Gender gap in tech
Image: Prazis/Shutterstock

Top tech companies still have a massive gender gap

23 Feb 2017

Women fill less than a quarter of the tech roles in some of the biggest tech companies in the world.

The conversation around the gender gap in the tech industry seems unending. For a start, the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report 2016 suggests that we won’t see the gender gap close in our lifetime.

This isn’t ideal when you consider that last year’s United Nations theme for International Women’s Day was: ‘Planet 50-50 by 2030: Step It Up for Gender Equality’.

And while the gender gap is a problem globally across a number of industries, the tech industry is arguably suffering the most.

A recent report highlighted the vast gender gap that still exists within the tech industry. Looking at some of the leading companies, it appears that some are better than others at narrowing this gap.

Gender gap chart

Image: Statista

PayPal and eBay have workforces that are made up of 44pc and 43pc of women respectively. Microsoft is trailing behind, with just 26pc of its total workforce made up of women.

The tech roles within these companies are most lacking in diversity.

PayPal and eBay are once again leading on that front, with almost a quarter of their tech roles filled by women.

Social media giants Twitter and Facebook have the lowest percentage of women in tech roles, with just 15pc and 17pc respectively.

Microsoft has the lowest number of women across the board. Along with men making up almost three-quarters of its total workforce, fewer than one in five tech/leadership roles are filled by women.

Last year, Barbara McCarthy said that stereotypes in the tech industry need to be addressed if we want to narrow the gender gap.

“We can’t let visions of what’s possible for young girls be influenced by the gender gap women experience every day,” she said.

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Jenny Darmody
By Jenny Darmody

Jenny Darmody became the editor of Silicon Republic in 2023, having worked as the deputy editor since February 2020. When she’s not writing about the science and tech industry, she’s writing short stories and attempting novels. She continuously buys more books than she can read in a lifetime and pretty stationery is her kryptonite. She also believes seagulls to be the root of all evil and her baking is the stuff of legends.

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