Even though women have taken up their rightful place in almost every other industry, women in tech statistics aren’t as encouraging. In the last decades, women have been more progressive, making up nearly half of the total workforce.
However, there are still some fields in which more work should be done, such as the tech sector, where things aren’t as dynamic.
Regardless of discussions on gender diversity in technology, women keep being underpaid and underrepresented. So, what do the numbers say about women being employed in the tech sector? Let’s check that out.
Most Notable Women in Technology Statistics (Editor’s Choice)
- In male-dominated careers, women’s share is only 6.5%.
- Nearly 50% of women in STEM jobs have faced discrimination in the hiring process.
- Women represent 8% of computer network architects.
- Almost 20% of US software developers are women.
- According to a 2020 study, women in tech represented 28.8%.
- Nearly a third of female students were interested in a career in tech in 2020.
- Only 10% of CEOs of the biggest tech companies globally are women.
- Around 70% of women in tech have worked in a company where bro culture is prevalent.
Females in Male-Dominated Careers Statistics
A male-dominated industry is the one where women represent 25% or less. So, what happens when you’re a woman and enter a stereotypically male-dominated sector?
1. Women represent 6.5% of workers in male-dominated careers.
(IWPR)
Similarly, men make up even less in female-dominated careers—5.4%. Moreover, we’re already familiar with the gender pay gap, which is once again proven by the male to female ratio in the technology industry.
2. However, in 29 male-dominated fields, women earn a higher median annual income than men.
(Medill News Service)
Some of those fields include equipment installers, construction fields, geoscience, life science, and brick masonry.
For example, a survey finds that full-time female life scientists earn 142% of what their male counterparts do. As for environmental scientists and geoscientists, that percentage is 106%.
3. A male-dominated job where women have made the most gains (63%) is a veterinarian.
(Business News Daily)
A bit lower share of women can be seen in other male-dominated jobs like marketing managers (53.6%) and management analysts (50.2%). Female engineers statistics also show an increase of 16% for civil engineers and 8.7% for mechanical engineers.
Additionally, approximately 47.6% of coaches and scouts are women, whereas that percentage is lower for team assemblers (45.5%), optometrists (45.1%), and financial analysts (44%).
The research also notes some optimistic information—women now hold nearly a quarter of the jobs previously occupied by men.
4. 72% of women worked in a company where bro culture is prevalent.
(Statista)
The number can range from a 2:1 to 5:1 ratio. Moreover, women outnumber men in 17% of business meetings, while there was equal representation in 11% of cases.
Women in STEM Statistics
In the last six years, there has been a slight increase in the number of women in STEM. In fact, the lowest percentage of women in STEM is in the informatics and technology sector.
5. 64% of high school girls choose STEM subjects, compared to 83% of boys.
(Panthera)
This tendency continues in college, too. In fact, 30% of women take STEM courses compared to 52% of men. Moreover, women in engineering statistics reveal something even more alarming—only 2% of women study engineering. On the other hand, 13% of men study engineering.
6. 8% of computer network architects are women.
(Census, BLS)
Regrettably, that’s the only STEM job where women earn more than men. As for the salary, the 2020 median pay of a computer network architect in the United States was $120,520 a year. Furthermore, there were 165,200 jobs in that sector in the US.
7. There was a 19% increase in women working in engineering between 1970–2019.
(Census)
In other words, only 8% of women worked in that sector in 1970, while the percentage of women in engineering was 27% in 2019. Slow but steady, that’s still a shift in a positive direction.
However, considering the period between 1990 and 2019, there was a decrease in the percentage of women in computer occupations.
8. 48% of women in STEM jobs have faced discrimination in the recruitment and hiring process.
(The Abbey)
That’s even worse for Black women, who still struggle with discrimination in all aspects of their careers.
As a matter of fact, Blacks and Latinas in tech statistics point out something distressing—women from these ethnicities who have completed their education in computer science or engineering are less likely to be employed than White women.
Seeing this, many Black and Latino women probably feel discouraged to even try becoming a part of these technology segments.
9. About 19% of software developers in the US are women.
(Insider, WomenWhoCode)
Moreover, women in computer science statistics predicted an increase of approximately 13% in the employment of software developers by 2024 and another 19% rise in application software developers’ employment by the same year.
That can represent even more opportunities for women. In addition, some women who have already proven themselves as successful software and web developers are Marissa Mayer, Julia Luison, and Natalia Burina.
10. The percentage of women in IT is 17% in the UK.
(The Guardian)
Given that Britain’s technology sector is on the rise, this is a particularly low percentage. Even worse, the percentage hasn’t changed in the last 10 years despite the growing industry.
Research notes that diversity at work is extremely important for British millennials. That is to say, over 80% of them look for employers who respect equality, inclusion, and diversity.
Women in Tech Stats for 2020
In the GAFAM sector (Google, Apple, Facebook, Amazon, and Microsoft), women accounted for nearly 30% of the workforce in 2020.
11. As per 2020 research, only 27% of female students were interested in a tech career.
(Panthera, PWC)
What’s even more alarming is that only 3% said it was their first choice. As it turns out, many women are discouraged from pursuing a career in this field.
Notably, women in tech statistics indicate that only around 16% of them claim someone encouraged them to work in the industry, while 5% of leadership positions were held by women. Believe it or not, many women state they don’t know what working in the domain requires.
12. In 2020, the best gender balance in the US tech sector was in Montana and Maine (37% women vs. 63% men).
(Statista)
In addition, as per women in technology statistics, the District of Columbia, Mississippi, and Missouri came right after these states, with 64% men and 36% women.
On the other side of the spectrum is Alaska. It is not only one of the most dangerous US states, but along with Utah, it has the highest gender gap in the tech industry.
In fact, 74% of employees in the tech industry were men, while women in tech statistics showed something alarming—only 26% of the tech employees in Alaska and Utah were women.
Some other states with a high gender gap in tech were Delaware, Nevada, and Wyoming, where 72% of tech employees were men, compared to 28% who were women.
13. The tech position with the lowest gender gap in Europe in 2020 was user experience designer.
(Statista, UX Design Institute)
Moreover, gender diversity in tech statistics for 2020 noted that men represented 57% of the workforce in that domain, as opposed to 43% of women. Generally speaking, this is one domain where women are well represented.
Data shows that women who already work in this sector advise other women to believe in themselves and stop doubting their capabilities. That way, the female representation can keep on thriving in this area.
14. In 2020, the percentage of women in tech was 20.5%.
(BLS)
So, out of the 297,000 employees in the tech industry, 60,885 were women. When looking at the data year-over-year, we can see there’s an increase in the number of women in tech.
Even though the increase is promising, there’s still a long way before an equal gender representation in tech is achieved. Despite the growth of around 5% a year, diversity in tech statistics show that it will take 12 years to achieve gender equality in this industry.
15. A 2020 survey noted that during COVID-19, 46% of women were worried about losing their job.
(Anita B.org)
Throughout that period, women in tech faced high levels of job insecurity. Namely, about 21% reported they would probably lose their job.
Consequently, that led to women worrying about finding a new one. Around 43% claimed that in case they lost their job, it would be difficult to find another.
Diversity in Tech Statistics for 2021
Research from this year shows that almost 70% of companies realize their business lack diversity, but a lot of them don’t know how to solve the issue.
16. Research reveals that only 10% of CEOs of the biggest tech companies globally are women.
(ET)
Fire Tech conducted the research by analyzing 50 of the biggest companies worldwide. Some other findings show that, on average, women in tech leadership positions earn 237% less than men. Given this, it would still be long until the gender gap in technology is closed.
17. The percentage of women in computer science is 20%.
(Computer Science)
That’s not much of a change in the last 10 years. Moreover, many girls who previously took advanced scientific courses stop taking them by the time they start high school. There are many reasons behind this.
For example, girls in high school are encouraged less than boys to develop computer science skills. So, those females who decide to study such subjects in college fall behind males. Let’s not forget that most leaders in the domain are men, and female students lack role models.
18. The percentage of female software engineers is 25.1%.
(Zippia)
Out of the 329,559 software engineers working in the US, 67% are men, which is a substantially higher percentage than women. Furthermore, the largest gender gap can be seen in Senior Windows Engineer and Senior Data Center Engineer positions.
Compared to the previous 10 years, the current share of women in this sector is on the lower end. More specifically, stats on tech industry demographics discover that it was the highest in 2011 when women represented 30.68%.
19. The ratio of females in tech who claim they don’t see other women in meetings is 11:100.
(HR Zone)
Men usually meet clients face-to-face, and they are physically present at meetings more frequently than women. Namely, women state they rarely see other women in meetings.
According to these women in tech facts, more than 1 in 10 meetings have only one female member. All of that may additionally lead to males getting more promotions than females.
20. 78% of women in tech think that companies should include more women in leadership positions.
(Trustradius)
Moreover, they suggest more methods for the companies to show support to women. In fact, some of them include providing flexible scheduling, performing unconscious bias training, offering mentorship, and giving the same maternity and paternity leave.
Summary of the Women in Technology Stats
Nowadays, women get more equal opportunities in every industry. Regardless of all the efforts in the last decade, the tech industry still appears as a men-only club.
Due to a lack of female role models or adequate job descriptions, women fear applying for work in this sector. The need for female job seekers and employees in the tech industry is clear as day.
As the latest trends suggest a rise in the tech industry, there will be more opportunities for women. The road to success may be long, but nothing can be changed without taking even the smallest steps toward it.
People Also Ask
How many women are in the technology industry?
In 2020, the total workforce in tech included 482,000 employees. However, only 155,204 of them, or 32.2% were women. Although that’s an increase year-over-year, women are not even close to an equal gender representation in this industry.
According to a 2020 study, women accounted for only 4% of CEOs and 25% of seniors and executives, and men were promoted to senior levels at a higher rate than women.
What is the ratio of men to women in technology?
Current data shows that there isn’t gender equality in the tech industry, and it may not be achieved during another decade.
For example, when taking into consideration that there are approximately 326,796 men and 155,204 women in this industry, the ratio of men to women is almost 3:1. In particular, the ratio of men to women in engineering is 5:1. Similarly, the IT ratio has also been static for the last 10 years.
What percentage of tech CEOs are female?
In the first quarter of 2021, the rate of hiring women in tech increased. That is, almost 31% of the new staff was made up of women in January alone.
Even the share of women in CEO positions has risen since the previous year. In fact, 3.9% of CEOs were women in 2020, while that percentage reached 10.9% in 2021.
Why is there a shortage of women in tech?
One of the reasons is that women don’t have enough role models to look up to in this industry, so they feel even more discouraged to be a part of it.
Another reason points to the fact that fewer girls take STEM subjects at school. Also, many women overlook their opportunities in the sector because of misconceptions about it.
Why is it important to have more women in tech?
The progress of gender diversity in tech is slow-paced, and the problem can become a significant economic challenge globally if things don’t change soon. There are many reasons the tech industry needs women.
One of them is the diversity that boosts creativity, generating more money. Moreover, companies need women to enhance innovation and design for products primarily bought by women. Finally, since “empowered women empower women,” more role models are needed in this domain.
What percentage of programmers are female?
In the United States, there are more than 230,000 employed software programmers. As in other tech sectors, the gender gap here is also large. More specifically, while 63.9% of software programmers are males, only 28.3% are females.
However, data from two years ago is somewhat different. Then, 30.71% of software programmers were women, and 69.29% were men, women in tech statistics show.
