Girls in Tech Day

About the event

April 23 is International Girls in ICT Day, a day established by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) under the UN in 2011. Every fourth Thursday of April, the world reminds itself that technology is built for everyone — and should also be built by everyone. This day is not about pity or quotas. It is about the fact that the industry is quite literally losing money and ideas when half of the world’s population is left out.

Theme for 2026: “AI for Development: Girls Shaping the Digital Future”

This year, the focus is on artificial intelligence. The UN and the FAO are running a global online mentoring program where girls from different countries work on AI projects in agrifood systems. The idea is simple: if the AI of the future is built only by men, it will solve only men’s problems. Every voice needs a seat at the table.

Numbers that speak for themselves

26.7% — the share of women in the global IT industry (Deloitte, 2026). In the United States, it is slightly higher — 28% in computing roles and 35% in STEM overall. For comparison: in 1970 it was 8%, in 1984 it was 37% (the peak!), and then the share began to fall. Yes, in the 1980s there were more women in Computer Science than there are now.

22% — the share of women in AI. 24% — in cybersecurity. 15–16% — among CTOs. The higher the career ladder, the fewer women there are. This is often called the “broken rung”: the first promotion into management is disproportionately harder for women.

Only 2.3% of venture capital goes to all-female founding teams. At the same time, women-founded companies generate 2.5 times more revenue per dollar invested (BCG).

50% of women in IT leave the industry by age 35.

Heroines without whom IT would not look the same

• Ada Lovelace (1843) — wrote the world’s first computer program. The very first one. For a machine that had not even been built yet.
• The six ENIAC programmers (1945) — programmed the first electronic computer in the United States. Their names remained unknown for decades.
• Grace Hopper — invented the first compiler and popularized the term “bug” (after a moth found in a relay of the Mark II computer).
• Margaret Hamilton — led the development of the onboard software for Apollo 11. Her code helped get humans to the Moon.
• Reshma Saujani — founded Girls Who Code. Graduates of the program choose Computer Science 7 times more often than the national average.

What actually works

Statistics show clear entry points:

• Girls who take part in coding programs before age 13 are 3 times more likely to choose a STEM major (Girls Who Code, 2025).
• Girls who take AP Computer Science are 5 times more likely to study CS at university (Code.org).
• Countries with mandatory CS in the school curriculum show 15% more girls in IT (OECD).
• Remote work has increased the number of women applicants for IT roles by 28% (Hired, 2025).
• 44% of women in European IT companies came from non-STEM educational backgrounds and were trained on the job.

What to give on this day?

• A programming course — from Codecademy to freeCodeCamp. The best gift is a skill that can change a career.
• The book “Invisible Women” by Caroline Criado Perez — about how the world is designed without women in mind. After it, you look at product design differently.
• A mentoring session — if you work in IT, offer an hour of your time to a girl just getting started. One conversation can change a trajectory.
• An Arduino or Raspberry Pi kit — hardware projects for those who want not only to write code, but also to see results with their own hands.
• A “Women in Tech” sticker pack — for a laptop, as a reminder that you belong here.
• A donation to Girls Who Code, Black Girls CODE, or AnitaB.org — organizations that are genuinely moving the numbers.

Did you know?

In 1843, Ada Lovelace was the only programming expert in the world. The only one. And she was a woman. One hundred and eighty years later, the industry is still trying to reach the balance that existed at its very beginning. Girls in ICT Day is not about “letting” girls into technology. They were here from the start.