Men in Ireland are more than twice as likely as women to use advanced digital skills at work, according to new research from the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI).
While gender gaps in advanced digital work are evident across Europe, Ireland “stands out” as having the largest gap, the research found.
“This raises concerns about the underutilisation of women’s digital skills, despite Ireland’s strong tech sector and high levels of educational attainment,” the ESRI said.
Around 44 per cent of men in Ireland use advanced digital skills in their jobs, compared with just 18 per cent of women. This represents a 26 percentage point gap, almost double the European average.
READ MORE
The gender gap is driven by relatively high advanced digital skill use among men, rather than low use among women, the ESRI said.
“Women in Ireland are broadly comparable to women elsewhere in Europe,” the research said.
“Ireland’s large gap arises because men in Ireland are much more likely than in other European countries to use advanced digital skills at work (44 per cent versus 32 per cent).
“Women are under-represented in the most digitally intensive jobs. Gender differences are relatively modest in less digitally intensive roles but widen sharply in the most digitally intensive jobs. In Ireland, this digital glass ceiling is more pronounced than in the rest of Europe.”
Differences in digital skill use persist even among comparable workers. Women are less likely than men to use advanced digital skills, even when comparing workers with similar levels and fields of education, occupations, and sectors.
“Job and sector differences explain only part of the gap,” the ESRI said. “In Ireland, women and men tend to work in different jobs and sectors, particularly in tech-intensive roles, which explains some of the difference in digital skill use.
“However, a substantial share of the gender gap remains unexplained after accounting for education, occupation, and sector.”
Across Europe, younger women already face larger digital skill gaps than older workers. Gender gaps in advanced digital skills use are larger among younger workers and are less easily explained by differences in observable characteristics such as education or occupation.
“This suggests the issue is not a legacy problem among older cohorts and will not resolve automatically over time,” the ESRI said.
“Closing the gender gap in advanced digital skills use will require more than increasing women’s participation in stem [science, technology, engineering and mathematics] education or occupations.”
Dr Adele Whelan, senior research officer at the ESRI, said: “These gender gaps persist even among women and men with similar education levels, fields of study and occupations.
“This indicates that encouraging women into stem education and occupations, while essential, will not on its own close the divide. Women are under-represented in the most digitally intensive roles, pointing to a potential digital glass ceiling within workplaces.”
