Sheryl Sandberg: The AI gender gap is about recognition
TL;DR
A new Lean In survey of 1,000 U.S. adults (March 2026) finds 78% of men use AI at work versus 73% of women.
Key Points
- The recognition gap is starker: 27% of male AI users have been praised for it, compared to just 18% of women.
- Managers also push men more: 37% of men were encouraged by their manager to use AI, versus 30% of women.
- Lean In founder Sheryl Sandberg warns the recognition gap could deepen existing gender pay and promotion disparities.
Nauti's Take
The real headline here is not the five-point usage gap — that is explainable by structural access barriers. The alarming number is that men are praised for AI use at nearly double the rate of women.
This is not an AI problem; it is a classic visibility problem that AI has just handed a new stage. Companies serious about AI upskilling should actively audit who internally earns the label 'AI expert' and on what basis.
Otherwise they are not just automating workflows — they are automating old inequalities too.
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