AI Promised to Level the Playing Field. Women May Pay the Highest Price

Description

For many women, the risk calculation is different. Years of tighter scrutiny have taught them that breaking the rules carries a steeper price. A 2025 study of nearly 29,000 software engineers at a major tech company found that workers who were believed to have used AI coding tools were judged as less competent, even when the work was identical. For women, the penalty was about twice as steep. 

Women get stuck in a nasty catch-22: use the tools and risk looking less capable or resist them and risk falling behind.