The Gender AI Gap and the Gender Pay Gap don’t exist in isolation—they intersect and reinforce one another in several ways:
Fewer Women in AI = Fewer Women in High-Paying Jobs
AI and related tech jobs are among the most lucrative in today’s economy. If women are only ~20–30% of AI professionals, men hold the vast majority of these high-paying positions, heavily influencing overall earnings statistics.
Imagine a booming AI company where most developers and engineers (well-paid roles) are male, while women are concentrated in lower-paid support roles. The outcome will be an organizational gender pay gap.
At a macro level, as AI and machine learning jobs surge, if women aren’t equitably represented, men will disproportionately capture the wage gains of the AI boom. Closing the Gender AI Gap is thus one pathway to ensuring women have equal access to the economic benefits of the tech sector.
Understanding the Gender Pay Gap
While the Gender AI Gap deals with representation in a specific industry, the Gender Pay Gap is a broader economic phenomenon: the average difference in pay between men and women. Typically, it’s expressed as how much women earn for every euro or dollar a man earns.
Let’s look at some recent figures (circa 2024) to understand the scope of this gap:
Germany: In 2024, the gender pay gap in Germany stood at 16%—meaning women earned 16% less on average per hour than men. For every €1 a man earned, a woman earned only €0.84 on average.
This gap has narrowed slightly over the past decade but remains significant. Factors like a high share of women working part-time, career breaks for childcare, and industry segregation contribute to this gap.
European Union (EU): Across the EU, the gender pay gap averages about 12–13%. The European Commission reported a 12.7% pay gap in the EU (as of 2021 data, latest available)
This means an average EU woman earns roughly 87 cents for every €1 earned by a man. However, this EU average masks significant variation: some countries like Romania and Luxembourg have gaps under 5%, whereas others like Estonia and Austria have gaps around 20%.
United States: In 2024, American women earned about 85% of what men earned on average—roughly a 15% gap in hourly pay. Put simply, women make about 85 cents on the dollar compared to men.
Other measures (like annual earnings for full-time workers) put the gap slightly wider, around 17%. Younger women (under 35) have a much smaller gap, but it widens for older age groups—often due to career interruptions and slower promotion rates for women.
The United States also shows strong intersectional disparities: among full-time workers, Black and Latina women earn significantly less than white men.
Global South: On a global scale, women on average earn about 77 cents for every dollar men earn, translating to a roughly 23% global gender pay gap.
Many countries in the Global South have seen gradual improvements, but challenges persist. In South Asia and the Middle East, pay gaps remain high where women’s workforce participation is limited and cultural norms restrict career advancement.
The key takeaway is that no region is completely free of a gender pay gap, though the size varies. Even in countries with smaller gaps, women often earn less over a lifetime due to breaks in employment and slower promotion tracks.
Pay Disparities within AI fields
Even within the AI industry, women often earn less on average than their male peers, due to factors like bias in raises and promotions. Surveys of tech workers have shown men tend to negotiate higher starting salaries and are more likely to be promoted into leadership positions.
Moreover, women in AI might be funneled into less technical sub-specialties or into project management rather than core development, which can come with different pay scales.
If a female AI specialist is consistently paid less or not advancing, the talent gap might eventually drive her out of the field, worsening the cycle.
Career progression and glass ceilings
The intersection becomes stark when looking at career advancement. In AI, fewer women make it to senior, high-paying positions—recall that under 14% of AI executives are women.
This “AI glass ceiling” means women miss out on top salaries and decision-making power. Why does this happen? Partly due to mentorship gaps—there are simply fewer women leaders in AI to sponsor young women. Also, implicit biases might rate men as more competent in tech leadership.
This challenge is even more acute for women facing intersectional biases. While the overall gender pay gap is around 15-20%, women of color experience significantly larger gaps. A recent analysis found that Latina women in the U.S. earned only about 51% of what white men earned on average.
Broader Economic Impacts
When women are underrepresented in AI and also face a pay gap, it leads to broader economic inequality. Women having lower earnings means less accumulated wealth, less investment capital to start ventures, and lower pension savings.
A stark illustration from a global perspective is an Oxfam study which noted that women globally earn just 51 cents for every $1 of labor income men earn when all work (paid and unpaid) is accounted for.
High-paying sectors like AI could be an equalizer—offering women lucrative careers—but only if women can get into and thrive in those jobs.
Feedback Loop of Representation and Pay
When young women see few female AI leaders or hear about pay disparities, they might be dissuaded from entering the field. This reduces the influx of female talent into AI, maintaining the status quo.
Conversely, if companies make visible progress—celebrating women AI innovators, ensuring equal pay and opportunities—it can inspire more women to join, which over time can balance both representation and pay.
In short, solving one gap helps solve the other: bringing more women into AI and supporting their growth helps narrow the pay gap in that high-paying field; enforcing fair pay practices makes AI careers more attractive to women, boosting representation.
A comparative analysis: Gender AI Gap vs. Gender Pay Gap
How do the Gender AI Gap and the Gender Pay Gap compare across regions? While one is about representation and the other about earnings, they’re two sides of the same coin of gender inequality.
| Region | Women in AI Roles (% of AI workforce) | Gender Pay Gap (% less earned by women) |
| Germany | 20.3% of AI professionals are women (One of the lowest female AI representations in the EU.) | 16% pay gap (women earn 16% less on avg) |
| European Union (average) | ~22% of AI professionals are women countries see 20–30% female share in AI; none are near parity.) | 12.7% pay gap (EU-wide average) |
| United States | ~26% of data & AI jobs are held by women sees roughly one woman for every three men in AI roles.) | 15% pay gap in 2024 (women earn ~85¢ per $1 men earn) |
| Global South | < 30% of AI roles filled by women (varies by country; often lower) (E.g., women contribute ~33% of AI research in S. Africa/Nigeria regions) | ~20–23% pay gap on average (global estimate) (Many developing countries range in 15–30% gap.) |
In all these regions, the percentage of women in AI is far below parity. Europe and the U.S. hover around a quarter or less; Germany is even lower at one-fifth. The Global South shows similar or worse representation—a UN report noted only 30% of those working in AI globally are women.
What stands out is that both gaps coexist: in places with a large Gender AI Gap, we often also see a significant Gender Pay Gap. This is not a coincidence—they’re interconnected, as we’ll explore next.
Conclusion
The Gender AI Gap and the Gender Pay Gap are two significant barriers on the road to equality in tech and the economy at large. These gaps are deeply intertwined: underrepresentation of women in AI contributes to wage disparities, and pay inequities can discourage women from pursuing or staying in AI careers.
The key takeaways are clear:
- The Gender AI Gap is real—women are vastly underrepresented in one of the most influential fields of our time, comprising roughly only a quarter (or less) of AI professionals
- The Gender Pay Gap persists across regions—whether it’s a 12-16% gap in Europe or around 15-20% in the U.S. or even larger gaps in parts of the Global South.
- These disparities hurt not just women, but all of us—we all gain from the fuller innovations, improved AI ethics, and economic boosts that gender equity would bring.
The path forward calls for intentional action from everyone involved in tech. Companies must examine their practices in hiring, pay, and promotion. Educational systems need to equip and excite more girls to enter AI-related fields. Policymakers should create environments that support work equality and skills training.
Closing these gaps won’t happen overnight, but the progress will start with concrete commitments. Let this be a call to action: if you’re a tech leader, ask yourself what your organization is doing to bring more women into AI and to pay them fairly. If you’re a policymaker or educator, how are you supporting the next generation of female tech talent?
By working together, we can move toward a tech industry that is not only cutting-edge in innovation but also exemplary in inclusion. Bridging the Gender AI Gap will help close the Gender Pay Gap, creating a virtuous cycle of equity that benefits companies, economies, and communities.
It’s time for those developing the future—in AI labs and beyond—to look more like the world that future will serve.
