Women are often held to higher standards and come under greater scrutiny in the workplace than men. They are judged more critically, punished more for mistakes, and exposed to more sexism and microaggressions, especially in male-dominated fields. This pressure often leads women to overprepare, overact, and self-censor simply to appear trustworthy.
Against this backdrop, it's no surprise that researchers have identified other ways in which women are unfairly punished in the workplace. Scholars from Hong Kong Polytechnic University and Peking University found that when women and men use AI to produce the same output, women are perceived as less capable than men.
In the study, researchers asked 1,026 software engineers at an organization to evaluate the exact same computer code. Although the code was identical, reviewers were given information about whether the code was written by a woman or a man and whether they used AI.
The judges imposed a significant “competency penalty” on engineers who used AI. However, the penalty for using AI was much greater for women than for men. Male AI users' ability ratings were 6% lower, while female AI users' numbers were 13% lower.
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One of the biggest issues is that the use of AI could reinforce long-held doubts about women's expertise, especially in male-dominated fields like technology. These attitudes are rooted in decades of cultural and social bias.
According to Dr. Erin Lin, assistant professor of AI and the future of work at the University of Surrey, this could lead people to treat the use of AI as “evidence” of incompetence rather than as a smart way to work. “Technology is still seen as a ‘men’s domain’ and there is ambiguity about where the value comes from when work is created using AI,” she says.
“In ambiguous situations, people rely on stereotypes, so when a woman uses AI, people often think it was the tool that worked, not the woman,” Lin added. “Assessors may unconsciously assume that women rely on AI tools because they lack the capacity, whereas men are more likely to be assessed as having the expertise and skills needed to leverage AI effectively and strategically.”
The implications are far-reaching, especially as AI capabilities quickly become a sought-after skill for employers. Women are already less likely to use AI in the workplace, creating a “gender gap” that risks exacerbating the existing pay gap between men and women. At the same time, many women worry that the use of AI will negatively impact their perceptions of their abilities.
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This concern was reflected in a follow-up survey of 919 of the company's engineers, which found that women were far more concerned than men that the use of AI would hurt their superiors' evaluation of their coding ability. As a result, the researchers concluded that women are likely to be reluctant to use AI, even if companies actively encourage it.
“AI skills are becoming a new gateway to promotions and higher wages, and if women opt out or lack confidence, the gender pay gap will widen further,” Lin says. “If women are discouraged from using AI, or penalized when they do, it can create a vicious cycle. Less adoption means less tangible ‘AI successes,’ which in turn feeds the perception that women are less technologically mature.”
Awareness of the increased scrutiny women face for their use of AI could also undermine efforts to encourage women to build AI skills that could advance their careers.
According to consulting firm Credera's AI Gender Gap Report, women are 20% less likely to use generative AI tools. This not only limits their ability to move into AI-dependent roles, but also puts them at real risk of being left behind as technology continues to evolve.
Research has found that when both women and men use AI to produce the same output, women are perceived as less capable than men. ·MTStock Studio (via Getty Images)
This is especially worrying given that women are already twice as likely to work in jobs susceptible to automation, according to consulting firm Credera's AI Gender Gap Report. This is partly due to a lack of flexible working. Many jobs currently advertised as part-time or work-from-home are amenable to automation, as are administrative roles. However, reluctance to use AI can also be explained by a lack of confidence stemming from historical underrepresentation in the technology field.
Heather Black, founder of Supermoms, a social enterprise that helps women enter technology, says: “Women are also hesitant to take advantage of AI, but by understanding it better we have more opportunities to grow alongside it, rather than being replaced by it. AI is here to stay, whether we use it personally or not, so it's important to learn how it works and how to get the most out of it.”
And if the gender gap in AI widens, there is a risk that bias will become embedded in AI itself, Lin added. Ultimately, those who build and use these tools may end up reinforcing inequalities rather than eliminating them.
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“Ultimately, lack of familiarity with AI may push women away from AI governance, strategy, and product roles,” Ling adds. “Not only does this limit individuals' careers, but it also means there will be fewer women deciding how AI technology is built and deployed, ultimately entrenching bias within the system itself.”
Despite workplace claims to reduce gender bias, women still face new situations that challenge their skills. There is an urgent need to confront this problem. Not only do we need to fairly evaluate women's talent, but we also need to prevent AI from reinforcing the very inequalities that women have long fought against in the workplace.
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