Sheryl Sandberg warns AI gender gap could deepen workplace inequality as men get more recognition

Sheryl Sanberg: The AI gender gap is about recognition

Why it matters: Right now, AI ability is the skill many employers say they value most. * Down the line, this recognition gap could exacerbate existing gender pay and promotion inequalities, LeanIn founder Sheryl Sandberg tells Axios. Zoom in: 78% of men said they have used AI for work, compared with 73% of women, per a survey the group conducted in early March among 1,000 U.S. adults age 18 and over. * Among those using AI, 18% of women said they've been praised for doing so, compared with 27% of men. * And 30% of women said they'd been encouraged to use AI by their manager, compared with 37% of men. Between the lines: This is just one small survey, but it does follow similar research from 2025 that found that women software engineers who use AI are viewed as less competent than men. * It also fits a broader body of research on women receiving less mentorship and positive feedback at work. Zoom out: It's the same biases seen in the workplace for years, playing out in a new arena, Sandberg says, pointing to other research that finds men are more likely to be praised for effort. Women are more apt to be criticized. * That edge men have in getting recognition for experimenting with new AI tools can enhance their reputation, performance evaluations, and opportunities for advancement, the report says. * "These small gaps will become really big over time if we don't call attention to them right now," Sandberg tells Axios. The bottom line: Sandberg's advice is familiar: Lean in. This time, on AI.

Sheryl Sandberg tapped a 25-year-old to run Lean In. Here's her plan to close the AI gender gap | Fortune

Women are falling behind on AI adoption, and former Meta COO Sheryl Sandberg knows it. That's why she's refocusing her women's leadership nonprofit, Lean In, on closing the AI gender gap -- and installing a 25-year-old to lead the charge. A new survey of 1,000 U.S. adults from Lean In found that 33% of men use AI daily, compared to 27% of women. While the gap is closing, even small differences could have outsized impacts over time, Sandberg told Fortune. "We all know that AI is already starting to, and has the power to transform how we work, who's in the workforce, how we live, how we communicate," Sandberg said. On March 24, Sandberg announced Bridget Griswold, a 25-year-old former Meta product manager, as the new CEO of Lean In. Despite public criticism of Griswold's age and limited nonprofit experience, Sandberg said the nonprofit was looking for an "AI native" with a product background -- and Griswold fit the bill. The appointment comes amid turbulence: the Sandberg Goldberg Bernthal Family Foundation, which includes Lean In, shed a quarter of its staff over the last year through layoffs and voluntary departures, The Wall Street Journal recently reported. Lean In's pivot to AI comes as only half of companies are prioritizing women's career advancement, and more than 30% are placing little to no priority on advancing women of color, according to the organization's 2025 Women in the Workplace report. Women's jobs are three times more likely to be automated by AI -- and their vulnerability is compounded by underrepresentation in AI leadership and development. Women are more likely than men to feel threatened, overwhelmed, and like they're "cheating" when using AI, the study found. They're also more likely to avoid AI due to ethics and accuracy concerns. "These are great concerns to have, and it's awesome that women care about ethics and not cheating. But what's really concerning is that this might inadvertently cause women to use AI less than men," Griswold told Fortune. The survey found that men are 27% more likely to have been praised for using AI, and women are 23% less likely to receive manager support to use it. "The managers who are encouraging the men to use AI and not the women -- they may not even know they're doing it," Sandberg said, adding that biases against women are often unintentional. "When you surface those biases, when you tell people, you tell managers, look, that the overall data says you're encouraging men more than women -- that is the first step to correcting that bias." Griswold joined Lean In as head of product and AI in January, and by March she had replaced longtime CEO and co-founder Rachel Thomas. She said to accomplish Lean In's goal of getting more women into leadership, they need to use AI. "We hope that Lean In can be a place that encourages [young women] to use AI and actually [produces] real results," she said, adding that she hopes it can be a place where women build their confidence and accelerate their careers. "We need to make sure that we are focused on helping women of the next generation lead, and product and AI are going to be so critical to that, which is one of the many reasons we're very lucky that Bridget has stepped into the leadership role," Sandberg said.