There is an enormous gender imbalance in the metaverse industry

The metaverse, a virtual reality space where users can interact with each other, is supposed to push the workplace to new heights. But as it is now, it's being bogged down by many long-standing corporate issues, including a lack of diversity. 

Recent research from consulting firm McKinsey found that 41% of women have used a primary metaverse platform or participated in a digital world for more than a year, compared to only 34% of men. And while female executives are 20% more likely to implement multiple metaverse initiatives within their organization, women still hold just 8% to 10% of leadership positions at organizations driving metaverse standards.

"The current underrepresentation of women in leadership positions in the metaverse industry stems from a systemic issue," says Alina Vasile, VP of production at VR workforce learning platform Gemba. "The metaverse and VR started as part of the gaming industry — which is another industry where women are still highly underrepresented, and it's a shame." 

Read more: Why 46% of employers are hiring for metaverse-specific roles

The lack of diversity is even more puzzling when faced with the fact that more women spend significant amounts of time in the metaverse to begin with, according to McKinsey. Thirty-five percent of the women surveyed are power users, which means they spend more than three hours a week in the metaverse, compared with 29% of men. This willingness to engage with virtual spaces is probably why 60% of women executives reported implementing more than two metaverse-related initiatives into their organizations.

The problem is not so much that women are being purposely left out of those spaces, according to Vasile, but that when 90% of an industry is led by men it doesn't inspire young female talent to want careers where they don't see themselves already.

"Young ladies out there who are about to be researching which degrees they want to pursue don't have female role models in tech to be like 'I want to be like her, I want to be able to have that role,'" Vasile says. "In this industry, you don't see that many female CEOs or business leaders on the front covers of the magazines, in news, or all over social media. That's why we're missing a level of recognition and knowledge."

Vasile's origin story into tech and VR is not traditional; she did not get a degree in STEM or software engineering, which is the typical foundation for any metaverse-adjacent work. Now that she is in a position to recruit more women into the industry, Vasile has made it a point to create that kind of recognition and knowledge within her own communities by volunteering to speak at elementary and high schools, as well as be vocal in professional settings about gender disparities.

Read more: Helping employers invest in the metaverse will pay workplace dividends

"I try to mentor, coach and train other women in my team and across the business to potentially join my team if there are those transferable skills in place," she says. "In promotional opportunities like posts on our LinkedIn for new job opportunities, I try to use more images of women because if they see themselves with a VR headset, they might be more likely to apply." 

In an age where women have been outspoken about feeling burned out, and pushed out of industries like tech for having to cater to other responsibilities such as caregiving, big tech employers of all genders should be putting forward the same effort to diversify their ranks, according to Vasile. Especially because, as seen throughout the data, without women the success of the metaverse could be potentially stunted.

"Without women, there will never be complete acceptance or growth of the metaverse," Vasile says. "It will always be seen as tech being pushed by men that didn't have women involved in the design, and that doesn't welcome women business leaders."