•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
For many years, the technology sector has been viewed as a technically oriented field associated with a male image. However, as technology becomes increasingly linked to data, human behavior, and strategic decision-making, women’s “soft skills” are increasingly seen as strengths in leadership roles.
Experts say the gender gap in technology is not limited to Vietnam and is shaped by structural barriers across education, workplaces, and promotion systems. They argue that removing these obstacles can enable women to take on greater leadership roles in technology organizations.
Vo Thi Trung Trinh, Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Center for Digital Transformation, said the gender gap in technology reflects systemic barriers across the digital ecosystem, not just individual choices.
Vietnam’s Vocational Education Development Strategy for 2021–2030 (Decision No. 2239) sets a target that by 2030 female students will account for more than 40% of total new enrollments in the vocational education system. Because vocational education covers many engineering, technology, and information technology fields, the goal is expected to support greater women’s participation in STEM.
Trinh noted that career choices are shaped by perceptions that STEM fields are more suitable for men, influenced by family, schooling, and workplace environments. Even when many female students achieve comparable or higher academic performance, these perceptions can lead women to narrow career options early.
Unpaid caregiving is also a major factor. Fields such as artificial intelligence (AI), data science, and cybersecurity require high workloads and continuous knowledge updating. Meanwhile, women often spend more time on family responsibilities, which can reduce opportunities to join large projects and expand professional networks.
At the organizational level, gender equality can remain limited to principle statements. Experts cited the lack of mentoring mechanisms, stable contracts, and policies supporting maternity and caregiving as disruptions to women’s career trajectories in technology.
Experts said barriers to women’s advancement often appear not at the start of careers, but during transitions into leadership roles.
Elle Liu, Country Manager of Canva Vietnam, highlighted three structural barriers commonly seen in tech companies:
Angela Kim, President of Women in AI Australia and AI4APAC and Head of Data Analytics and AI at AIA Australia, argued that even when gender balance is not addressed directly, pathways to senior leadership in data and AI often remain traditional. She said organizations may favor candidates with long, uninterrupted technical trajectories, making it harder for women to progress from mid-level to senior leadership when promotion systems are rigid—particularly when careers are interrupted by caregiving or switching fields.
Kim added that senior roles such as Chief Data Officer or Head of AI are frequently awarded to those with long continuous engineering tracks, a leadership selection model that has persisted for years.
Nho Dinh, COO of Metric Vietnam, said the biggest barrier is not technical capability but access to responsibility and decision-making. She noted that many women in data and tech have strong professional skills but are often assigned operational or supporting roles rather than owning outcomes such as product strategy, budgeting, or revenue responsibility.
Dinh also pointed to a “self-imposed readiness standard,” where women may wait until they feel fully capable before taking on leadership roles. In a fast-changing tech environment, she said leadership requires “learn while doing” adaptability, and the leadership gap can widen when women are rarely given project ownership or deliberate sponsorship.
As the tech landscape increasingly intersects with human behavior and big data, firms are beginning to treat gender diversity as a strategic advantage.
Trinh said that in building digital government and smart cities, women are not only beneficiaries of technology but also a force in designing and operating systems. In policy planning and data analysis, women often bring perspectives tied to real-world needs of people and businesses, including vulnerable groups and small economic sectors. Their approach tends to emphasize user experience and accessibility for diverse social groups.
In digital transformation projects, skills such as linking context, understanding user behavior, and translating data into policy decisions are increasingly important, which can help make digital systems more inclusive and user-friendly.
In data analytics, Trinh said women often connect numbers with social and cultural contexts. Metric’s seasonal studies, including Tet consumer reports, were cited as an example of analysts linking data to lived experience, cultural norms, and emotional drivers behind purchasing behavior.
From an executive perspective, the article said businesses do not invest in data merely to report results, but to drive decisions and improve business outcomes.
In digital product development, Elle Liu said strong product builders combine deep empathy with users and problem-solving instincts. She noted that women can simplify complex information, supporting collaboration among engineers, designers, data scientists, and marketers. In product design, many female leaders also embed inclusive thinking from the outset, considering accessibility, cultural differences, and diverse usage scenarios rather than addressing issues after a product is finished.
Trinh said Vietnam aims by 2030 to reach at least 40% female enrollment in vocational education (under the 2021–2030 Vocational Education Development Strategy). In parallel, Resolution No. 28 on the National Gender Equality Strategy (2021–2030) targets by 2030 about 30% of enterprises and cooperatives owned by women, along with an increased share of women in leadership and management roles across the public sector. With vocational education spanning technical, technological, and IT fields, these objectives are expected to lay groundwork for broader female participation in STEM.
To achieve these goals, experts called for systemic solutions across education, labor policy, and corporate governance. Angela Kim suggested senior leaders should actively support women’s transition from specialist roles to strategic leadership roles and participate in corporate transformation programs.
Kim also recommended broadening how organizations assess leadership potential, moving beyond career history and considering strategic capability and innovative thinking as essential for leadership selection in the data and AI era.
At Canva, Elle Liu said the company implements policies to support work-life balance. She noted that all parents, regardless of gender, receive 18 weeks of paid leave with a staged return-to-work plan. Equitable family-care policies were described as important because when both men and women use leave and flexible work arrangements, caregiving responsibilities do not have to be traded off against careers. The article said the most effective policies connect recruitment and progression so more women enter tech and are supported to grow long-term.
From a business perspective, Nho Dinh argued that women must be empowered to make real decisions rather than hold symbolic titles. She said leadership development should include commercial thinking, strategy, and accountability for growth—not only technical training. Dinh also emphasized that leadership styles can vary and that differences do not indicate lower effectiveness.
In education and policy, the article said STEM should be communicated more broadly as a field that creates economic and social value, not only programming or engineering. It also highlighted the importance of closer ties between schools and industry so female students can see a long-term career path in technology and data.
Premium gym chains are entering a “golden era” that is ending or already in decline, as rising operating costs collide with shifting consumer preferences toward more flexible, community-based ways to exercise. Long-term memberships are shrinking, margins are pressured by higher rents and facility expenses, and competition from smaller, more personalized…
