Women in an AI world

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The advent of Artificial Intelligence or AI is beginning to impact the jobs sector, and it seems that women may not benefit from it in terms of employment, according to an Asian Development Bank (ADB) blog written by Jinha Kim and Lewelyn Baguyo.

According to the ADB blog titled “The Future of Jobs for Women in the Age of AI,” AI is reshaping work across Asia and the Pacific, changing who works, how they work and who benefits. The shifts, unfortunately, the authors argue, are not neutral for women who often work in roles most exposed to automation and are least involved in how AI is developed and used.

In the Philippines, the authors noted, AI chatbots are increasingly automating customer service roles in business process outsourcing centers where women are strongly represented. In Bangladesh’s garment industry, automation is changing skill requirements and employment patterns in factories where most workers have historically been women.

With regional AI investment projected to exceed $110 billion by 2028, adoption is accelerating across manufacturing, services and public administration. As AI reshapes labor demand, skills and job content, the ADB blog argued, today’s policy and investment decisions will determine who can access new employment opportunities and long-term economic security.

The ADB blog pointed out that shaping and benefiting from AI remains unequal. Women are underrepresented not only in technical roles, but also in leadership positions that influence how technologies are designed, deployed and governed. Structural barriers — including restrictive social norms and entrenched stereotypes — continue to limit women in careers related to AI and science, technology, engineering and math (STEM).

What was not included in the ADB article is that in global assessments like the Program for International Student Assessment, the Philippines has historically scored below the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development average in mathematics, reading and science, highlighting a critical gap in minimum proficiency levels.

In terms of Philippine education enrollment, approximately 23 percent of senior high school students pursue the STEM strand, but there is a gender gap, with women accounting for only a quarter of graduates in engineering and manufacturing fields.

Women, the ADB article revealed, fill only a quarter of STEM research roles in Asia and the Pacific — below the global average — and the gap widens at higher career levels. In AI, women account for around 30 percent of professionals worldwide — falling below 20 percent in specialized roles such as data science and software engineering across many economies in the region. These figures show that gaps between men and women are widest in the roles that shape technological direction and economic outcomes.

This imbalance, the authors said, matters because bias can also emerge in AI systems themselves. Hiring tools trained on historical data have penalized resumes containing terms associated with women, mirroring patterns embedded in past employment decisions. Credit-scoring models may also disadvantage women with irregular or informal work histories, making it harder for them to access loans to start or expand businesses. When women are underrepresented in the teams designing and governing AI systems, these risks can become harder to detect and correct.

Across the region, women are less likely than men to have reliable connectivity, device access or digital skills training.

The implications of AI go beyond algorithmic decisions. AI is also transforming the structure of employment. In Asia and the Pacific, women are more likely to work in jobs that are highly exposed to automation, including administrative, retail and care roles.

These occupations may not disappear entirely, but automation is already changing tasks within them, reducing responsibilities and limiting wage growth. Without targeted reskilling, upskilling and job redesign, women may find it harder to move into higher-value roles as technology advances.

The authors stressed that inclusion-by-design is also essential for AI readiness. Across the region, women are less likely than men to have reliable connectivity, device access or digital skills training. Many Asian languages and dialects are underrepresented in AI models, which reduces the quality of AI-powered education, job matching and public services for communities who rely on them. If these gaps persist, AI could deepen unemployment and underemployment, especially for women working in lower-paid or informal roles.

At the same time, the authors said, AI is generating new roles that combine digital and sector expertise — from AI trainers and data annotators to cybersecurity specialists, digital health technicians, green-tech analysts and AI ethics professionals. Many of these occupations offer stronger wage growth, greater employment stability and clearer advancement pathways than the roles now at risk.

Women, the authors observed, remain underrepresented in higher-skill roles that require advanced digital capabilities and specialized training. Without focused support to help women build these skills and enter emerging sectors, AI adoption could deepen existing labor market inequalities.

Reducing these gaps requires deliberate, practical action, they said.  Governments, they said, can integrate women’s perspectives and priorities into national AI strategies, labor policies, education systems and regulatory frameworks, rather than treating AI as gender-neutral. This includes strengthening accountability in AI governance, expanding reskilling and career transition programs for women in at-risk occupations and ensuring that AI-related investments create jobs for all.

They highlighted the need for targeted financing that can support women-led AI innovation that ensures technological change and creates new opportunities rather than widening disparities.

Evidence from the World Bank, they cited, suggests that digital-intensive occupations in several East Asia and the Pacific economies often offer wage premiums for women, highlighting the economic gains that come from increasing access to these roles. Expanding girls’ and women’s participation in STEM education, strengthening digital skills at all stages of life and creating clearer pathways into technical and leadership roles will be essential to preparing women for the jobs of the future.