Women in Tech: Why Half Leave by 35 and What It Takes to Bring Them Back

This is your Women in Business podcast. Welcome back to Women in Business. I'm your host, and today we're diving into one of the most pressing challenges facing women in tech right now—navigating an industry that's changing faster than ever while the gender gap stubbornly refuses to close. Let's start with what the numbers tell us. According to recent data from Boundev and StrongDM, women comprise only 26 to 28 percent of the global tech workforce, which represents just a one percent increase since 2000. That's shocking when you consider that women make up 42 percent of the overall global labor force. In the tech industry specifically, when we look at technical roles like software engineering and data science, that representation drops even further to around 20 to 22 percent. And in artificial intelligence, where the future is being built right now, women hold just 22 percent of those positions globally. Here's our first discussion point: the broken rung phenomenon. Women enter tech at competitive rates, with 29 percent of entry-level positions filled by women according to Boundev's analysis. But something happens on the climb up. Women of color face significantly lower representation at every level, representing just 4 to 5 percent of senior roles and C-suite positions. The pipeline doesn't leak gradually—it hemorrhages at the management level. Second, let's talk about burnout and retention. Data from Spacelift shows that 57 percent of women in tech report feeling burned out, compared to just 36 percent of men. Forty-five percent cite poor work-life balance as their primary reason for leaving. Even more alarming, 50 percent of women who enter tech abandon the industry entirely by age 35. Yet here's the silver lining: nine out of ten women who have left say they'd consider returning if conditions improved. That's not resignation—that's an opportunity. Third, the AI adoption gap is real and widening. According to Boundev's research, only 34 percent of women use AI tools daily at work, compared to 43 percent of men. Women are also 25 percent less likely to have basic digital skills. This gap matters because it compounds over time, pushing women further behind in the very field that's reshaping every industry. Fourth, let's address the pay gap, because it still exists. In science and engineering, women earn between 87 and 90 cents for every dollar men earn. While computer science has one of the narrower gaps at 94 cents on the dollar, the problem becomes catastrophic at leadership levels. When women represent just 16 percent of CTOs and 21 percent of executive roles in European tech, that structural inequality creates massive earnings imbalances. Finally, here's what gives me hope. Ninety-one percent of organizations are actively promoting women in tech, and 75 percent conduct annual pay equity audits. Companies like Google have seen measurable results—a five percent increase in female hiring—by implementing diverse hiring panels and standard This content was created in partnership and with the help of Artificial Intelligence AI.