A new report released by the Israel Innovation Authority (IIA) just in time for International Women’s Day sheds light on the ongoing challenges facing women in Israel’s high-tech industry, a demographic which has seen incremental progress held back by persistent systemic barriers.

Despite significant strides in education and entry-level participation, women remain dramatically underrepresented in leadership, entrepreneurship and investment roles within the Israeli tech ecosystem.

“In the past decade, the number of women employed in the sector has grown significantly, but this has barely translated into an improvement in their representation in key positions,” notes IIA CEO Dror Bin.

Education is geographically lopsided

Indeed, women have made substantial gains in advanced mathematics and computer science education, now making up nearly half of the students taking the highest level (5-unit) mathematics exams and over a third of computer science exam takers.

This represents a 75% increase in computer science participation since 2016, with women’s representation in tech-related studies growing from 24% in 2012 to 32% in 2023.

That said, the data shows a major opportunity gap between women in the center of the country versus those located elsewhere: The percentage of female students taking advanced computer science exams in Tel Aviv and the Central District is three times higher than in Jerusalem, two times higher than in the Southern District, and 50% higher than in the Northern District and Haifa.

Silicon ceiling?

Another positive statistic: The number of women in high-tech has surged by 65% over the past decade, reaching approximately 130,000 professionals.

Research and development sectors have seen the most promising progress, with women’s participation incrementally increasing from 23% to 26.5%.

However, women’s overall representation remains stuck at 33.5% of the workforce. Moreover, women are not being promoted to higher levels of management. Women only hold 17.6% of senior management positions in private high-tech companies, and 40% of venture capital firms in Israel have no female partners at all.

Only 10.6% of startup CEOs are female. High-tech startups led by women have only raised 4.3% of total startup funding throughout Israel.

Systemic change is necessary

“The change is evident in the numbers, but it is far from satisfactory,” said Bin. “More women are studying high-tech, more women are working in high-tech — but when looking at management positions, entrepreneurship and investments, the gaps remain deep.”

“We must continue to work on creating equal opportunities for women in high-tech — from expanding training and education pathways, through developing programs to promote women in management roles, to encouraging women’s entrepreneurship,” he continued.

“Only a broad and ongoing effort involving both the government and the industry can bring about real change.”

Innovation, Science and Technology Minister Gila Gamliel commented that in order to continue bolstering women’s success in the high-tech industry, Israel will “require a systemic change led by the government to ensure more equitable representation — through encouraging women to take on management and entrepreneurial roles, promoting tailored training, and improving access to funding.”

She added, “Advancing women in high-tech is not just social justice, but a vital economic lever to strengthen Israel’s competitiveness and make high-tech more inclusive, diverse and strong as a critical economic driver to increase labor productivity and maintain Israel’s competitive advantage in the global economy.”