The research — which gathered qualitative data from over 600 women in technology industry leaders — highlights how the pandemic and cost-of-living crisis have acted as major barriers towards women’s success in tech.

In terms of statistics, ​​more than half (52%) of respondents believed women missed out on work opportunities, were forced to scale down work and take time-off to care for children, as well as undertaking more household chores during the pandemic and economically-challenging times.

This is despite broader efforts by businesses to help support the women they employ.

Additionally, almost half (43%) perceive women as shouldering most of the burden of childcare or care of other dependents in their households whilst juggling work responsibilities. A further 43% believe women are more likely than men to have been denied access to business-related financial support from governments.

A lack of funding for women in tech
The survey’s data also provided insights regarding the issue of funding and money for women in tech. According to City A.M., women-led businesses on average receive 96% less funding than businesses led by men.

Having a greater number of women-focused business events and awards is perceived as one of the most powerful initiatives which has helped women-led startups get improved access to funding over the last two years, the survey found. This is closely followed by more women in tech being championed in the press (55%).

However, 42% of respondents believed it was more difficult for women to secure a pay rise in tech, whilst 38% said it was more difficult for women to achieve senior leadership or board positions.

What are the solutions?
To tackle these challenges, respondents said they would like to see better visibility and promotion of STEM career opportunities for women to help them break into and then thrive in the tech industry.

This would help achieve greater gender equity in the sector (39% of respondents revealed), as well as more equal pay between genders (38%), and better flexible work opportunities (37%).

Laura Stebbing, CEO of EQL:HER — a global network and event series for women in technology — said: “Despite the efforts of many businesses and organisations towards gender parity in the tech sector, there is still lots more to be done. Women for example are far behind men when it comes to investment in women led startups.

“Gender disparity needs to be addressed from a systemic level. Supporting women at just one level is not going to solve the problems. We need to be looking at early-stage solutions including better investment in STEM, high profile women in tech being visible to young people and better access to skills programmes.

“It can’t be just one of these interventions, it needs to be all of them. Society shapes stereotypes and creates biases that we need to address well before women even enter the workforce.”

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London Tech Week ambassador and founder of Olio, Tessa Clarke, also commented: “If there’s one industry that should be leading in terms of gender parity, it’s the tech industry.

“That’s because the tech industry has the tools to enable flexible and autonomous working, it has the dynamism and relative youth to make change more easily, and it naturally attracts the visionaries and disruptors who don’t tend to be happy with the status quo.

“It’s therefore incredibly disappointing to see this data which shows that the industry has not yet seized the gender parity opportunity.

I very much hope that this International Women’s Day the tech industry will resolve to make proper strides in gender parity, so we won’t be lamenting the same lack of progress next year.”

The results of London Tech Week’s survey comes shortly after the release of Ana Stewart’s report Pathways: A New Approach for Women in Entrepreneurship.

The Scottish Government-commissioned report has underlined the various obstacles women in Scotland face for entering and then flourishing in entrepreneurship. The report is set to be discussed by a group of leading female business figures next Wednesday.