We examine women’s current position in the ad tech sector, focusing on the rolling back of DEI initiatives, the importance of flexible working arrangements, and powerful personal actions. 

The tech industry is not known for being diverse. Who first comes to mind when called to think of key figures in the sector? White men, almost certainly: maybe Mark Zuckerberg, Elon Musk (unfortunately), Jeff Bezos, Bill Gates, Steve Jobs… 

Women in the tech industry are often not taken as seriously as men, even when it comes to tech aimed at tackling female problems. Last year, the Guardian reported that healthcare tech designed to target a range of women’s issues is less likely to get funding if there is a woman on the founding team – pretty dreadful. Globally, women make up only 28% of the tech workforce. 

Zooming in on ad tech 

Ad tech specifically is much more diverse – the IPA’s 2024 Agency Census revealed that men accounted for 43.6% of the total employed base across IPA member agencies, while women accounted for 55.6%. Yet, this has not achieved an equal industry. 

Despite women actually outnumbering men in these figures, only 39% held C-suite roles. In line with this, financial remuneration was unequal too: last year, the pay gap increased in favour of men, from 15.2% in 2023 to 19.7% in 2024. The ethnicity pay gap jumped even more drastically, from 21.6% in 2023 to 31% in 2024, putting women of colour at the greatest disadvantage. 

Figures revealed last week from the 2025 All In Census (carried out in March), also indicate that women dominate the sector by number: 60% of respondents from this year’s survey across 14,000 members of the UK ad industry are women. But, they only represent 46% of C-suite roles. The good news is that these figures are moving in the right direction. Women made up 43% of C-suite roles in the survey’s 2023 findings, and only 39% in 2021.  

Although the overall workforce is becoming more diverse as time goes on, there is considerable room for improvement. Senior leadership roles still fail to reflect the diversity of our workforce, and we are yet to close the gender pay gap. Jacqueline Boakye, vice president of customer success EMEA at ad tech company PubMatic, recalls that as a senior leader in a male-dominated industry, she would often be the only Black person in the room. 

Is DEI dying? 

On a more global scale: with Donald Trump’s return to The White House in January, a slew of companies adjusted their policies to be more aligned with the Republican government. Following his inauguration, Trump signed various executive orders, reversing years of work which aimed to increase diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI). 

The term refers to programmes, policies, or practices, or which aim to create and sustain an environment in which employees – across all races, ethnicities, genders, sexual orientations, ages, and socio-economic statuses – feel respected and are given the same opportunities. They also acknowledge that people can have vastly different starting points as a result of systemic inequalities, for which adjustments can be made. 

Amazon wound down its DEI programmes in January. Google scrapped its diversity hiring goals to employ more staff from historically underrepresented groups. Meta disbanded its DEI team, and ended all major DEI programmes across the company. Disney also changed its DEI programmes, serving up the excuse that it was so they could “focus more closely on business outcomes”. Paramount joined the list, among many others, terminating hiring goals related to race, ethnicity, sex or gender. 

More recently, UK-based advertising giant WPP removed all mentions of diversity from its latest annual report. CEO Mark Read excused the decision by saying “much has changed over the last year”. The message from these rollbacks is loud and clear: diversity is not a priority. 

Why flexible working arrangements matter    

Also under the umbrella of problems caused by company policy is the lack of flexible working arrangements at many workplaces. These can put women at a significant disadvantage.  

Taking WPP as an example: in January, the company mandated that its staff go back to working in the office four days a week, starting in April. Read said the goal of the new policy was to protect the company’s culture. Big tech companies including Amazon, Google, and Meta also recently introduced similar mandates requiring staff to return to the office. 

Being forced back into the office and having to spend more time commuting can certainly be an annoyance as well as a significant financial burden for all staff – but the negative repercussions of such mandates disproportionately affect women with children, who generally shoulder much greater childcare responsibilities than men. Women are more likely to provide childcare during any given day and spend more time providing care compared to men, states an analysis published by the UK government. This gap becomes more noticeable on weekdays. Importantly, the analysis also finds that mothers’ employment patterns (whether they work full or part-time) does not significantly impact the amount of care they provide.  

So, it’s unsurprising that about a quarter of a million mothers with young children have left jobs due to experiencing difficulties balancing work and childcare. Similarly, two-fifths of working mothers have confessed to having turned down a promotion or career development opportunity owing to concerns that it would not fit in with their childcare arrangements. 

Looking specifically at the ad industry, figures published by the 2023 All In Census show 55% of female respondents believed that parental leave had negatively impacted their career progression. Only the same could be said for 6% of men. Mirroring this idea, 29% of female respondents agreed that gender can hinder one’s career, while only 12% of men thought this was the case. (Findings regarding these issues have not yet been revealed for this year’s All In Census.) 

Although a record number of women are choosing not to have children, the majority of women still do: only 18% of women who turned 45 in 2021 did not have children. Considering the childcare women are expected to do even while many are employed full-time, it’s clear how such mandates are disproportionately detrimental to working mothers. Allowing for flexible arrangements in the workplace is vital to creating an environment in which women are not held back from career progression as a result of their sex and their choice to have children. 

This same issue applies to women who provide care for any other individuals. Around 60% of those providing unpaid care in England and Wales are women. 

Powerful personal actions  

Currently, the global outlook doesn’t look terribly positive. DEI initiatives have been rolling back rapidly, and it appears many companies never valued diversity in the first place. First, we can always act on a personal scale. 

A great deal can be achieved through our interpersonal relationships with other industry members, and the role we each play at our own workplace. Sarah Tims, AVP marketing at LoopMe, highlights that we “need to advocate for inclusivity, and actively support and profile female talent across all roles from entry level to senior leadership.” Women need to be backed and championed in the workplace, not only while they are present, but when they are not. Men’s role in doing this is particularly important. 

Additionally, Boakye states the importance of women passing down knowledge to each other: “As society grapples with differing opinions on the pace of change towards greater diversity, my focus is going to be on passing on what I’ve learned – lessons learned that encourage change – to the next generation of female talent, who will prove through their resilience and brilliance that diversity is a strength.” In line with this idea, mentorship can be an abundant opportunity for women in ad tech to support and learn from each other. 

The best time to start being more inclusive was long ago, but the next best time is now  

An inclusive workplace is better for all. As certain obstacles appear to grow more menacing, now is the time to push back. Both on a personal level, and on a wider industry scale. For businesses that want to show a genuine concern for inclusivity: what better time to show support than while so many are suppressing it? Building on this, people want to see genuine actions lead to real impact, not performative measures.