Lack of women, lost opportunities: IT professions still in the hands of men

From AI experts and programmers to cloud architects - women are still severely underrepresented in IT and digital professions. From the point of view of the German economy, changing this is also a question of competitiveness: almost two thirds, 64%, of German companies say that without women in digital and IT professions, the German economy is gambling away its future. 59 percent see the German economy as one of the international laggards when it comes to the proportion of women in digital and IT professions, while 23 percent even say that the German economy has missed the boat. In contrast, 15 percent see the German economy as a pioneer and only 1 percent as a leader. These are the results of a study conducted by the digital association Bitkom on the occasion of International Women's Day on March 8, for which more than 600 representative companies from all sectors were surveyed.

When it comes to the general proportion of women in the workforce of German companies, women make up less than half of the workforce in 64% of companies. 19 percent have roughly equal proportions of women and men in the workforce. 15 percent more women than men. Looking specifically at the IT departments within companies, in 94 percent of German companies less than half of IT and digital positions are held by women. In a further 4 percent, the gender ratio in these professions is roughly equal.

"Women bring new perspectives and different experiences to companies. This diversity not only strengthens technological innovation and competitiveness," says Bitkom CEO Dr. Bernhard Rohleder.

© Bitkom

However, it is not clear that the economy wants more women in these areas and is doing something about it: 37% of companies have set internal targets to increase the proportion of women in IT and digital professions in particular. In contrast, 38 percent of companies have no targets in this regard. Most of these companies cite not having enough qualified female applicants (68%) or other priorities (61%) as reasons for not having set any targets to date. Rohleder: "Good intentions are often not enough, only clearly defined goals and responsibilities ensure movement. Companies need to take a strategic approach to recruiting women if they want to be future-proof and resilient."

Hurdles in the companies

There are many reasons why the proportion of women in IT and digital professions is not higher: 59% of companies see barriers to re-entry as a reason, such as a lack of further training during parental leave, 53% traditional role models in companies, 52% a lack of networks for women. At the same time, half (50 percent) also say that a male-dominated culture in IT and digital professions puts women off.

© Bitkom

For example, while more than two thirds (69%) of companies say that IT and digital professions need to become more attractive for women, 39% also believe that men are generally better suited to IT and digital professions. "Anyone who subscribes to such misconceptions should not be surprised by the shortage of skilled workers. Digitalization and IT know no gender," says Rohleder. "Women should not be held back by stereotypes, but should consciously take advantage of the career opportunities in these future-oriented professions."

Encouraging curiosity about technology

However, reasons for the low proportion are also attributed to politics and women themselves. Half (50 percent) see insufficient qualification of female applicants as a reason, 46 percent believe it is due to the poorer self-marketing of women. In addition, 55 percent of companies see the lack of support infrastructure as a reason for the low proportion of women in IT and digital professions.

52 percent observe barriers to lateral entry, for example, employment agencies are less likely to recommend IT-specific training to women. Almost every second company (46%) cites clichéd training or career guidance at schools as a reason. Rohleder: "In addition to the parental home, schools and universities play an important role in later career choices. This makes it all the more important to encourage girls' and young women's curiosity about technology and digitalization there."

Initiative #SheTransformsIT

Bitkom and other partners are involved in the #SheTransformsIT initiative to inspire women to pursue careers in the digital economy and to support politicians and companies in better promoting female specialists and managers. This interdisciplinary alliance of business, science, politics and civil society is committed to empowering girls and women in the digital world.

Methodological note: The data is based on a survey conducted by Bitkom Research on behalf of the digital association Bitkom. This involved a telephone survey of 605 companies with 20 or more employees in Germany. The overall survey is representative. The interviews were conducted with management, decision-makers and HR managers. The survey took place in the period from week 51 2024 to week 6 2025.