15 New Programs Selected to train Women for Senior Leadership positions, in Deep-Tech Careers, and Workforce Re-entry and Career Advancement
The Israel Innovation Authority and the Ministry of Labor today announced the selection of 15 new programs aimed at advancing women in Israel’s high-tech industry, with a total investment of NIS 25 million, including matching funding from private-sector partners. The initiative will focus on training women for senior leadership positions, integrating women into deep-tech industries, supporting their return to employment, advancing careers following maternity leave, and addressing persistent gender gaps across the sector.
The initiative addresses persistent gender disparities across Israel’s high-tech sector, focusing on five key challenges: advancing women into CEO and Chief Technology Officer (CTO) positions, integrating women into deep-tech industries, supporting experienced women returning to high-tech employment, promoting career advancement following maternity leave, and implementing organizational measures to improve gender equality.
The initiative comes amid significant gaps in representation, career advancement and compensation between women and men in Israel’s high-tech industry. Women in the sector earn an average of approximately NIS 23,000 per month, compared with approximately NIS 33,000 for men, representing a monthly difference of approximately NIS 10,200, with men’s salaries approximately 44% higher. These disparities extend across research and development, headquarters and management positions.
These findings demonstrate that the challenge extends beyond increasing the number of women entering the high-tech sector. It requires addressing barriers throughout the entire career journey. Women with advanced degrees who struggle to enter the industry, women who have left the sector and face difficulties re-entering it, mothers navigating career advancement challenges following maternity leave, and experienced women who do not reach senior leadership positions all represent significant professional and economic potential that remains underutilized.
The selected programs will provide professional training, mentorship, leadership development, practical experience and organizational tools to help employers advance and retain female talent.
Rubi Shemesh, Director General of the Ministry of Labor, said: “Increased life expectancy and changes in the labor market require us to prepare for a diverse, inclusive employment market that accommodates all age groups. Employment rates among both women and men begin to decline as early as age 50, while ageist perceptions, including internalized ageism, pose a significant barrier to continued participation in quality employment. The Ministry of Labor is working to expand employment opportunities at older ages and maximize the potential of employees throughout their careers. The new programs are part of this approach, seeking to enable women to leverage their experience, skills, and professional capabilities, reenter the labor market, and advance to meaningful positions in knowledge-intensive industries.”
Hanan Brand, VP and Head of the Startup Division at the Israel Innovation Authority, said: “The ability of Israeli high-tech to continue growing and leading globally depends on fully realizing our human capital potential. Today, women still face significant barriers throughout their careers, from entering technological roles and overcoming salary gaps to advancing professionally and reaching management and leadership positions. Israel cannot afford to forgo half of its innovation potential.
“Our challenge is not only to increase the number of women in high-tech, but to ensure that more women can build meaningful careers in the sector, advance professionally, and lead companies and breakthrough technologies. The 15 new programs we selected together with the Ministry of Labor are designed to address barriers at different stages of life through close collaboration with the industry. This is not only a matter of equal opportunity, but also a critical economic and technological interest for Israel.”
Against this backdrop, the initiative aims to accelerate the development of innovative solutions for exploration, extraction, processing, refining, recycling, and substitution, while enabling entrepreneurs and researchers to explore new technological directions with reduced risk and laying the foundation for the growth of a new, globally significant field.
Five Areas of Focus
Training Women for Senior Management Positions: Establishing leadership academies to prepare women for CEO, CTO and other senior executive roles through advanced management training, mentoring and practical experience.
Integrating Women into Deep-Tech Industries: Supporting women with advanced academic qualifications in science, technology, engineering and mathematics who have not previously worked in high-tech, helping them transition into technological roles in knowledge-intensive industries.
Advancing Women After Maternity Leave: Providing training, mentoring and leadership development to support mothers returning to work and help them pursue management and career advancement opportunities.
Promoting Gender Equality Within Organizations: Developing data-driven tools and organizational processes to identify gender gaps, measure progress, and improve the advancement and retention of women in technological positions.
The 15 Selected Programs
Programs for Training Senior Female Executives
- GALILADIES Leaders Academy: Leadership and management training for women from the Galilee, with an emphasis on the Tnufa region, aimed at strengthening women’s representation in leadership and supporting regional innovation.
- Product League: A management development program combining personal advisory boards, peer learning, international professional networks and mentoring by senior industry executives.
- Women in Mobility (WIM): A six-month academy preparing women for CEO positions, with a focus on deep-tech and artificial intelligence.
- Supersons: An executive development program for experienced women, particularly those aged 45 and older, using an elite coaching model inspired by Olympic athlete training.
- Qima Albi: An executive leadership academy for women from Arab society and Israel’s peripheral regions with at least ten years of professional experience, preparing participants for CEO, CTO and innovation leadership positions.
- Tech7: A training program for future CEOs and senior executives of deep-tech companies, combining management training with hands-on experience in technology commercialization, business development and research-based ventures.
Programs for Integrating Women into Deep-Tech
- i4Galil: The NorthStar Women in Deep Tech program will help women with advanced degrees enter technological positions while expanding employment opportunities in the Western Galilee.
- Achinoam Association for the Promotion of Gender Equality: A program combining advanced professional training, employment skills development, personal guidance and industry placement for women with academic qualifications in deep-tech and artificial intelligence.
- Atida: The Atida Career Accelerator program will support Ultra-Orthodox women’s entry into high-tech through tailored training, technological experience, mentoring and connections with employers.
Programs for Returning to High-Tech Employment
- Hod Cloud Solutions: The SmartShift 45+ program will help women aged 45 and older with relevant technological or academic backgrounds return to the industry, particularly in cloud computing and artificial intelligence.
Programs for Advancing Women After Maternity Leave
- Women Entrepreneurs in High-Tech: A program supporting women from diverse communities and sectors in advancing into management positions following maternity leave through professional training and skills development.
- ITWorks Empowering People: The LeadForward program combines leadership development, AI skills, mentoring and practical organizational projects to accelerate women’s advancement into management positions after maternity leave.
- Young Entrepreneurs Association: The Fourth Trimester at Work program will support women’s advancement into management and influential roles within high-tech organizations following maternity leave.
Programs for Promoting Gender Equality Within Organizations
- Social Finance Israel: Developing a national data-driven model to map, monitor and evaluate initiatives promoting women’s advancement and retention in technological professions, aligned with government objectives and the recommendations of the Perlmutter Committee.
- Kidum Human Resources Israel: Developing an organizational platform incorporating surveys, professional communities and diagnostic tools, alongside targeted interventions in 15 organizations through tailored programs, workshops, management guidance and AI tools.