Gender and Digital Trajectories in Spain: Evidence from WiD-2025

Abstract

The lower participation of women in the digital domain represents a significant loss of human capital, limiting both economic growth and progress toward an inclusive technological ecosystem in the European Union (EU). The EU has set a target for 2030 of reaching 20 million Information and Communication Technology (ICT) specialists and improving women’s participation in these strategic sectors. In this context, the Connecting Women in Digital (WIDCON) project emerges, proposing a composite index and a dashboard of indicators to assess gender inequality in the digital sector from a structural perspective, identifying barriers along the educational and professional pathway. From a comparative perspective within the EU, this study examines female participation in education, specialised training, digital employment, and leadership, as well as the structural conditions that facilitate or hinder the progress of Spanish women in the digital economy and society. The results show that Spain slightly outperforms the European average in the overall index. However, it is necessary to further investigate the imbalance observed between Spain’s relatively strong position in the digital labour market and the limited achievements of women in ICT education and training.