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A new white paper from the University of Zurich, co-published with Advance and supported by the Canton of Zurich, documents a persistent gender gap in demand for digital skills in the Swiss labour market, with significant implications for women’s access to leadership roles. Based on more than one million Swiss job postings covering the 2015–2025 period and analysed using large language models, the study is the most comprehensive assessment of demand for digital skills in the Swiss labour market to date.
The good news: the gender gap in demand for digital skills is narrowing
Over the past decade, the gender gap in demand for digital skills between female-dominated and male-dominated occupations has narrowed by around 34%. This convergence reflects two parallel developments: more women are moving into jobs requiring higher digital skills, while occupations with a larger share of women are themselves becoming more digital-intensive. The trajectory is encouraging.
The structural challenge: the gap is widest for the most complex digital skills, which are increasingly required in management roles
However, the narrowing of this gap is not uniform and becomes more pronounced as the complexity of digital skills increases. The gap is largest at intermediate and advanced levels. This is all the more concerning because demand for digital skills in management roles has risen by 55% over the past decade, with particularly sharp increases at intermediate and advanced levels — precisely where the gender gap is widest. Over the same period, the share of women in leadership positions has only edged up, from 33.3% to 37%.
This gap is not explained solely by individual preferences. The data show that structural barriers, both before and after entry into the labour market, limit women’s opportunities to build digital skills. Less exposure leads to lower digital proficiency, which in turn restricts access to the most demanding roles.
The role of AI: a risk to the progress made?
Analyses show that job postings are declining relatively in occupations most exposed to generative AI technologies. These occupations tend to be especially intensive in digital skills. Taken together, these findings point to a real risk: access to digitally intensive occupations could tighten, potentially reversing some of the progress achieved over the past decade. Management roles are not immune to this dynamic, showing moderate exposure to AI and a slight decline in job postings. These trends are not inevitable, however. Whether AI technologies will reinforce or reduce existing gender inequalities will also depend on the choices made by employers, education providers and policymakers to promote women’s access to the most demanding digital roles.
From data to action
Closing the gender gap in digital skills within management roles requires coordinated action at several levels. The white paper sets out the following recommendations:
Audit and assess: Map the distribution of digital skills across leadership roles and examine whether the adoption of AI is increasing digital requirements in functions where women are well represented or, on the contrary, underrepresented.
Invest in upskilling and training: Offer continuous digital-skills training within organisations and strengthen pathways to advanced digital competencies for female talent, ensuring exposure that goes beyond basic digital literacy to reach the most complex skills.
Remove structural barriers: The development of digital skills does not depend on training alone. Broader public policies and the social norms governing the division of unpaid care work and paid work within families also determine who can sustain a career path conducive to developing and reinforcing these skills over time.
Build individual opportunities: Seek exposure to advanced digital tasks in your current role, leverage networks and mentoring, and shape career choices around your interests and strengths.
From data to action
Closing the gender gap in digital skills within management roles requires coordinated action at several levels. The white paper sets out the following recommendations:
Audit and assess: Map the distribution of digital skills across leadership roles and examine whether the adoption of AI is increasing digital requirements in functions where women are well represented or, on the contrary, underrepresented.
Invest in upskilling and training: Offer continuous digital-skills training within organisations and strengthen pathways to advanced digital competencies for female talent, ensuring exposure that goes beyond basic digital literacy to reach the most complex skills.
Remove structural barriers: The development of digital skills does not depend on training alone. Broader public policies and the social norms governing the division of unpaid care work and paid work within families also determine who can sustain a career path conducive to developing and reinforcing these skills over time.
Build individual opportunities: Seek exposure to advanced digital tasks in your current role, leverage networks and mentoring, and shape career choices around your interests and strengths.
Quotes
“Switzerland’s prosperity depends on being able to put all of its talent to work for the economy. This research makes it clear that the digital skills gap is not a reflection of ability. It stems from structural conditions that employers, education providers, the public sector and individuals have the power to change. Addressing it is not only a matter of fairness; it is essential to preserving Switzerland’s competitiveness in the decade ahead.” Samuel Mösle, Co-Director, Division of Economic and Business Development, Canton of Zurich
“Digital skills have become an increasingly important component of managerial work in Switzerland, and the data show that it is structural barriers — not differences in potential — that limit women’s access to these skills. The gap has narrowed over the past decade, proving that change is possible. The question now is whether we are acting with enough determination to accelerate this progress.” Alkistis Petropaki, Managing Director, Advance
Full study
The white paper will be available for download on 9 June 2026 at weadvance.ch.
Study authors
Prof. Dr. Dr. h. c. Marlis Buchmann, Professor of Sociology, Department of Sociology, University of Zurich, Director of the Swiss Job Market Monitor Dr. Johanna Bolli-Kemper, Swiss Job Market Monitor, Department of Sociology, University of Zurich Dr. Andrea Ghisletta, Swiss Job Market Monitor, Department of Sociology, University of Zurich
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