Women in tech: Bosnia and Herzegovina pushes to close gender gap

Although data show that women still make up only about a quarter of the global technology workforce, in Bosnia and Herzegovina’s IT and AI industry, there are increasingly prominent examples that are changing that picture — from engineers and researchers to leaders who are already shaping the development of new technologies.

Experts from the IT sector, speaking to FENA, say that the key to greater inclusion of women lies not only in education and training, but also in breaking stereotypes, increasing the visibility of role models, and creating an inclusive environment that shows technology is not a “male world,” but a space of equal opportunities, CE Report quotes FENA.

Today, International Girls in ICT Day is being marked worldwide. The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) has identified artificial intelligence in the development context as this year’s key theme, emphasizing the importance of women’s active participation in shaping these systems.

A report by the International Telecommunication Union highlights a pronounced gender gap in technology-related professions worldwide.

Globally, women make up around 26.7 percent of the technology workforce. In the United States, women hold approximately 28 percent of roles in computing. In the United Kingdom, their share is about 33 percent of the workforce, up from 30 percent recorded in 2020. In the European Union, women account for around 22 percent of employees in the tech sector, while across Europe the share is even lower at 19.1 percent, representing about 1.7 million women.

Such figures, confirming that the gender gap in technology still exists, further underline the need for greater inclusion of women in this sector, including in the domestic market.

Sanela Dujković, Head of Communications Development at Bloomteq, stresses that from an industry perspective, greater participation of women in the information and communication technology (ICT) sector in Bosnia and Herzegovina is not only desirable, but necessary.

“IT and AI are already among the fastest-growing sectors of the economy in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and greater engagement of women directly means a larger talent pool, more innovation, and higher-quality products. Progress is visible — more girls are enrolling in technical faculties, more women are taking on leadership roles in companies, and more initiatives are encouraging them to enter this sector. However, there is always room for improvement,” she said.

She emphasizes that the biggest barriers to greater representation of women in the IT sector are still deeply rooted stereotypes — primarily the perception that IT is a “male profession.” Additional challenges include the lack of female role models in the public sphere, as well as insufficient visibility of women who are already achieving notable results in the industry.

“On the other hand, from a personal perspective, as someone coming from PR and journalism, I clearly see how women contribute to the IT sector through technical skills, teamwork, communication, strategic thinking, and an ethical approach to technology development. Today, there is increasing discussion about the role of women as AI ethicists, which is extremely important at a time when technology is shaping society. Honestly, I see no reason why in a few decades IT could not become a sector dominated by women,” Dujković added, noting that women have proven themselves in all professions requiring discipline, intellect, and resourcefulness — and IT is no exception.

When asked how companies can, through communication, education, and reputation campaigns, influence the perception of the IT and AI sector as a “male industry” and encourage more young women to enter the field, she said that changing perceptions begins with visibility.

“Companies have enormous responsibility and opportunity to show the real picture of the industry through their communication. That means more women in campaigns, more female engineers in visuals, more female voices in panels, conferences, and the media. Journalists and editors also play an important role, as they can consciously choose more female interlocutors from the IT industry. In Bosnia and Herzegovina, we have excellent engineers, professors, and experts who have much to say — they just need to be given space. It is equally important for girls and young women to be able to hear and see them,” Dujković emphasized.

She also pointed out that the IT sector is far more inclusive than it is often perceived to be, especially for women seeking a dynamic environment, continuous learning, and measurable results.

She further stressed the importance of role models during childhood, noting that when girls see women who are successful as programmers, engineers, AI specialists, or leaders, the question is no longer “do I belong here,” but rather “which path will I choose.”

Another example of a successful woman in the IT industry is Ema Hujić, a technical lead and embedded engineer at Bloomteq, who works on building systems that enable AI to be used in practice. This includes collecting data from industrial devices, processing and organizing it, and sending it to the cloud, where it is later used for analytics and the development of AI solutions.