Ahead of International Women’s Day, a new report by Coursera highlights global progress in closing the gender gap in key skills domains

By Dr. Alexandra Urban, Coursera

As we prepare to celebrate International Women’s Day, I am excited to share new Coursera studyhighlighting the progress that has been made in the past year to reduce the gender gap in key skills areas, including Generative AI (GenAI) and critical human skills such as Critical Thinking.

GenAI will accelerate the global economy and transform work, IDC research suggests that it could increase global wealth by up to USD$22.3 trillion by 2030. If these potential economic benefits are to be properly distributed, institutions must ensure that all people are equipped with the necessary skills to use this emerging technology.

Ours One year later: The Gender Gap at GenAI report, comes one year after Coursera’s original The Gender Gap at GenAI analysis, designed to assess where we are effectively reducing gender gaps in key skills areas and why.

Key findings of the report include:

1. One year after Coursera’s original Gender Gap in GenAI analysis, the data shows clear and encouraging signs of progress.
   • Although women remain underrepresented in GenAI studies globally, the gender gap is clearly narrowing. The share of women in total GenAI enrollment increased from 32% in 2024 to 36% in 2025..
   • For business students, women represent 36% of GenAI enrollment at Coursera in 2024 and 42% in 2025.. This progress is especially encouraging given the rapid growth of GenAI participation across all demographics, indicating that women’s engagement with technology is accelerating beyond that of their male peers.
2. Although the global gap is narrowing, there are significant regional and local differences in the uptake of GenAI skills by gender.
   • Latin American countries recorded a doubling of its share of GenAI enrollment on Coursera to female students, year over year. Featured players include Peru (+14.5 percentage points year-on-year), in Mexico (+5.3 percentage points), and Colombia (+4.5 percentage points).
   • Asia Pacific countries they also narrowed the GenAI gender gaps on Coursera. Uzbekistan it is prominent all over the world, as it has made history an increase of 8.8 percent in their share of enrollment of female students.
     • IndiaCoursera’s largest marketplace for GenAI enrollments worldwide, set a record A score increase of 2.2 percentwhile Vietnam, Indonesia, Thailandagain in the Philippines they have also increased their share of female enrollment in GenAI courses year after year.
   • However, in many places English speakers again developed economiesmale enrollment is growing very rapidly.
     • Of United States (-0.9 percentage points), Canada (-1.0 percentage point), the United Kingdom (-1.8 percentage points), Spain (-1.1 percentage points), and In Germany (-0.2% points), women represent a smaller share of the total enrollment of GenAI in 2025 than in 2024.
3. Once the enrollment barrier is cleared, female students tend to show higher levels of persistence in studying GenAI.
   • In a few sensible countries, women are more likely to complete GenAI courses than men once enrolledshowing strong persistence and commitment to these new pressing skills.
   • In the top five countries for GenAI registrations, women are 1.5 times more likely to complete GenAI courses than their male counterparts, who have registered.
   • These patterns suggest that The main obstacle for women in GenAI is often access, not energy or motivationespecially in Latin America, Asia Pacific, and the Middle East. Once engaged, women tend to persist at equal or higher rates than men, reinforcing the importance of removing initial barriers to participation.

Coursera platform data shows that courses that position GenAI as a useful tool for rapid productivity and problem solving receive higher shares of enrollment from female students. Top examples include:

The report also provides recommendations to institutions seeking to accelerate progress toward equitable access to skills. This includes:

• Design GenAI courses for beginners with disabilities real world application.
• Confirm visual representation again inclusive pedagogy in all forms of education.
• Extend reach by using the policy, relationshipagain localization.
• Strengthen participation by using social validation again various models.
• Pair GenAI skills with it strong human power such as Critical thinking.

We hope this report provides the data and strategies needed to achieve greater integration and retention. Across educators, businesses, and governments, we all have a role to play in creating an equitable learning experience. By designing with our audience in mind, we can ensure that women of all backgrounds, experiences, and locations, can develop skills, persevere, and thrive in the GenAI economy.

You can access the One year later: The Gender Gap at GenAI report here.