New report highlights national actions to support women in digital across the EU
A new report published under the Connecting Women in Digital (WIDCON) project, titled “Overview of national actions”, sheds light on how EU Member States are promoting gender equality in the digital sector. Now available via Zenodo, the report presents an overview of national initiatives, funding mechanisms, and programmatic gaps related to the Women in Digital (WiD) agenda.
A data-driven picture of WiD initiatives
The study uses a multi-source methodology to assess both the visibility and distribution of actions that directly target women and girls through digital training, events, or mentorship. It also evaluates how much EU funding—particularly through the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) and Cohesion Funds—is being allocated toward gender equality in the context of digital transformation.
To assess overall national performance, each Member State is ranked based on four normalized indicators: the presence of operational WiD initiatives; the proportion of RRF funding allocated to gender equality; the share of Cohesion Fund projects focused on WiD; and the overall visibility and level of national activity in this space.
Key findings: gaps in leadership and inclusion
While countries like Austria, Germany, and Sweden demonstrate strong engagement and funding, nearly 40% of Member States show little to no national-level activity. The report also highlights a major gap in support for women’s advancement into leadership roles. Leadership-focused initiatives are the least common, indicating a weak pipeline for women into decision-making and executive positions in the digital sector.
Additionally, most European initiatives lack an intersectional approach, often overlooking how gender inequality intersects with other barriers such as ethnicity, migration status, disability, or socio-economic background. This contrasts with many non-European programs that more frequently embed these dimensions into their design. It also limits their reach and effectiveness, particularly for women from underrepresented communities.
Call for contributions by 29 August
To ensure the report reflects a complete picture, WIDCON is inviting Member States and stakeholders to submit further data via two forms, open until 29 August 2025:
- Through this form any additional national or regional initiatives can be submitted. The report will be updated accordingly
- through this form information about the current national landscape of a country regarding Women in Digital can be shared
These contributions will help shape the upcoming Women in Digital Report, to be presented at the WiD Summit in November 2025.
