Grant Thornton’s 2024 Women in Business data suggests we are far from achieving parity between men and women in senior management roles within the mid-market technology sector.
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%).
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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.
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.
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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.
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