Unfinished business: The ongoing tech gender gap in Latin America

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Latin America has enjoyed a boom in digital technologies, but women have been left behind. Closing the technology gender gap could benefit organizations across sectors.

Technology has been booming in Latin America. Between 2023 and 2024, e-commerce in the region grew 25 percent, and 19 percent growth is projected in the next three years.1 Although this explosive period attracted a wave of new female talent to technology roles, the gender gap looms wide, and progress has even begun to backslide: In 2022, the gender gap in leadership began to grow for the first time since 2016.2

About the authors

This article is a collaborative effort by Carlos Zuzunaga and Paula Castilho, with Gabriela Rocha, Mariana Costa, and Stephanie Hoyle, representing views from McKinsey’s People & Organizational Performance Practice and Laboratoria.

Companies want to change this reality, but the actions taken so far have not proved sufficient. Despite a movement to increase women’s participation in Latin America’s tech sector, there is a lack of awareness—and data—about where the real problem areas are and which policies would be most effective to address them.

About the analysis

For this study, McKinsey and Laboratoria surveyed a sample of 511 men and 285 women from technology and media communication companies in Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, Panama, and Peru. We also surveyed 126 companies in Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, and Peru. In addition, we conducted interviews with 23 technology and talent leaders from Latin American companies across various sectors, including financial services, consumer goods, and healthcare.

In this article, we use the following definitions for business size: small businesses (500 to 999 employees), medium businesses (1,000 to 4,999 employees), and large businesses (5,000 or more employees). We use the following definitions for job levels: initial positions (interns, assistants, and analysts), intermediate positions (middle management or leaders of a specific area), and senior positions (C-level, organizational leaders, managers, or directors).

McKinsey partnered with Laboratoria to gather fresh, robust data from Latin American companies to build awareness of the situation and challenges in the region (see sidebar “About the analysis”). The data shows that the struggle for equality for women in tech is far from being won. Through insights from our surveys and interviews, we aim to highlight the most effective practices to inspire and motivate companies in Latin America to make real change in the technology landscape.

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