Drawing on her expertise in assessment design and talent development across sectors, working at Sten10, the UK’s leading independent business psychology consultancy, Katie brings deep insight into workplace assessment and skill-building. This article uses her and Sten10’s experience to support graduate women developing their skills in AI!
How to enhance your AI skills
Artificial intelligence (AI) is quickly and substantially reshaping industries and the job market. However, the benefits and impacts of AI are not evenly distributed, with men adopting AI much more than women in the workplace. AI, used well, is a powerful productivity tool and it’s important for women to stay up-to-date and upskill to level the playing field.
The Gender Gap in AI Usage
According to a recent study, men are more likely to use generative AI tools frequently and report higher efficiency gains compared to women (Tang et al., 2025). This difference is, of course, not inherently down to gender itself but it is significantly influenced by self-perceived knowledge of AI (Aldasoro et al., 2024).
In addition, women are disproportionately affected by AI automation, with a higher percentage working in occupations susceptible to task automation. This includes sectors like administration, healthcare, education, and social services, where AI could automate up to 25% of tasks (Kohler, 2024). The uneven adoption of AI could worsen existing economic inequalities, including the gender pay gap, if not addressed proactively.
Upskilling in AI
To get on top of these disparities and ensure that women get to play on a level field in an AI-driven economy, upskilling is essential. Here are practical steps women can take to succeed alongside AI :
Education and Training:
- Enrol in free AI Courses: Platforms like Coursera, edX, and Udacity offer comprehensive AI courses tailored for various skill levels. These courses provide foundational knowledge and hands-on experience with AI tools.
- Informal training available through social media content (think YouTube and TikTok!) can also be really useful.
Stay Informed:
- Follow AI News and Research: Stay updated with the latest AI developments by following reputable news sources, research journals, and industry blogs; look out for podcasts and newsletters on LinkedIn.
Practical Experience:
- Try different Generative AI tools: Chat GPT is only one piece in the puzzle! Experiment with tools like Perplexity, Mistral, and CoPilot.
- Experiment with your prompting: Giving the AI a persona, “You are a highly educated and articulate person”, explaining the purpose of the output you want and even thanking the AI can make it “behave” better!
The gender gap in AI usage presents both challenges and opportunities for women. Proactively upskilling and staying informed, means that you can secure your future in the AI-driven economy.
About the Author - Katie Thomas
Katie has expertise in assessment design, client solutions, and training design and delivery. Before Sten10, she worked in two prominent psychometric test publishers and developed a deep understanding of assessment methodologies and best practices for selection and development. Katie has worked closely with organisations to understand their unique needs and develop customised assessments in selection, development and leadership across a variety of sectors and countries.
Founded in 2012, Sten10 are the UK’s leading independent business psychology consultancy who are expert on all matters relating to assessing people at work. Independent of any one test or approach, we offer advice and support on identifying which human traits to assess and how best to assess them; whether this be for recruitment, development, promotion or restructuring. We then design and deliver assessment processes and associated training. We work at all levels of seniority within the organisation and our client list spans the public, private and third sectors.
References
- Tang, C., Li, S., Hu, S., Zeng, F., & Du, Q. (2025). Gender disparities in the impact of generative artificial intelligence: Evidence from academia. PNAS Nexus, 4(2), page591.
- Aldasoro, I., Armantier, O., Doerr, S., Gambacorta, L., & Oliviero, T. (2024). The gen AI gender gap. Economics Letters.
- Kohler, L. (2024). The Gendered Impacts of AI on Women’s Careers. Forbes.
