The GenAI Gender Gap

January 10, 2025

There is a gender gap when it comes to GenAI.

Just 26.3% of the European Union’s artificial intelligence (AI) professionals are women, according to a report from LinkedIn.

In my work with of the Women for Ethical AI (W4EAI) UNESCO platform, we had similar findings in our gender outlook study.

An AI-generated image of a group of women.

There are no easy solutions to this gap, but for those working in this area, some five concrete things you can do to promote gender inclusion (and equity in general) are:

  • 
Invite women into leadership roles, strategic planing for artificial intelligence and advanced technology.
  • Ensure that policies explicitly include women, girls, and other equity-deserving groups.
  • Invite women (and in particular, early career women and those who are precariously employed) to share and showcase their expertise and knowledge (and compensate them for their contributions).
  • Create formal sponsorship programs for women and girls who want to develop their knowledge and cp-competencies related to AI, with ongoing opportunities for learning and skill development.
An AI-generated image of a group of women.

There are a myriad of ethical complexities when it comes to artificial intelligence and gender is only one of them. Acknowledging inequalities and then working to support equity, fairness, and justice will remain ongoing work in the years to come.

References

AI in the EU: 2024 Trends and Insights from LinkedIn. (2024). https://economicgraph.linkedin.com/content/dam/me/economicgraph/en-us/PDF/AI-in-the-EU-Report.pdf

United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). (2024). UNESCO Women for Ethical AI: Outlook study on artificial intelligence and gender. https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000391719

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Sarah Elaine Eaton, PhD, is a Professor and Research Chair in the Werklund School of Education at the University of Calgary, Canada. Opinions are my own and do not represent those of my employer. 

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Posted by Sarah Elaine Eaton, Ph.D.

UNESCO Women for Ethical AI: outlook study on artificial intelligence and gender

October 30, 2024

Over the past few months I have had the tremendous opportunity to work with an incredible group of women under the direction of Assistant Director-General (ADG) for Social and Human Sciences of UNESCO. Our collective produced this report that was launched today at a special conference in Paris:

UNESCO Women for Ethical AI: outlook study on artificial intelligence and gender

https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000391719

391719engDownload

Here is our agenda from today’s conference:

W4EAI_Agenda_2024-10_30Download

I joined today’s conference online. Here are a few pics that I snapped during the presentations:

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UNESCO Women for Ethical AI: outlook study on artificial intelligence and gender – https://drsaraheaton.com/2024/10/30/unesco-women-for-ethical-ai-outlook-study-on-artificial-intelligence-and-gender/

This blog has had over 3 million views thanks to readers like you. If you enjoyed this post, please “like” it or share it on social media. Thanks!

Sarah Elaine Eaton, PhD, is a Professor and Research Chair in the Werklund School of Education at the University of Calgary, Canada. Opinions are my own and do not represent those of my employer.

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UNESCO’s free advocacy kit for promoting multilingual education

October 24, 2012

UNESCO multilingualism Sarah Elaine Eaton blogUNESCO has a number of initiatives on the go to promote multilingual, bilingual and mother-tongue education. They have come out with a new advocacy kit designed to help raise awareness about the importance of multilingual education. The toolkit is for:

  • education practitioners (teachers)
  • education specialists (learning leaders)
  • policy makers

The kit is a 109-page free, downloadable .pdf. It is very cool. Get yours here.

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Update – January 2018 – This blog has had over 1.8 million views thanks to readers like you. If you enjoyed this post, please “like” it or share it on social media. Thanks!

Sarah Elaine Eaton is a faculty member in the Werklund School of Education, University of Calgary, Canada.

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Posted by Sarah Elaine Eaton, Ph.D.

Lifelong Language Learning: Benefits for 21st Century Global Citizens

April 1, 2011

University of CalgaryApril 2 – 9, 2001 is International Adult Learners’ Week. The Language Research Centre, in conjunction with Alberta Advanced Education and Technology and UNESCO, is hosting a panel discussion on the importance of lifelong language learning, mutilingualism and multiculturalism.

This panel brings together thought leaders from a variety of organizations in Calgary who are experts on language learning, multilingualism and multiculturalism. They will share their views on the importance of language learning in the 21st century and its relevance to us as Calgarians, Canadians and global citizens.

Expert panelists include:

  • Mr. Wayne Cao, MLA Calgary Fort (to be confirmed)
  • Dr. Mary O’Brien, Director, Language Research Centre
  • Dr. Rahat Naqvi, Associate Director, Language Research Centre
  • Dr. Jürgen Meisel, Distinguished Fellow, Language Research Centre
  • Mr. Michael Gretton, Southern Alberta Heritages Language Association (SAHLA)
  • Ms. Shaheen Murji, Mount Royal University, International Education and Past President, Alberta Teachers of English as a Second Language

    Wayne Cao, MLA, Calgary Fort and Dr. Sarah Eaton

    Mr. Wayne Cao, MLA, Calgary Fort with me, holding the “Advantage for Life” CD produced by the Language Research Centre. This photo was taken at the IALW event.

Student Discussant: Ms. Jacqueline Warrell, PhD Candidate, Graduate Division of Educational Research

Event host: Dr. Sarah Eaton, Research Associate, Language Research Centre

The Institute for Innovation in Second Language Education (IISLE) will join us via videoconference from Edmonton.

For more information, visit these websites:

Alberta Advanced Education and Technology (AAET)
Language Research Centre

View this document on Scribd

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Update – January 2018 – This blog has had over 1.8 million views thanks to readers like you. If you enjoyed this post, please “like” it or share it on social media. Thanks!

Sarah Elaine Eaton is a faculty member in the Werklund School of Education, University of Calgary, Canada.

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“Literacy and Empowerment: A contribution to the debate”

May 3, 2010

UNESCO has recently released “Literacy and Empowement: A contribution to the debate: Background study commissioned in the framework of the United Nations Literacy Decade”. Written by Nelly P. Stromquist, University of Maryland, this 13-page report delves into these topics:

  • Defining the concept of empowerment
  • Literacy and empowerment: The research evidence
  • Taking empowerment seriously

Stromquist shares key insights such as, “Learning is always a situated practice, within a specific cultural, institutional, and historical context. Learning is developmental in nature as students learn in different ways and at different times in their academic and ordinary lives.” (p. 7) and “there is an urgent need to reconceptualize adult literacy, all the way from program design to instructional approaches, from objectives to criteria for successful impact, from instructor/facilitator training to provision of graduated reading materials”.

This report is concise, easy-to-read and provocative. Here’s the direct download link: unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0018/001876/187698e.pdf

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Update – January 2018 – This blog has had over 1.8 million views thanks to readers like you. If you enjoyed this post, please “like” it or share it on social media. Thanks!

Sarah Elaine Eaton is a faculty member in the Werklund School of Education, University of Calgary, Canada.

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Posted by Sarah Elaine Eaton, Ph.D.