17.06.2026
Many young women looking to move into leadership roles see themselves in the women leaders who have gone before them. But the challenges women leaders face in the digital world, and the lack of support and recognition of these challenges, may be discouraging young women from pursuing leadership themselves.
Koi Tū Fellow Dr Seungyeon Kim has worked with Manatū Wahine Ministry for Women to explore and capture young people’s perspectives on how the challenges of the digital world may be affecting young women in the leadership pipeline, and what would support young women to take on leadership roles and thrive. This work was part of the Long-term Insights Briefing 2026, Free to Lead: Tackling the effects of online harm.
Young people shared a range of online harms that can act as barriers to young women taking on leadership roles. These include harmful behaviours enabled by online platforms, such as being able to send hateful comments and threats anonymously, as well as platform features that can shape people’s experiences and perceptions, such as AI-driven algorithms that may amplify misinformation and polarised views.
In addition, the absence of support for women to navigate harmful online experiences, including the lack of awareness of how these challenges affect women in leadership, and the limited representation and opportunities for the many forms of leadership further deterred young women from wanting to contribute as leaders.
We identified several themes on how to better support and encourage more young women to pursue leadership journeys. These included promoting more leadership opportunities and spaces for young women to grow into leaders, highlighting and celebrating the many forms of leadership and pathways to leadership, and providing opportunities for current and potential leaders to connect, share experiences, and support each other on their leadership journeys.
The digital world presents challenges for women who are already leading, as well as for young women seeking to become leaders. Providing more forums to talk about how online harms can impact leaders and leadership for women, alongside more opportunities for young women to share leadership experiences and develop and practise leadership would be meaningful steps toward supporting more young women to lead.
