 53% of hybrid workers. In-person workers reported the lowest at 33%.

Remote work impacted the sense of inclusion, with 33% of remote workers feeling excluded from key aspects of work.

However, this was lower than the 52% among hybrid workers.

Access to leaders was also different, with 26% of remote workers feeling they lacked enough exposure.

However, this was also notably less than the 45% reported by hybrid workers.

Diversity Gap in Tech Statistics

In 2022, the tech industry’s landscape for women of color was markedly different from that of white women. They were considerably less likely—37.6% less—to envision a future at their current companies, according to the Center for WorkLife Law.

Additionally, they felt a stronger urge—16.4 percentage points stronger—to consider leaving their jobs due to negative cultural factors.

Furthermore, women of color often carried out extra tasks that went unrecognized and were not part of their official job roles, such as DEI efforts and administrative duties. 

This additional workload, which was not compensated, frequently distracted them from pursuing professional growth and personal endeavors.

The study outlined several specific forms of bias faced by women of color.

These were the key findings:

The report also highlighted that not all women of color faced these challenges in the same way.

The experiences were not universal across all women of color:

• Black and African American women frequently experienced feelings of exclusion.
• Latinx and Hispanic women particularly faced challenges regarding motherhood stereotypes and cultural alienation.
• Asian and Asian-American women contended with stereotypes about femininity and leadership capabilities, with nuances across different Asian ethnicities.

Moreover, women of color were less likely to get the promotions they deserved and faced disparities in pay compared to their colleagues. 

Alarmingly, many women of color reported experiences with sexual harassment, which included unwanted physical contact and negative impacts on their careers.

The Bottom Line

While women in tech statistics show that more women are stepping into tech roles and leadership, progress is slow. Women, especially those of color, face extra tasks, biases, and unequal pay.

Despite these challenges, there are signs of improvement and growth, showing the need for continued diversity and inclusion efforts.

FAQs