A new study from the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) has found that Ireland has Europe's largest gender gap in advanced digital skills use at work.
According to the research, 44% of men in Ireland use advanced digital skills in their jobs, compared with just 18% of women.
This represents a 26-percentage-point gap, almost double the European average.
The report, which is being launched to coincide with the International Day of Women and Girls in Science, is part of the ESRI–Block W Joint Research Programme.
The digital skills used by workers range from basic tasks like internet use, to more advanced operations such as programming and using AI tools.
The research found that while gender gaps in advanced digital work are evident across Europe, Ireland stands out as having the largest gap.
Ireland’s large gap arises because men in Ireland are much more likely than men in other European countries to use advanced digital skills at work.
The report shows that women are under-represented in the most digitally intensive jobs.
Researchers also found that women are less likely than men to use advanced digital skills, even when comparing workers with similar levels and fields of education, occupations, and sectors.
"In Ireland, women and men tend to work in different jobs and sectors, particularly in tech-intensive roles, which explains some of the difference in digital skill use," according to the ESRI.
"However, a substantial share of the gender gap remains unexplained after accounting for education, occupation, and sector," the report found.
The study concludes that further research is needed to better understand the role of workplace organisation, including how digital tasks, responsibilities, and progression opportunities are allocated within firms.
"These gender gaps persist even among women and men with similar education levels, fields of study and occupations," said Dr Adele Whelan, Senior Research Officer at the ESRI.
"This indicates that encouraging women into STEM education and occupations, while essential, will not on its own close the divide."
"Women are under-represented in the most digitally intensive roles, pointing to a potential 'digital glass ceiling’ within workplaces," Dr Whelan said.
Professor Joyce O'Connor, Co-Founder and Chair of Block W, said competitiveness, innovation and resilience depend not only on investment and infrastructure, but on what happens inside workplaces.
"In an economy facing skills shortages, failing to fully utilise women's advanced digital capability is an avoidable constraint on growth," Professor O'Connor said.
