Is the Big Tech Boys Club Failing Women?

I recently attended a press event and noticed that men far outweighed women at the event, and according to a new report, that applies at the leadership level, too.

The research from the talent acquisition company Tenth Revolution Group was sent to Lifewire via email and shows that between 2021 and 2024, the average percentage of women and non-binary people in C-suite leadership roles (specifically CIOs and CTOs) in NASDAQ-100 tech companies was only 15 percent. Now, that’s based on four years of figures, during which there was a slight bump in 2022 when women held 17 percent of those C-Suite positions. In the remaining years (2021, 2023, and 2024), women held only 14 percent of those positions.

What’s more, the Tenth Revolution Groups’s research indicated that women who do hold those leadership roles have “significantly short tenures averaging just 1.5 years compared to 4.3 years for men.” According to the Tenth Revolution Group, this highlights the barriers that women encounter in entering and maintaining these leadership positions.

While the Tenth Revolution Group didn’t go into what those barriers might be, one contributing factor is fewer women in tech overall. According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, only 35 percent of tech jobs were filled by women in 2023. This highlights the need to create sustainable pathways for women and other people who don’t identify as men to careers in technology, in general, and leadership opportunities, specifically.

Furthermore, the Tenth Revolution Group’s research indicates that women in Tech suffer from burnout at a higher rate than men, which could also contribute to the disparity.

“We know we need to get more women into tech, but we also need to create the conditions to support women to stay in tech and become our next generation of leaders,” said Tenth Revolution Group President Zoë Morris, “More than ever, we need to ensure progression pathways are clear and that both hiring and promotional decisions are taken equitably.”

“The shorter average tenure for women is also a problem,” Morris continued. “It indicates that the few women who are in these posts are newer to them, but it could also be telling us that women are burning out and leaving their posts. High rates of burnout and shorter average tenures for women are connected issues, and we have to work towards better long-term sustainability and a culture of true equity.”