Indonesian women outpace men in GenAI course completion, Coursera finds

Indonesian women are completing generative AI (GenAI) courses at a slightly higher rate than men, according to a new report from Coursera. Titled “One year later: The gender gap in GenAI,” the study reveals that women in the country finished such courses with a completion rate 0.9% higher than men, despite still being underrepresented in overall enrolments.

The report shows that women made up 32% of GenAI course enrolments in Indonesia in 2025, up from 31% in 2024. “This suggests that the main barrier may lie in access, rather than ability or motivation,” the report notes.

As Indonesia’s digital transformation accelerates, increasing women’s access to technology education is crucial for fostering a more inclusive and competitive digital economy. According to government data, women account for 49% of internet users in Indonesia but only 27% of the tech workforce – well below the global average of 40%. Strengthening AI literacy and skills is therefore seen as a strategic step to boost female participation in the country’s digital ecosystem.

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Practical courses drive female participation

Beginner-friendly courses emphasising real-world applications show higher female enrolment. Meta’s social media management course, for example, attracted 54.6% female learners in Indonesia.

Courses that integrate GenAI with practical workplace or creative tasks, such as education, productivity tools, or social impact design, have also approached gender parity. When AI skills are positioned as practical, accessible, and directly relevant to career development, participation becomes broader and more inclusive.

“The future of AI will be shaped by the diversity of the people who build and use it,” said Alexandra Urban, learning science research lead at Coursera. “Our data shows that when women in Indonesia gain access to GenAI learning opportunities, they demonstrate strong persistence and commitment to mastering these skills.”

“Indonesia has a large and highly motivated base of women, and expanding access to GenAI education will be key to unlocking the full potential of the nation’s talent,” Urban added.

Beyond GenAI, Indonesian women are also increasingly developing critical thinking skills. In 2025, women accounted for 40% of critical thinking course enrolments, up from 38% in 2024, indicating a balanced focus on both technical and human-centric skills.

What it means for Indonesia’s future AI workforce

The report outlines approaches to foster more inclusive participation in AI education: designing beginner-level courses with clear, real-world applications; ensuring representation and inclusive pedagogy; expanding access through localisation and strategic partnerships; and integrating GenAI skills with complementary human skills such as critical thinking.

One year after Coursera launched its “Closing the gender gap in GenAI skills” guidelines, the latest data shows encouraging progress while revealing room for acceleration. Rising female participation, combined with higher completion rates, signals momentum in Indonesia’s AI education landscape. Expanding access to GenAI learning is key to ensuring women are not just participants, but leaders shaping the future of AI.

Apart from Meta’s social media management course, other courses in Indonesia with the highest share of female enrolments include Google’s satisfaction guaranteed: develop customer loyalty online (46.9%) and Adobe’s design fundamentals with AI (46.1%).

Meanwhile, digital marketing: platforms, data, and technologies from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and IBM’s introduction to data analytics each recorded 42.1% female enrolment. Other popular courses included digital marketing: customer from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (39.7%), Google’s design a user experience for social good & prepare for jobs (38.1%), and Google AI essentials (37.5%).

Founded in 2012 by Andrew Ng and Daphne Koller, Coursera is one of the world’s largest online learning platforms, with 197 million registered users as of December 2025. The platform partners with more than 375 universities and industry organisations to offer courses, professional certificates, and degrees across fields such as AI, data science, technology, and business.

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