The opportunities and challenges of the tech revolution
#WomenInWork
Everyone has a stake in ensuring women have equal opportunities in the world of work. The evidence is clear. Our Women in Work Index shows that improving female participation in work across the OECD could boost OECD GDP by US$6 trillion, while closing the gender pay gap could boost female earnings across the OECD by US$2 trillion.
The theme of this year’s report focuses on the opportunities and challenges that technology presents to women in the workplace. We explore how women have been able to take advantage of opportunities in the fast-growing tech sector. However, women are also becoming increasingly vulnerable to the disruptive impacts of technology and automation on their jobs.
Explore the key findings from the research below and find out more about what organisations can do to promote opportunities for women and improve female representation in tech. You can also explore the results in detail using our interactive data tool.
If you have any questions about our research, please do not hesitate to get in touch.
For women in the OECD, fewer jobs are expected to be lost due to technology than for men, but the gains from job creation are likely to be bigger for men than women.
Across the OECD, we expect there to be winners and losers from technology with the net impact on female employment varying for each country.
The health and social care and education sectors are expected to experience a net gain in female jobs owing to the effects of technology, around 3% and 6% respectively.
However, the number of jobs for female workers in the wholesale and retail trade, manufacturing, and other services sectors, could decline as a result of technology and automation. These sectors collectively account for 30% of female employment currently, and there could be a net loss of around 10-20% of these jobs.
More women than ever before are choosing the fast-growing technology industry as a pathway to career success. However, women remain significantly under represented in the tech industry and face a number of challenges when entering, as well as staying in the tech sector.
According to our Women in Technology Index, which assesses the representation of women in the tech sector across the G7, the average female share of ICT graduates, technology industry employment and board positions in technology, media and telecommunications is below 30%, and the average technology gender pay gap is above the G7 average for all industries.
Governments, educators and employers all have a role to play in improving the position of women in work. In particular, technology organisations can take action to promote opportunities for women and improve female representation in tech. We explore some of the steps that organisations can take to unlock female potential in the technology industry below.