Gender Parity in the Intelligent Age 2025

While international data comparability for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) STEM graduates poses a challenge in measuring and comparing China’s AI talent pool to other those of other economies, it does not fully dim the relevance of these findings. In recent years, China has been estimated to be among the largest producers of STEM graduates, with an average self-reported rate of female graduates at 40%.2 Neighbouring economies in the region, whose numbers trail behind China’s in comparison, are in turn taking measures to boost their STEM talent. In Japan, for example, the number of universities adopting female STEM quotas rose to 40 in 2024.3 While the disaggregated profile of AI innovators is limited, it is helpful to observe the overall presence of women in innovation. European Patent Office (EPO) data suggests that the share of women innovators has been gradually increasing over time, with distinct footprints in the United States, Japan, China and South Korea – the latter holding the highest proportion of women innovators, exceeding 25%, 10 percentage points higher than in the European Union (EU) and the United States.4 Resourcing of AI innovation shows other asymmetries in the global innovation ecosystem. Over the past 10 years, while disclosed investments in AI companies have increased, resources have clustered significantly in Northern America (Figure 3). During that same period, there were two noticeable surges in investment. The first occurred from 2019-2021, and was followed by a drop in 2022, and the second, a rebound beginning in 2023, is expected to reach 2021 figures by 2024. With resources across the global innovation ecosystem being unevenly distributed across regions, it is worth considering that other factors beyond investment can play a role in expanding talent pools to include a higher share of women in AI and to advancing AI innovations. Sub-Saharan AfricaEastern Asia and the Pacific Central Asia Middle East and Northern AfricaEurope Southern Asia Northern AmericaLatin America and the Caribbean 0 10,000 20,000 30,000 40,000 50,000 60,000 70,000 80,000 90,000 100,000 110,000 120,000 130,000 140,000 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 Source World Economic Forum calculations based on the Emerging Technology Observatory Country AI Activity Metrics dataset.Aggregate investment in AI companies, 2014-2024, by region FIGURE 3Amount of investment in million USD Gender Parity in the Intelligent Age 8