Innovation and Technology

AI & Gender Equality

AI & Gender Equality

Why UN Women is acting now

Artificial intelligence is reshaping services, work and governance across Asia and the Pacific. Yet women—especially those in low-income, rural and marginalized communities—are too often excluded from the skills, leadership and design that make AI useful and safe. When half the world is absent from design tables, test labs and term sheets, bias isn’t an accident—it’s the default. UN Women is mobilizing partners so AI is built on dignity, not just data.

What’s at stake (at a glance)

Design gap

Design gap

Only 30 per cent of the world’s AI professionals are women; women are 29 per cent of STEM workers overall, but just 16 per cent of AI research roles. Fewer women designing systems means products that ignore women’s realities. 

nvestment gap

Investment gap

In 2023, women-founded start-ups captured under 2 per cent of venture capital in Europe and the United States—ideas stall before they scale.

Policy gap

Policy gap

Of 138 countries assessed, only 24 referenced gender in a national AI strategy, and just 18 included substantive gender-responsive provisions—risking inequality being “baked in” to future systems.

Bottom line: Closing these gaps is the prerequisite for coding equality.

The impact of generative AI on women and work

Women are disproportionately represented in roles most likely to be disrupted or reshaped by generative AI. Analysis of LinkedIn Economic Graph data in the joint UN Women/LinkedIn brief “Women and Future Jobs” shows that in markets in Asia and the Pacific, around 80 per cent of women work in job categories flagged as augmented or disrupted, a higher share than men. The right skilling, protections and job design can make augmentation a springboard—not a setback.

Bias and online harms are here—today

Bias and online harms are here—today

Source: [1] [2]

The opportunity—if we act together

Co-create inclusive AI

Women and girls must shape datasets, interfaces, policies and procurement so systems “see” and serve everyone.

Unlock skills and livelihoods

By closing the digital divide, 30 million women and girls could exit extreme poverty by 2050—and economies could gain $ 1.5 trillion in GDP by 2030 (over $ 100 trillion cumulatively by 2050).

Design for safety by default

Ethical guard-rails—bias checks, content credentials/watermarks, consent-aware data practices, accessibility—turn innovation into a public good.

AI resources

Learn more on how to use, develop and promote gender-responsive AI solutions for social-impact domains. [View resources]

Campaigns

Discover our communication initiatives to promote gender-responsive AI in Asia and the Pacific. [Find out more]

Learn more