Women in Tech and Finance Face Rising AI Job Risks

Womens Journal Staff 2 on February 4, 2026

A City of London Corporation report, published in February 2026, highlights significant concerns regarding the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on women in tech and finance. Specifically, it points to mid-career women, defined as those with at least five years of experience, as being at particular risk of job displacement due to AI-driven automation. The report identifies that roles commonly held by women, such as compliance, administrative duties, and routine analysis, are increasingly being replaced by AI systems that can perform these tasks more efficiently.

As industries continue to adopt automation technologies, these sectors, particularly tech and finance, are seeing major shifts in job structures. Women in these roles, often concentrated in lower-wage or more routine functions, face challenges in transitioning to new, more digital-centric roles. The findings underscore the need for policy change and reskilling initiatives to support workers who may find themselves displaced by this technology.

Job Roles at Risk and Automation’s Impact

The City of London report highlights that jobs in clerical, administrative, and analytical roles are particularly susceptible to automation. Compliance officers, data entry clerks, and similar positions, which have been traditionally held by women, are increasingly being automated, leaving many workers vulnerable to job loss. These jobs often involve tasks such as processing transactions, managing paperwork, or performing routine analytical tasks, duties that AI is now able to do more efficiently.

The mid-career demographic of women is at even greater risk, as these individuals often have existing career gaps due to caregiving or other personal responsibilities. Without formal qualifications in emerging technologies, they may find it difficult to transition into roles that require advanced digital skills. These challenges are compounded by rigid recruitment practices in tech and finance, which often favor younger candidates with specific tech-focused qualifications, sidelining those with transferable skills.

Challenges for Mid-Career Women in Transitioning to New Roles

The report outlines how many mid-career women face career interruptions due to family caregiving responsibilities or other life events. These interruptions make it more difficult for women to return to fast-moving industries like tech and finance. This gap in employment can limit their opportunities to access reskilling programs, which are essential for entering AI-driven roles or more technical positions.

While AI technologies are reshaping entire industries, they also highlight the gender disparities in the workforce. For mid-career women, the lack of accessible reskilling programs and the failure of hiring processes to accommodate non-linear career paths are major hurdles to overcoming automation-related job risks. The rigidity of recruitment systems that prioritize specific qualifications over practical experience often leaves women with valuable transferable skills overlooked in favor of candidates with specialized technical knowledge.

The Role of AI in Hiring and Career Mobility

Automated recruitment systems are playing an ironic role in perpetuating barriers for women entering the tech and finance sectors. AI-driven hiring platforms, which many companies use to streamline the recruitment process, often filter out qualified candidates without specific technical qualifications. This is particularly problematic for women, who may have extensive experience in related roles but do not meet the narrowly defined technical requirements that some companies emphasize in their automated hiring systems.

The biases embedded in AI algorithms can also worsen the gender gap in hiring. Studies show that AI hiring systems, if not carefully managed, can favor male candidates for tech roles or favor younger candidates who fit the traditional mold for these positions. This creates a double challenge for women: their current roles are being replaced by automation, while the paths to new digital roles are blocked by the very technology reshaping the industry. Without targeted interventions, such as bias audits or more flexible recruitment practices, women may continue to be disproportionately affected by these trends.

Industry Efforts to Support Women in Tech and Finance

In light of the findings, several initiatives have been launched to support mid-career women in tech and finance. The City of London Corporation and other organizations have called for urgent action to address these issues. Their recommendations include expanding reskilling programs and ensuring flexible hiring practices that prioritize transferable skills rather than narrowly defined technical qualifications.

In cities like London and New York, pilot programs are already in place to help mid-career women transition into AI-driven roles. These initiatives focus on cybersecurity, data analytics, and AI ethics, areas where women can leverage existing skills while gaining the technical know-how necessary for digital roles. Initial results suggest that these programs have had positive outcomes, with participants successfully entering the tech sector, bringing both valuable industry experience and fresh perspectives on technology-driven challenges.

Global Relevance: The Need for International Collaboration

While the report primarily focuses on London, its findings have global implications. Silicon Valley, Wall Street, and other major tech and financial hubs worldwide are facing similar challenges, where women remain underrepresented in high-tech positions. The accelerating adoption of AI risks exacerbating gender disparities globally, as women in these industries may face increased barriers to entering roles that offer long-term career prospects.

International collaboration will be essential to ensuring that women are not left behind in the digital transition. Policymakers, educators, and employers across borders must work together to create systems that provide inclusive access to digital careers for women, particularly those who have been affected by automation. By providing training, reskilling opportunities, and access to AI-driven roles, industries can better ensure that workforce diversity remains a priority in the future of work.

Disclaimer:
The content in this article is based on research and findings from credible sources and recent studies on the impact of AI and automation on the workforce, particularly women in tech and finance. The rapidly evolving nature of AI and employment dynamics means that conclusions and recommendations may change over time. The views expressed in the article reflect the data and insights available at the time of publication and may not fully capture future developments or adjustments in policies, industry practices, or market conditions.

The Story Beneath the Story: How Carrie KC West Learned to Rewrite Her Life From the Inside Out

Women's Journal Staff on February 4, 2026

By: Michael Beas

Most people do not realize they are living inside a story. They assume their reactions, patterns, and emotional responses are simply who they are. In Life Rewritten, Carrie KC West challenges that assumption and invites readers to examine the narratives quietly shaping their lives. Her work is rooted in one central idea. Change does not begin with fixing yourself. It begins with understanding the story you believe about yourself.

For Carrie, the most powerful story she had to rewrite was one that followed her for years without question. It told her she was fundamentally broken.

“I believed I was damaged at the core,” Carrie explains. “Not in a dramatic way. In a way that quietly explained everything that went wrong in my life.”

She does not describe this belief as self-criticism or perfectionism. In fact, it was the opposite. Her origin story led her to believe she was flawed beyond repair and therefore destined for struggle. Whenever something felt painful or disappointing, the story stepped in and said, of course, this is happening. This is who you are.

Breaking free from that narrative required more than positive thinking. Carrie had to slow down and take the story apart piece by piece. She examined its origin and why it felt so convincing.

“What I discovered was that a lot of the information I absorbed was inaccurate,” she says. “It came from my parents, my family, and the world around me. Not because they meant harm. They were passing along their own unresolved stories.”

That realization shifted everything. It replaced blame with clarity and opened the door to rewriting her inner narrative from a grounded, compassionate perspective.

Today, Carrie helps clients do the same by teaching them how to recognize the stories they are already living. She does not start by asking what someone believes. She looks at what keeps repeating.

“Patterns tell the truth,” she says. “If the same situations keep showing up, there is a story underneath them.”

It might appear in relationships that follow the same arc again and again. Or in work environments that feel hostile, no matter where someone goes. According to Carrie, these patterns reveal an old script that is still running the show.

“When a story is active, it feeds you your lines,” she explains. “You react before you think. You respond in familiar ways even when they no longer serve you.”

One of the clearest ways to spot a limiting story is through the body. Carrie points to physical reactions as powerful signals that something old has been activated.

“Tight chest. Upset stomach. Frayed nerves,” she says. “Those responses mean you have entered survival mode. You are no longer choosing freely. You are following a fear-based story.”

Carrie’s ability to recognize these patterns is deeply connected to her background in Hollywood, where she once evaluated scripts. That experience trained her to quickly and intuitively identify story structure.

“In every story there is a heroine whose journey we are following,” she says. “There is an antagonist that creates friction. There are supporting characters who help or hinder. And there is an expected ending.”

When Carrie listens to someone talk about their life, she hears those same elements. She listens to those cast as the obstacle and to what outcome feels inevitable. Does the story assume that connection leads to loss? Does success come with punishment? Those expectations often operate below conscious awareness.

Everything, she says, begins with the origin story.

“The backstory explains why the heroine is standing where she is today,” Carrie explains. “Once you understand that, the present moment makes sense.”

Legacy is another theme woven throughout Life Rewritten. For Carrie, legacy is not about recognition or accomplishments. It is about how the story ends.

“The legacy we leave is the ending we hoped for,” she says. “It is how we are remembered and what people say when we are no longer here.”

She has been deeply impacted by accounts from palliative care workers who hear the same reflections from people nearing the end of life. Many speak of regret. Not regret for failing, but regret for never questioning the stories that shaped their choices.

Carrie believes regret is not inevitable. It is the result of living on autopilot inside a faulty narrative.

“We do not have to live that way,” she says. “We can reclaim authorship of our lives.”

For those just beginning this work, Carrie emphasizes that the first step is simple but powerful. Awareness.

“When you feel that surge of emotion, pause,” she advises. “Take a breath. That moment matters.”

She calls this a micro moment of change. When someone interrupts an automatic reaction, they step out of fight-or-flight and back into their adult awareness. Over time, these small pauses begin to reshape the brain and loosen the grip of old stories.

Life Rewritten is not about erasing the past. It is about understanding it well enough to stop letting it dictate the future. Carrie’s work reminds readers that the stories shaping their lives are not fixed truths. They are drafts. And every draft can be revised.

As Carrie continued working with people, she began to notice something else. The story running someone’s life doesn’t stay in just one place. The same issues that show up in relationships often appear in health, work, and money as well.

Money, in particular, came up again and again.

“For many people, money carries old meanings about safety, worth, responsibility, and power,” Carrie says. “Those tend to stay in place unless we slow down enough to question them.”

That idea led to Money Rewritten, the next book in Carrie’s Rewritten Series. Instead of focusing on financial plans, the book examines how emotional responses and inherited beliefs influence financial decisions. People often assume they are making rational choices when in reality they are responding to a story that has been running for decades.

Carrie sees the same dynamic at work in other areas of life, including health, love, aging, and business. The details differ, but the pattern is the same. An early narrative takes hold. It explains disappointment. It predicts outcomes. Over time, it begins to feel true.

The work across the Rewritten series is not about changing the past or becoming someone else. It is about understanding the origin of these stories well enough to release their hold. When people see the story they are living, they can respond differently in the present.

That, Carrie believes, is where real change begins.

Learn more about Carrie West on her website: https://carriekcwest.com/

Once Like a Spark Photo + Video: Why Experience Matters in Wedding Photography

Women's Journal Staff on February 4, 2026

Once Like a Spark Photo + Video knows that a wedding photographer does more than take pictures—they help document the story of the day as it unfolds. From getting ready in the morning to the final dances at night, their presence is woven into each part of the celebration.

Couples often find it difficult to choose someone who aligns with their vision, especially with so many options available. It’s not just about style; it’s also about how well the photographer can handle the pace and unpredictability of a wedding.

Photos are one of the few things couples keep after the event ends. A well-captured image can bring back emotions, details, and moments that might otherwise fade over time. These photographs become heirlooms, passed down and revisited through generations.

Value of Real-World Experience

A seasoned photographer brings technical knowledge and an understanding of how weddings flow. From the quiet moments before the ceremony to the spontaneous laughter during toasts, experience helps them anticipate where to be and what to capture without disrupting the natural rhythm of the day.

Someone who has photographed dozens, even hundreds, of weddings knows how to adjust quickly to changing lighting, tight schedules, or unexpected venue challenges. During a rainy ceremony or delayed reception, it’s often their calm adaptability that keeps things moving smoothly. That kind of confidence only comes with time and repetition.

Technical Skill and Problem-Solving

No two weddings are exactly alike, which means a photographer needs to think on their feet. Bright afternoon sun, dim candlelit receptions, or sudden weather shifts all require different camera settings and techniques. An experienced professional can adapt quickly while still delivering sharp, well-composed images. They often carry backup equipment and scout locations in advance to avoid surprises on the day of the event.

Directing large family groups or calming a nervous couple before portraits also demands more than just camera skills. It takes patience, timing, and the ability to read the room. On high-pressure days, knowing how to handle both people and equipment with ease makes all the difference. A calm demeanor often sets the tone for the people around them.

Communication and Professional Conduct

A photographer’s ability to communicate clearly and kindly can ease nerves and build trust on a day when emotions run high. Whether it’s checking in with the couple during preparations or coordinating with the venue staff, strong social skills make the entire experience smoother for everyone involved.

Weddings rarely go exactly as planned, and when timing changes or stress levels rise, how a photographer responds can have a ripple effect. Those with experience know when to step in and offer guidance and when to quietly observe, capturing moments without interfering. Their professionalism often becomes a steadying presence amid the excitement and chaos.

Portfolio Quality and Consistency

Viewing a photographer’s full portfolio offers far more insight than a few stand-out images on social media. It reveals how well they handle an entire day—from bright outdoor ceremonies to dimly lit receptions—while maintaining a consistent standard of quality throughout.

Couples want to feel confident that their wedding will be documented with the same care and attention as the photographer’s previous work. Those with a long and varied portfolio tend to show a reliable ability to adapt to different settings, styles, and client preferences without compromising the outcome. A cohesive portfolio often reflects the photographer’s ability to tell a complete and authentic story.

Reputation, Referrals, and Price Tag

A photographer’s reputation often speaks louder than their marketing. Feedback from past clients, vendor recommendations, and word-of-mouth all help paint a picture of what working with them is truly like. When couples hear trusted praise from others who’ve been in their shoes, it builds confidence in the decision.

Experienced photographers may come with a higher price tag, but that investment often translates to peace of mind. Knowing that a skilled, reliable professional is behind the lens allows couples to focus on the moment, not the logistics. Ultimately, the value lies not just in the photos themselves but in the experience of creating them.