Women in tech key to advancing digital trust

In a world where so many of our interactions and transactions happen online, we may not always realize the large role that trust plays in how we navigate this digital landscape—and how the important work of tech professionals across diverse backgrounds can either strengthen or erode this confidence.

Digital trust is “the confidence in the integrity of the relationships, interactions and transactions among providers and consumers within an associated digital ecosystem.” It comprises quality, security and privacy, reliability, ethics and integrity, transparency and honesty, and confidence.

The strength of the work that it takes to create a digitally trustworthy ecosystem must come from a diverse range of digital trust professionals—not only those working across domains like cybersecurity, privacy, IT audit and governance and risk, but also across geographies, ages, and genders.

Tech professionals with a variety of skillsets, backgrounds and experience play a significant role in building and maintaining this valuable digital trust. For example, this could look like a hospital with strong cybersecurity practices preventing bad actor attacks, ensuring their operations continue running and delivering vital services to their patients. Or perhaps a company that implements privacy by design during product development protecting its customers’ data, preventing the harm that could occur with a data breach. The security and privacy professionals behind this important work help not only strengthen security and privacy posture at their organizations, but also instill customer confidence, improve their organizations’ reputation, and perhaps even make a positive impact to their organizations’ bottom lines.

The strength of the work that it takes to create a digitally trustworthy ecosystem must come from a diverse range of digital trust professionals—not only those working across domains like cybersecurity, privacy, IT audit and governance and risk, but also across geographies, ages, and genders. Enterprises must also be intentional about creating a culture that supports digital trust within their organizations. This includes defining this culture, as well as the ethics and behavior that guide their steps.

Ahead of International Women’s Day, it is important to remember that women in tech must not only be part of these discussions that shape an enterprise’s culture supporting digital trust, but also active in implementing the work itself. Advancing digital trust requires taking the needs, beliefs, values, and behaviors of diverse stakeholders into account, and to do this, women must be a significant part of the effort.

Women bring unique perspectives, improve financial performance, enhance collaboration, and better represent female consumers. They also serve as role models and mentors, addressing systemic challenges like gender discrimination and pay inequity. The inclusion of women in tech is crucial for fostering innovation and creating a more equitable and supportive work environment.

However, to ensure that women can contribute to advancing digital trust at their organizations, systemic challenges, including underrepresentation of women in tech careers, must be addressed. ISACA’s recent global Tech Workplace and Culture 2025 survey report found disparities between men and women working in tech. Thirty-seven percent of women reported experiencing gender discrimination at work, compared to 9 percent of men. Additionally, 42 percent of women say women are underrepresented in tech due to pay inequity, vs. 14 percent of men.

The survey also found that women are more likely to have a mentor, want a mentor and recognize the importance of mentors—but men are more likely to be mentors. Most believe that gender-inclusive programs have a positive impact, with 58 percent of men and 72 percent of women indicating they feel that way. These findings suggest that there are opportunities to build further support systems for women in tech—and encourage them to share their expertise with other women—that can help ensure they not only thrive in their careers, but can also contribute their expertise and unique perspectives to advance digital trust.

Ultimately, the important work of advancing digital trust is most successful when diverse voices, expertise and perspectives are at the table. Women in tech bring not only their strong technical skills but a set of nuanced experiences and views that can help more effectively shape digital trust culture and the efforts that strengthen it.