Gender index reveals ‘unbalanced representation' in the entire EU tech ecosystem
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A new gender and diversity index has found 'unbalanced gender representation' across the European tech ecosystem, from talent to academia and C-suite executives.
The GENDEX index, funded by the European Innovation Council (EIC), evaluates how women have been represented in schools and various levels of tech companies over the last decade.
It surveyed 150 deep tech company founders across European Union member states in 2024 and followed up with 20 in-depth interviews with startups. They also compiled data from Pitchbook, Dealroom, and Eurostat to get their numbers.
'This data proves we need structural change,' Tanya Suarez, Gendex's chair, said in a press release ahead of International Women's Day.
'Not only is it needed to fairly represent women, but evidence shows a gender-balanced ecosystem delivers the best results'.
Inequalities start in the classroom
Throughout the EU, women represented only 42 per cent of science, technology, engineering, or mathematics (STEM) graduates in 2022. There are also fewer women in STEM research and roles than men, at 44 per cent and 41 per cent respectively.
Some fields have more women in them than others, like biology, where women represented 62 per cent of all graduates in 2022 compared to information and communication technology (ICT) fields, where they were only 24 per cent of graduates.
Fewer women going into STEM fields means 'fewer women founders of deep tech startups,' the report found, with one in five European tech companies run by women over the last ten years.
Women are also underrepresented in academia, making up only 31 per cent of researchers and scientists in deep tech. Even fewer, 24 per cent, of all patent applications are made by women.
The GENDEX research shows there is a 'narrowing funnel, where women's talent is lost along the way, to the detriment of the tech industry as a whole'.
Women 'consistently underrepresented' in male-dominated companies
Stéphane Ouaki, head of the department for the European Innovation Council, wrote in a brochure that women occupy roughly 30 per cent of all the leadership positions in European companies.
The most pronounced gender gap at the board of directors level, the report continued.
This was especially true in companies founded by men, where women are 'consistently underrepresented in all categories of employees'.
Of female founders, one in three say their teams are made up of equal men and women in technical positions, compared to 1 per cent of companies led by men, the report says.
Ouaki wrote in the brochure that only 1 per cent of venture capital (VC) funding is awarded to 'exclusively female teams'.
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When female-led teams are successful at getting investments, it takes them six months longer on average than male-dominated teams to sign their first deal, Ouaki continued.
The terms for these deals are often less favourable than male-only teams, who received 1.8 times more funding than women-led teams over the last decade, the report continued.
Require gender diversity reports before funding, report says
The index recommends that investors and government 'require gender diversity reporting' before deciding to fund a company and allocate their funds to more women-led teams.
The index will also be used by investors to 'self-assess their own portfolios for diversity,' according to a statement.
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The index comes as large US-based tech companies like Meta, Amazon, and Google are ditching diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policies at the urging of the Trump administration.
Expertspreviously told Euronews Next that it's hard to know whether tech companies will keep DEI policies in place, especially since smaller countries use Big Tech's involvement as justification for startups to take them on.
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