There is still work to be done for women in tech

Women’s equality continues to be pursued, but there is still significant ground to cover. Between 40,000 and 60,000 women leave the UK technology sector every year, highlighting how challenging it can be to sustain a career in the industry. We still need to address the biases that affect representation and remove obstacles that prevent women from advancing at the same rate as their male counterparts. Closing that gap will require intentional action from individuals alongside commitment from organisations to ensure that women are provided with equal opportunities to succeed. 

Why women have to prove they belong

Many women still face barriers at every stage of their careers, contributing to the inequalities that persist across the sector. Estelle Azemard, CEO of Leaseweb Canada, puts the scale of this imbalance into perspective: “Today, just 26.7% of the global tech workforce are women. That’s not an opinion – it’s a fact, and it’s the result of decades of education, social conditioning, and systems that we all, women included, sometimes reproduce without realising it.” 

These challenges do not necessarily ease as women advance into senior roles, as highlighted by Charis Thomas, Chief Product Officer at Aqilla. If anything, they exacerbate the problem. “Too many organisations still undervalue qualities traditionally associated with women in the way they define strong leadership,” she describes. “Empathy and emotional awareness can be overshadowed by harder, more traditionally purely results-driven ideas of what authority should look like. Earlier in my career, I felt pressure to minimise some of my own softness in order to be taken seriously. With experience, I came to see how valuable those qualities are as they shape how well you understand people and how effectively you bring them with you.”

“The problem is that these capabilities are still far less visible in the way organisations assess leadership,” she adds. “We tend to measure technical performance and formal responsibilities very clearly, while the skills that shape how well someone understands and leads people are developed far less consistently. That can disadvantage women when qualities they naturally bring to leadership are treated as secondary or simply go unrecognised. If those strengths are never formally valued, they can easily disappear from conversations about progression and potential.” 

Being seen and supported can open doors

When women’s strengths are recognised, the right guidance can help turn that potential into real success. This can take different forms, from actively opening doors to offering encouragement or simply showing what is possible through visible representation.

Leanne Taylor, CEO at Syspro, reflects on how advocacy from others helped create pathways for her own career advancement: “I’ve worked in enterprise technology for more than 25 years, and for much of that time I was one of very few women at the tables where decisions were made. The things that made the greatest difference were people who backed me, said my name when I was not in the room and sponsored me for opportunities because they knew I was talented, capable and driven.”

She emphasises how this experience now informs the way she encourages others in the industry: “Now I look for people, especially women, who are doing great work but are not receiving enough credit for it, and I try to change that by putting their names forward and encouraging them to consider bigger roles. It has to be intentional because it will not happen by accident.” 

Sponsorship can be hugely valuable, but other, less formal, avenues are just as important. Nicole Colehamer, Global Head of Solutions Architecture at Vonage, explains: “Those of us already working in technology also have a role to play. We can mentor women, encourage them to pursue opportunities and help make technical careers feel more accessible. Sometimes a simple vote of confidence can make a meaningful difference, especially for someone who is still figuring out where she belongs.”

That support can also come through setting an example, with visible success providing women with a north star for what is possible. Susan Odle, CEO at StorMagic, notes: “I think my role as a woman and visible minority is just to show up, do the work, produce the results and create the reference point for women in business. Other women are activists, that is their role. It’s not mine. Women need to be true to themselves in their narrative supporting women, it’s the only way to sustain it over a career. You’ll exhaust yourself if you put on a skin that is false to who you are. We all have roles to play. Play it well and create the proof points for those around us.”

Change is a shared responsibility

But it is not just down to individuals. Businesses must also play their part. Equal opportunities depend on the structures that organisations put in place. Nicola Kinsella, SVP Global Marketing at Fluent Commerce, provides insight on how this can be put into practice: “Leaders must actively create environments where women can thrive. Offering flexible hours and equal parental leave helps women stay on their career paths through life transitions. Providing mentorship, networking, and public speaking training also builds real confidence for future leadership roles.”

“Equality cannot rest on a single HR person or department,” she stresses. “Every leader must share this duty. True fairness requires daily effort, clear goals, and shared responsibility across the entire organisation. When businesses build truly inclusive spaces, everyone wins.”

The stakes are even higher as organisations adopt new technologies, with AI offering new possibilities and potential challenges for women’s advancement. Victoria Knight, Chief People Officer at Node4, explains: “AI is rapidly reshaping the workplace and creating significant opportunities for organisations and individuals alike. However, as adoption accelerates, we must be mindful of the unintended consequences it can have on different groups within the workforce. Research suggests that women could be disproportionately impacted by AI-driven changes, particularly in sectors such as technology where representation is already a challenge. That is a gap businesses cannot afford to ignore.”

“The responsibility sits with employers to ensure AI becomes an enabler, not another barrier to progression,” Knight concludes. “Used well, AI has the potential to accelerate learning, support career development and help individuals rebuild capability and confidence more quickly. The organisations that succeed will be those that invest not only in the technology itself, but also in the people who will use it.” 

Meaningful change for women in technology should not be measured by representation alone, but by whether they have the same opportunities to succeed. Continued action will be essential, both in tackling the barriers women already face and ensuring new ones are not created as the industry evolves.