Women in UK tech hold more roles than a decade ago, but the pace of change is uneven. If you are building a career or a business in technology, the headline figures matter less than where the gaps still sit: in funding, in senior hires, and in the sectors that feed into the tech economy.
According to Women in Business: Key UK Facts, women now run a growing share of UK enterprises, yet tech remains one of the industries where progress is slowest. Here is how the 2026 picture looks across the sectors that shape women’s working lives.
Women in UK tech: where the numbers stand
ONS data from 2024 shows women hold 22% of IT professional occupations in the UK. That is an improvement on the share recorded a decade earlier, but it still leaves the UK below several European peers and well short of gender parity. The broader tech workforce, which includes sales, marketing and operations roles, is closer to balance, but technical and leadership roles remain male-dominated.
The gap widens at senior level. Women remain under-represented in CTO and technical director roles in UK tech firms, and all-female founding teams receive a fraction of venture capital. The Women AI Leadership UK research shows that female CTOs in UK tech are concentrated in smaller companies and under-represented in AI and deep-tech scale-ups.
For women running their own tech business, the funding environment remains tough. The British Business Bank’s 2024 Small Business Finance Markets report found that women-founded businesses receive less equity finance than male-founded equivalents, despite starting at similar rates. Our guide to the female founder VC funding gap breaks down what that means in practice.
Entrepreneurship: record starts, but scaling is harder
The 2023 Alison Rose Review of Female Entrepreneurship found that women-led businesses now account for 20% of all UK businesses, up from 17% in 2018. Women are starting businesses at record rates, yet the review also noted that women-led businesses are less likely than male-led businesses to reach £1 million turnover.
Access to finance is the most commonly cited barrier. The British Business Bank has introduced new funding rules for women founders, including stronger reporting on gender-disaggregated investment data and expanded support through the Start Up Loans programme. If you are raising, use the Bank’s published data to identify investors with a track record of backing women founders.
Healthcare and life sciences: the largest women’s workforce
The NHS remains the UK’s largest employer of women. NHS Digital workforce statistics from 2024 show that women make up 77% of the NHS workforce in England. In life sciences, women are also well represented in research, regulatory affairs and clinical roles, though senior leadership and board positions are still male-dominated.
Healthtech is a particular opportunity for women founders. The overlap between clinical expertise and digital product development means women with NHS backgrounds are well placed to start businesses in medical devices, patient apps and care management software.
Law: women now outnumber men among solicitors
The legal profession has shifted dramatically. Solicitors Regulation Authority data from 2024 shows that women make up 53% of solicitors in England and Wales. However, partnership and judicial appointments still lag behind: women remain under-represented in partnership roles in large law firms and in the judiciary.
Legal tech is a growing niche for women leaving private practice. Regulatory technology, contract automation and AI compliance tools all draw on legal expertise and offer routes into product-led businesses without the traditional partnership track.
Construction and engineering: where progress is slowest
Construction remains the most male-dominated sector. ONS data from 2024 puts women at around 15% of the construction workforce, but CITB data suggests women make up a far smaller share of on-site operatives. For engineering, EngineeringUK’s 2024 report found that women make up 16.5% of the engineering workforce, up from 10.5% in 2010 but still below the levels seen in several comparable European economies.
These sectors matter to tech because built-environment technology, energy systems and infrastructure software all need diverse teams. Women founders in construction tech or climate tech can find grant support through Innovate UK and sector-specific programmes such as the Construction Innovation Hub.
What this means for your next move
The data points to a clear pattern: women are entering professional services and healthcare in large numbers, and entrepreneurship is rising, but tech, engineering and construction still act as bottlenecks for pay, funding and senior influence.
If you are considering a move into tech, the strongest entry points are often at the intersection of two sectors: healthtech, legal tech, fintech, climate tech and edtech all benefit from domain expertise that women already hold in large numbers.
Practical next steps for your career or business
- Benchmark your current sector against ONS labour market data before planning a career change or business pivot.
- If you are fundraising, use the British Business Bank’s gender finance data to identify investors with a track record of backing women founders.
- Look for sector-specific networks rather than generic business groups, and prioritise communities that include technical women and investors.
- Consider roles or ventures that combine your existing expertise with technology, rather than starting from scratch in pure software.
- Track your own pay and progression data, and use it in salary negotiations or investor conversations.
Women in UK tech are making progress, but the numbers show that progress is concentrated in entry and mid-level roles. For women running businesses, the priority is not just representation but access to capital, senior networks and sectors where technology is reshaping traditional industries.
