Fortune 500 tech companies see sharp decline in number of female CEOs, research finds

A 14 per cent decrease in number of female CEOs in Fortune 500 tech companies highlight “the inequalities that still exist”

The number of female CEOs running Fortune 500 tech companies has sharply declined over the last five years, according to research.

Seven per cent of CEOs of tech companies in 2016's Fortune 500 identified as female, research by cloud talent creation firm Revolent found. This fell to just 4.41 per cent in 2021 - a 14 per cent decrease during the five-year time frame.

The research also found that none of the female tech CEOs in either 2016's or 2021's Fortune 500 list were founders of their company.

With just 2.8 per cent of funding in 2019 going to women-led start-ups, a lack of investment in female entrepreneurs remains one of the biggest factors limiting the number of female chief executives in the industry.

"When raising finance from venture capital I pitched to over 30 funds. In all the pitches I met only two women, neither of whom were partners," said Zandra Moore, CEO and co-founder of business intelligence firm Panintelligence.

"People buy people—the lack of women in the investment community definitely creates an additional barrier to women in the tech sector raising finance, and I think also impacts the quality of relationships in the boardroom."

"This is probably the biggest issue when it comes to having female CEOs - if they aren't being invested in then there will not be enough of them in the mix," added Jade Phillips, founder of Mane Hook-Up.

Moore also believes that a "crisis in confidence", where female CEOs feel like imposters in a male-dominated industry, also leaves many women feeling discouraged.

"It took me three months to put CEO on the bottom of my email signature, as I felt like an imposter," she said

"I did not know any other female CEOs, let alone CEOs in the tech industry. I felt terrified I would be found out that I had no idea what I was doing. For many women, me included, fighting the negative self-talk and gender-based internal and societal programming is a daily challenge."

Despite the researching finding a sharp drop in female CEOs over the last five years, some of the largest players in the channel appointed female leaders last year.

Software licencing giant Crayon named Melissa Mullholland as its permanent CEO in August.

Meanwhile, Dell's former channel boss Joyce Mullen became Insight's new CEO a couple of months later following the retirement of long-standing chief executive Ken Lamneck.

Lastly, CDW, SHI and Microsoft partner Avanade all have female leaders, meaning that three of the five largest players globally are now run by women.