Ask ten people why there are so few women in tech, and you’ll get ten confident answers.
“Lack of interest.”
“Confidence issues.”
“Pipeline problem.”
“Biology.”

Now look at the data, and watch most of those explanations quietly fall apart.

In this talk, we step away from assumptions and into a data-driven exploration of women’s representation in technology around the world. Because if women can thrive in tech in some countries, at some times, and in some systems, then the problem clearly isn’t women.

Using global statistics, historical trends, and sociological research, we’ll examine why the numbers vary so dramatically. Why does Eastern Europe consistently show higher participation of women in STEM than Western Europe? Why do some developing countries produce more female computer science graduates than Silicon Valley? And how societal expectations start shaping “career choices” long before anyone touches a keyboard.

We’ll also look at what actually moves the needle. Not well-meaning slogans or surface-level initiatives, but policies and structural changes that have proven, measurably, to work.

This isn’t a talk about blame. It’s a talk about systems.
A debugging session for an industry that keeps patching the symptoms instead of fixing the root cause.

If you’re a tech leader, educator, or anyone who wants to build a more inclusive future without relying on myths, this talk offers a clear, evidence-based way forward.