Women still struggle to learn AI: 5 ways to catch them up fast

Generative AI has helped make companies much more technologically progressive by automating tasks and boosting productivity. But when it comes to fostering gender equality, it remains pretty antiquated.  

Only 36% of women believe the progression of generative AI can advance their careers, according to a recent survey from online education platform Coursera, compared to 45% of men. The platform's AI enrollment rate is just 32% for women, half that of men, though women make up half of all learners on the site. But businesses can help boost that number, says Alexandra Urban, the learning science research lead at Coursera.

"A lot of the same trends that drive gender disparity at the larger societal level are also discouraging women's participation in generative AI," she says. "But there's also this fairly persistent confidence gap between men and women that's reinforced by the culture in STEM." 

The tech sector is rife with gender discrepancy, as 65% of tech recruiters acknowledge bias in hiring, according to data from tech resource platform WomenTech. Sixty-six percent of women also report lacking a clear career advancement path within their companies. Within AI specifically, less than a third of the AI workforce is made up of women, according to data from Deloitte, yet it's not for lack of interest.

Read more: Offering more inclusive benefits can help close the AI talent shortage

In fact, learning and implementing AI is women's top priority, according to WomenTech's findings, but 63% reported a lack of skills and access to training on the job. Upskilling will need to be a priority in the coming years, as executives anticipate needing to retrain 46% of their workforce within the next three years. Will women be included in that group?  

"We've seen what happens when companies don't invest in female talent in tech," Urban says. "Without these kinds of significant efforts from the government or from organizations, this gender gap is only going to persist and might even expand. It's really the call to action to remind them all that it doesn't have to be this way." 

Yet despite the troubling statistics, Urban remains confident that organizations will see the value in investing in the women in their workforce, because it could lead to better employee retention, better engagement and the ability to leverage Gen AI to its full potential. 

To get started, Coursera, led by Urban and her team, offers a playbook with actionable techniques for business and HR leaders.  

Expand access to Gen AI skills and learning

Organizations should be offering upskilling opportunities and platforms internally, and they should be doing so without pre-requisites. According to Coursera's internal data, women are six times more likely to enroll into beginner generative AI courses than their male counterparts. If organizations want to truly ensure that women are given equal opportunities, they should first make sure that the programs invest in starting from the beginning, rather than assuming that everyone could pick up learning at an intermediate level. 

Read more: Why gender diversity still matters amid anti-DEI rhetoric

Increase female representation

Much of the gender gap in the tech industry can be linked to the lack of representation in executive and managerial roles — the same goes for AI training and career development. Not only should organizations prioritize diversifying their ranks internally to attract female tech talent, they should be translating those efforts into the upskilling opportunities they are choosing to invest in, according to Urban. For example, even just making sure that at least one of the courses is taught by a woman could increase participation significantly. 

Boost female confidence

A lack of confidence is often what's standing between women and a well-rounded AI education. Making upskilling opportunities more accessible and more diverse are powerful strategies, but they also need reinforcement to make them as effective as possible. Urban urges managers and benefit leaders to pair their initiatives with other efforts such as mentorship programs or even less structured methods like building employee affirmation into the culture. 

Provide clear AI policies and flexible learning

Being vague about AI use isn't doing women any favors, according to Urban. Women want to know what they should be learning, how they should be using it and where they can find the tools. This goes hand in hand with the fact that women traditionally have less time to dedicate to upskilling than their male counterparts because they are most likely to be in demanding caregiving roles at home. Because of this, women also need options that aren't limited to guided sit-down readings or videos. Upskilling options with tutors and coaches offer the best support for all employees.   

Make generative AI relevant

The final piece of advice from Urban and her team is to make sure that the material employees are using gives them real-world applications for the skills they're learning. Course completion rates for courses on using generative AI for tasks such as real-world personal and professional use cases have the most gender parity between men and women, which means companies should be capitalizing on them more.