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Influence and Insight: The Impact of Data and Generative AI for Women in the Workforce

Doug Bonderud

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Social cues, unconscious bias and barriers to access continue to be challenges women in the workplace. Panelists at ADP's Women @ Work summit discussed the role of data and artificial intelligence (AI) in making advancements on that front.

According to data from the World Economic Forum, 41.9% of workers worldwide are women. As noted by the American Association of University Women, however, just 7.2 percent of CEOs are female, and despite ongoing efforts to find equity, women are still paid 16 percent less than their male counterparts on average.

In the ADP Women at Work 2024 panel, "Increasing Women's Workplace Influence with Data and Generative AI," moderator Kasara Weinrich, director of sales technology, AI solutions at ADP met with industry leaders Esosa Ighodaro, Margaret Regan and Aileen Smith to explore the growing impact of big data and generative AI for the future of women at work.

Current challenges for women in the workforce

While workforce gaps are steadily closing — according to ADP research, Gen Z women make 92 percent of what their male colleagues earn — challenges remain. For example, pay parity for women younger than 30 is only present in 22 of 250 U.S. metropolitan areas. Other issues include these:

Gendered language

"Companies need to consider the way they present job opportunities," says Regan, president and CEO of The FutureWork Institute. "One of my clients used very masculine, war-driven language." Using an AI-driven tool, the client altered the language and drew more female applicants.

Unconscious bias

While automated resume assessment tools can help improve HR efficiency, unconscious bias is a factor that must be taken into consideration. This bias can be tied to the data used — or omitted — by digital solutions. Ighodaro, co-founder of Black Women Talk Tech, highlights an example of bias in action.

"In the early days of generative AI, if you asked a large language model to give an example of a beautiful person, the result was often a white woman in her 20s," she says. More data from more data sets has broadened the scope of what the solution defines as "beautiful."

Access to resources

Female entrepreneurs and founders often have reduced access to critical resources. "Consider the tech startup world and the resources offered by tech accelerator programs," says Ighodaro. "One common thing that we hear in a lot of conversations is that companies with two or more co-founders are more likely to be accepted, but the average Black woman who builds a startup is a solo founder."

Ighodaro took this data to large accelerator programs, which in turn reevaluated their acceptance criteria.

Ways data can drive change for working women

Ighodaro's use of data helped shift accelerator operations for the better. Data can also drive change in other ways.

Pay equity

Perspective and intent both play a role in pay equity. While many companies intend to close wage gaps, the limitations of the available data or how it was gathered can affect the perspective on the issue.

Smith, principal technical program manager at Amazon Web Services, uses the example of potholes in New York City.

"Consider the number of potholes reported by residents who use roads every day versus those spotted in a quick flyover of the city," Smith says. "Perspective matters." The actual number of potholes remains the same, but the reported number differs based on which data set you use.

The same is true for pay equity. "There are tools out there that help with pay equity goals by displaying this information on a dashboard," Smith says. "This lets you see folks that are on different pay scales. It makes it possible to understand the gap and what you can do."

Employee evaluations

Regan speaks of her experience with a large global firm that rated employee performance on a five-point scale and used this data to inform staff layoffs. "On this scale, men rated an average of 4.5, women were at 4.0 and people of color (of either gender) were at 3.5. The data demonstrated a large amount of bias." As a result, layoffs were halted while the company addressed the issue.

The growing role of generative AI

Generative AI tools use a combination of natural language processing and large language models to return contextual answers in real time. Users ask questions or give instructions in plain language, and generative AI tools sift through massive data sets to provide relevant output. The steady evolution of these tools puts them on track to augment certain skill sets.

Smith notes that many people aren't sure how to get started with generative AI, citing a lack of experience and expertise. "I mentor and work with a lot of folks who say they're not sure where to begin or if their skills are valuable anymore. They see the train going by and feel like there's no stop."

For Smith, the solution is two-fold. First, ask for help, and second, don't be afraid of learning. Once you get started, part of the experience is figuring it out as you go. Weinrich puts it simply: "The AI train is coming, and it's time to hop on board."

Generative AI also underpins new tools that can help women maximize their workplace impact.

Hopping on the AI train can be as simple as using AI-powered tools for tasks like financial planning or using generative AI models as collaborative tools in creative projects.

Women can advocate for inclusive AI by urging leaders to bring together diverse development teams, by asking the right questions regarding inclusive and transparent algorithms during vendor selection, or mentoring colleagues on the information that they heard during this session.

The expanded influence of women in these endeavors can help to ensure that the "AI train" includes and benefits everyone, while propelling their influence in this rapidly evolving technology landscape.

From unconscious bias to pay inequity, challenges remain for women in the workforce. Equipped with data and backed by generative AI, however, women can increase their impact and expand their influence.

Gain more insights by watching the full session, and explore other Women@Work panels on adapting for Gen Z, prioritizing mental wellness and using inclusion as a superpower.