Despite growing awareness of gender equality,
Women remain underrepresented in leadership roles across the travel technology sector, despite growing awareness of the gender inequality in the industry.
At a recent panel held at the Amadeus offices in Barcelona, Marianna Gelardi, vice president of Sales at RateGain, challenged the fact that women typically apply for leadership roles only when they meet 100% of the qualifications listed, whereas men apply even when they meet just 60%.
Facing this significant imbalance, RateGain stresses that this confidence gap isn’t about competence. It reflects systemic barriers and persistent bias such as balancing family and work responsibilities, limited role models, and a tendency to self-select out of leadership applications unless perfectly qualified.
Gelardi emphasises that women often receive less encouragement and support compared to their male peers.
Other panelists shared how they are actively supporting women on their path to leadership, through mentorship, creating inclusive workplace cultures, and promoting policies that enable work-life balance, such as flexible schedules and comprehensive parental leave.
Their insights highlighted the importance of intentional leadership in breaking down structural barriers and empowering more women to step confidently into leadership roles.
RateGain is calling on Travel Tech companies to implement three concrete actions to close this leadership gap:
- Remove bias from job applications: eliminate names, photos, and education details from CVs to ensure hiring decisions focus purely on skills and experience
- Challenge unconscious bias: adopt structured hiring and promotion processes, provide unconscious bias training, and ensure diverse interview panels
- Be an active ally: encourage leaders and employees alike to speak up when witnessing bias or exclusion, fostering safe and inclusive workplaces.
Employees in organisations that actively encourage allyship are 50% less likely to leave, 56% more likely to improve their performance, and up to 167% more likely to recommend their workplace as a great place to work.
While progress has been made, intentional and consistent action is needed.
Gelardi said: “closing the leadership gap is not only fair, it’s a smart business move. Diverse leadership drives better decisions, stronger teams, and a more innovative Travel Tech knowledge”.
Women constitute only 26% of the tech workforce and just 11% hold executive roles, highlighting a significant leadership gap.
RateGain has implemented several initiatives to foster gender equity, including targeted leadership programs and retention strategies focused on women after key life milestones such as maternity and marriage.
One key example is the “SheLeads” programme, dedicated to developing female leadership, which has already certified 15 participants, demonstrating RateGain’s commitment to creating inclusive cultures.
