When I attended a recent press conference, I noticed that there were significantly more men in attendance than women. And according to a new report, that’s true at the senior level too.

The study, from talent acquisition firm Tenth Revolution Group, was emailed to Lifewire and shows that between 2021 and 2024, the average share of women and nonbinary people in C-suite leadership roles (specifically CIOs and CTOs) at NASDAQ-100 technology companies was just 15 percent. This is based on four years of figures, with a slight increase in 2022, when women held 17 percent of these C-suite positions. In the remaining years (2021, 2023 and 2024), women held just 14 percent of these positions.

Furthermore, research from the Tenth Revolution Group found that women in these leadership positions “have significantly shorter tenures, on average just 1.5 years compared to 4.3 years for men.” According to the Tenth Revolution Group, this highlights the obstacles women face in entering and maintaining these leadership positions.

The Tenth Revolution Group did not elaborate on what these barriers might be, but one contributing factor is the overall lower representation of women in the tech industry. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, only 35 percent of tech jobs were held by women in 2023. This highlights the need to create sustainable pathways for women and other people who do not identify as men to careers in technology in general and leadership roles in particular.

In addition, research from the Tenth Revolution Group suggests that women in the technology industry are more likely to experience burnout than men, which could also contribute to this inequality.

“We know we need to bring more women into the technology industry, but we also need to create the conditions to support women in remain in technology and will become our next generation of leaders,” said Zoë Morris, President of Tenth Revolution Group. “Now more than ever, we need to ensure that advancement opportunities are clear and that both hiring and promotion decisions are made fairly.”

“Women’s shorter average tenure is also a problem,” Morris continued. “It suggests that the few women who hold these positions are new to the role, but it could also be an indication that women are burning out and leaving their positions. High burnout rates and women’s shorter average tenure are interrelated problems, and we need to work toward better long-term sustainability and a culture of true equality.”