Discrimination reported by women in tech rose to 47% in ISACA's 2026 survey

The survey points to a specific lag, in employer hiring programmes. According to Human Resources Director's account, the ISACA report says awareness of gender discrimination in tech is not yet translating into change ^[2]. Julia Hermann, a member of the SheLeadsTech Global Advisory Group, put the gap at the employer end. "But employer action hasn't caught up with that awareness, particularly when it comes to hiring programmes built to bring more women into the sector," Hermann said ^[5]. That describes a lag in hiring programmes specifically. The same coverage says most employers already take steps of some kind ^[10], so both statements hold only if programmes exist but are thin where women enter the field.

The 2024 base for the headline figure was 42% ^[6]. A self-reported number can rise because conditions worsen or because more women name what they experience. Hermann said "More people recognise the barriers women face" ^[5]. Whether greater recognition also lifts the reported figure cannot be tested from the coverage, which does not give the sample size or the share of men reporting discrimination.

Five points on a self-reported measure is too small a change to judge programmes by. The authority finding is firmer, because it points at something an organisation can look up: women are less likely to believe they have enough say over strategy, personnel and purchasing ^[3]. That finding records belief, and the report does not quantify the gap. A company can compare the belief with its own approval lists, sign-off rules and budget owners.

The tradeoff is speed of evidence against reach. Hiring programmes act at the entry stage, where 30% of women said they met gender or diversity bias or stereotypes when they started ^[7]. In our view their effect on who holds decision rights arrives later, through promotion. A review of decision rights can be read off internal records within a quarter, but it puts existing authority in question, and a hiring programme does not.

Funding a hiring programme this quarter produces headcount data over years. A review of decision rights produces a record next quarter that either matches women's reported view or contradicts it.