Title: Women participation in tech workforce: unveiling of challenges through systematic review and bibliometric inquiry

Authors: JiaYing Li

Addresses: City Graduate School, City University, Malaysia; School of Management, Guangdong University of Science and Technology, Dongguan, Guangdong, China

Abstract: Business excellence cannot be reached without the widespread participation of women in the tech workforce. Since women's representation in the tech workforce has been on a low trajectory, the current systematic review with bibliometric inquiry aims to find the challenges for women in the technology workforce. Using the PRISMA flowchart, a total of 132 academic research papers from the mainstream research archives were inspected to classify the appropriate 12 publications. For each of the 12 publications, bibliometric data were compiled. The word co-occurrence network maps were created using VOSviewer, and significant terms were selected afterward. By critically reviewing the appropriate papers, associated issues were revealed. Using the cross-mapping technique, broad groups of challenges as themes, such as healthcare facility, gender inequity, and technological leadership were recognised. According to the findings of the study, challenges for women in the technology workforce include healthcare facility, gender inequity, and technological leadership.

Keywords: women in technology; qualitative; systematic review; bibliometric; PRISMA; VOSviewer.

DOI: 10.1504/IJBEX.2026.153531

International Journal of Business Excellence, 2026 Vol.38 No.4, pp.441 - 456

Received: 16 Jun 2022
Accepted: 24 Jun 2022
Published online: 13 May 2026 *

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