New data reveals that AI is set to significantly narrow the UK gender skills gap in the HR industry.
To coincide with International Equal Pay Day, GenAI consultancy Ainigma has compiled league tables of the top ten sectors that are set to decrease the gender skills gap. It also highlights the industries where the C-suite needs to embed tailored AI programmes into their standard processes to avoid increased disparities between male and female employees.
Top ten UK sectors where AI will close the gender skills gap
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Legal services
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Financial services / insurance
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Public sector
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HR & recruitment
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Journalism
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Marketing & advertising
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Education administration
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Healthcare administration
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Charity
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Retail management / E-commerce
Top ten UK sectors where AI will increase the gender skills gap
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Construction & skilled trades
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Manufacturing & engineering
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AI & tech development
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Transport & logistics
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Energy & utilities
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Investment banking & private equity
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Venture capital
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Scientific R&D (life sciences / pharmaceuticals)
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Creative arts
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Skilled agriculture
The tables highlight that AI is set to have the biggest impact in closing the gender skills gap in traditional research and admin-heavy, office-based roles, such as legal services, finance and HR. The positive impact will be much less in industries that largely rely on manual labour.
The biggest surprise for many will be that AI is set to increase the gender skills gap in the AI development industry. The research suggests that this is because men currently dominate roles responsible for the control and implementation of AI tools. This is likely to inadvertently see gendered bias built into tools, potentially widening the gap in other sectors. The data also shows that while AI may not improve the skillsets of top performers as much, their strategic value skyrockets.
Arne Mosselman, founder and CEO of Ainigma, says: “While AI has been impacting our lives for more than 70 years, it’s only become ubiquitous over the last five years or so. It’s therefore vital that business leaders and their employees understand the power of AI and use it to its full potential.
“Our analysis paints a clear picture of the divide across UK sectors and how AI usage is set to impact the gender skill gap. Surprisingly, there’s a real variety of industries set to see the gender discrepancies increase; ranging from manual labour-focused sectors like construction to those on the cutting edge of innovation, including AI and tech development, engineering and life sciences.
“For leaders in those sectors, there is light at the end of the tunnel. The step-change comes when organisations empower their staff and implement fully-functioning AI programmes that drive sustainable, long-lasting change and significant productivity gains. With the right tools in place, a bottom-up GenAI transformation aligned with an organisation’s strategic business objectives can help narrow gender skills gaps, when managed equitably.”
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