Still underrepresented, share of women in Israeli tech workforce stagnates
Women make up a little more than a third of the total number of tech employees but their share of senior management jobs is lower, and only 13% of CEOs are female
Sharon Wrobel is a tech reporter for The Times of Israel.
Women continue to be underrepresented in the Israeli tech industry, and their share in the tech ecosystem stagnated in 2023 after growing slowly over the past decade, a study by the RISE Israel institute showed on Thursday, ahead of International Women’s Day.
Women accounted for about 36% of the tech workforce in Israel in 2023, the same as in the previous year, as general employment in the tech industry slowed down in a year marked by political upheaval due to the contentious judicial overhaul followed by the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war, according to the report by RISE Israel, formerly known as Start-up Nation Policy Institute (SNPI). Previously, a consistent annual increase of 0.3% in the representation of women had been recorded in the tech ecosystem over the past decade.
The report on gender gaps in the Israeli tech sector, which is based on LinkedIn data, analyzes the share of women in different types of jobs, their presence in senior positions, and the gap between female entrepreneurship in Israel, the United States and Europe.
While women make up more than a third of employees in the tech workforce, the ratio decreases the higher the ladder of seniority one looks, the report showed. In tech firms, women hold only 22% of senior management roles and 13% of CEO positions. The percentage of women in operational roles is 60%.
“Increasing the representation of women in tech in general, and in key roles in particular, is a tangible necessity, both for the sake of promoting equality and for expanding the workforce in this industry,” said Yam Atir, VP of strategy at RISE Israel. “Especially now, when the economic locomotive has also become a significant social engine in Israel, it is even more important to make the sector more equal and diverse.”
Long touted as the growth engine of the economy, the tech sector accounts for around 25% of total income tax revenue and constitutes about 10% of the workforce. At the same time, the country suffers from a severe shortage of skilled tech workers, which was exacerbated by the massive callup of reservists mobilized amid the ongoing war with the Hamas terror group that broke out in the aftermath of its October 7 massacre.
In a separate report conducted together with Reichman University, the Israel Innovation Authority cautioned that women still only occupy a third of all tech positions, falling short of the 43% target set by the National High-Tech Human Capital Committee, known as the Perlmutter Committee, for 2035.
“We see more women in core roles, but the growth rate is insufficient to reach gender parity goals,” said Israel Innovation Authority CEO Dror Bin. “In 2023, about 3,500 positions were added for women in tech compared to about 6,700 positions for men.”
“To bring about change, there must be a concerted long-term effort by the tech industry and relevant government entities to continue breaking the glass ceiling for women earlier in their career,” Bin asserted.
In both reports, the share of female students choosing to enroll in high school and academic programs or studies that lead to employment in the tech sector was found to be among the main reasons behind gender gaps in the local tech labor force.
“Since studies in advanced technological classes that allow for physics and computer science studies in high school are one of the prominent factors explaining the gender gap in employment in tech positions and the tech industry, access to tech studies should be provided to every student in Israel within the school framework or excellence centers,” said Dr. Sergei Sumkin, a senior researcher at the Aaron Institute for Economic Policy at Reichman University. “Additionally, attention should be paid to the professional explanation by the school staff regarding the contribution of tech skills to quality employment for female students.”
In 2023, the proportion of women with degrees in computer science, electronic engineering, software, and similar fields was only 28%, and in other STEM majors — science, technology, engineering, and mathematics — it was 40%, according to the report by RISE Israel.
“The fact that over the past decade and a half this gap in education has not narrowed is particularly worrying,” it was noted in the report.
Israel lags behind the US and Europe when it comes to female founders and entrepreneurship, according to research by RISE Israel. The percentage of tech firms with at least one female founder that raised capital in 2023 stood at 16% in Israel compared to 25% and 26% in Europe and the US, respectively.
Unlike the US and Europe, Israel lacks a government body that is focused on helping female entrepreneurs by creating a variety of funding and support programs geared to women, according to the report.
To create change, Israel could establish a dedicated program in the Israel Innovation Authority for funding startups with at least one female founder, and incentivize venture capital funds to invest in startups with at least one female founder, it was proposed in the report.
“Local tech can and should be built on strong and broad female leadership, serving as a role model for girls, teenagers, and women in Israel and around the world,” Atir remarked.
