The report, which surveyed over 200 female leaders in technology roles, revealed a stark gap in leadership opportunities for women, particularly in large enterprises. In companies with more than 10,000 employees, only 46% of women believed they had equal leadership opportunities compared to their male counterparts. This contrasts sharply with smaller businesses, where 65% of women felt they had the same leadership prospects as men.

Despite progress in workplace dynamics – nearly 80% of respondents noted improvements in daily interactions, promotions, and professional respect – there remains a strong call for further action. Over two-thirds (68%) of the women surveyed wanted to see more efforts to improve the workplace for women in leadership roles. This includes increasing the promotion of women from within the organisation and offering more training and development opportunities.

"Businesses are getting put under the microscope when it comes to diversity, so leaders are coming out and promoting amazing-sounding initiatives to create the illusion of a diversity-led workplace culture. Unfortunately, this is often just lip service, telling staff and stakeholders what they want to hear, rather than actually taking meaningful action," said Lauren Hine, Chief for UK Marketing & Alliances and Women in Tech Ambassador for AND Digital. "Businesses, especially enterprises, need accountability for their DEI initiatives, such as gender pay gap reporting, to ensure they're actually doing what they say they're doing, not just unveiling more initiatives just for show."

One female tech leader, who wished to remain anonymous said: "I still feel there's a glass ceiling in my industry that prevents female members of staff from reaching their full potential and this needs to be addressed."

The report also raised pregnancy as an important part of the discussion in terms of promotion, training and development, highlighting that many female tech leaders feel they need to have children later in life once promotion into leadership roles had been achieved.

"Having children is almost viewed as an unspeakable topic by female tech leaders as they climb the ladder, and that's largely due to the lack of flexibility and return-to-work support offered to parents by many businesses. Deciding between a family and a career should never have to be a choice and this is a DEI initiative that businesses need to improve upon across the board," added Hine.

Rewards & Resilience is the latest in a series of measures by AND to champion the role of women in tech roles. The company is rolling out initiatives to support women in tech, including a dedicated women-in-tech community, the AND She Can programme, and truly flexible working policies. 

Dame Stephanie Shirley, author of Let It Go and female tech pioneer commented: "This report stands as a testament to the collective efforts of private individuals, organisations and communities dedicated to fostering inclusivity and equity. It celebrates all those who have blazed trails, shattered glass ceilings and inspired the generations to come."