Sustainable tech needs diverse talent: bridging the gender divide in ICT

Technology is rapidly redefining social structures, economies, and daily interactions. However, the digital landscape continues to suffer from a profound systemic blind spot.

The term ‘default human’ (ICRP 1975) can be used to describe a historical tendency in some technological, industrial, medical, and design contexts to rely on standardised reference models of the human body. When a particular body is treated as representative of the wider population, designs that work for the reference model may be assumed to work more broadly. We see this repeatedly in digital design, from facial recognition algorithms that fail on women of color to voice recognition systems calibrated primarily for male frequencies.

Today, as automated algorithms and artificial intelligence rapidly scale, society risks permanently encoding these historical blind spots directly into future decision-making systems. True sustainability cannot be understood solely through green energy or carbon footprints. Genuine digital sustainability requires a resilient human foundation founded on social equity and universal inclusion.

Digital sustainability

Sustainable technology fundamentally depends on diverse talents. Bridging the gender divide in technology is not just an industry challenge, but a cornerstone for advancing the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, particularly Quality Education (SDG 4) and Gender Equality (SDG 5) (United Nations 2015).

Digital sustainability means that people of all genders can participate equally in shaping our digital future. It ensures that everyone is equipped with quality-education-driven digital literacy and the capacity to build a shared digital future for all. This requires ensuring equal voice, design agency, and leadership across all digital technologies and AI lifecycles. At the same time, it requires that inclusive, accessible, and future-proof STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) and digital literacy be guaranteed for girls and women.

Europe and South Africa have parallel challenges in STEM and ICT

Strikingly parallel challenges emerge across geographical boundaries, connecting the realities of both Europe and South Africa. Despite distinct cultural and socioeconomic environments, both Europe and South Africa struggle with substantial structural barriers in their technology pipelines.

According to the South African Commission for Employment Equity, women accounted for approximately 45 percent of employees in the ICT sector in 2023/24. Although representation varied considerably between demographic groups and occupational levels (Commission for Employment Equity 2024).

Meanwhile, in the European Union, women accounted for 19.5 percent of ICT specialists in 2024, while they represented 32.8 percent of STEM graduates in 2021 (European Commission 2026; Eurostat 2024). Closing the gender gap in Europe’s digital sector could add up to €16 billion to EU GDP each year, highlighting the potential economic significance of greater participation of women in the digital sector (European Commission 2026).

Factors behind the low number of girls in ICT

Through our fieldwork in the LeadHER project in Bulgaria, Portugal, and Spain, we identified three interconnected hurdles that function as significant barriers that prevent girls and women from entering the field of ICT: the confidence gap, the socialisation gap, and the pedagogical gap (Aarreniemi-Jokipelto & Kaukinen 2025).

First, the confidence gap creates an internal obstacle in which girls exhibit lower digital self-efficacy despite having the same technical competence as their male peers. Second, the socialisation gap acts as an external barrier, reinforced by societal, cultural, and family stereotypes that misrepresent ICT as a male-dominated domain. Third, the pedagogical gap leaves educators, despite their enthusiasm, without structured, gender-sensitive training, and inclusive teaching resources needed to support female students effectively.

How gamification can inspire girls to enter ICT

How do we spark girls’ interest in ICT early enough to make a lasting difference? One pragmatic answer lies in gamification: introduce games designed to resonate with young girls and use play as a catalyst. This aligns directly with the actionable recommendations outlined in our LeadHER research report (Aarreniemi-Jokipelto & Kaukinen 2025).

Integrating tailored digital games into early learning transforms abstract code into imaginative and meaningful problem-solving. Gamification, coupled with creative and interdisciplinary project-based learning that combines technology with art, storytelling, and social themes, breaks down the intimidation factor and builds self-efficacy long before career pathways crystallise. Coupled with visible female mentors, bias-free learning materials, and community involvement, custom games provide a gateway to demystifying technology for young girls.

It is crucial that the ICT field has visible role models who openly share their personal journeys and authentic passion for technology, shatter industry stereotypes and actively champion diversity by designing gaming environments that encourage young women to code.

Championing technology for everyone

Inclusion is the ultimate quality assurance mechanism for our digital age. If we want systems that work for 100 percent of the world, we must ensure that the builders of our digital future represent all of humanity.

These perspectives resonate deeply with the core focus of the Digital Pedagogy research group at Haaga-Helia University of Applied Sciences. Exploring how inclusive pedagogical models, emerging technologies, and human-centric design can empower learners and build sustainable agency is central to our research agenda.

By bridging insights between projects like LeadHER, our research group continues to champion educational innovations that ensure that technology is accessible, equitable, and transformative for everyone.

Picture: Haaga-Helia