Ivanka Trump’s appearance at a major technology conference in Las Vegas has been met with a backlash from industry figures, who denounced her “privilege” and lack of tech qualifications.

Trump spoke in a keynote session on Tuesday afternoon at CES, a consumer electronics trade show, on “the path to the future of work”. In an interview with Gary Shapiro, the CEO of the Consumer Technology Association (CTA), which organizes the show, she addressed technology’s role in creating and enabling the workforce of the future.

The annual CES gathering has long taken criticism over diversity issues. In recent years the CTA has invited more women to speak and sought to curb some of the show’s more sexist aspects, such as scantily clad “booth babes” hired to draw the attention of the mostly male attendees. In 2017, there were zero female keynote speakers scheduled for the second year in a row.

CES faced intense criticism in 2019 for revoking an innovation award given to a sex toy company led by a female founder, who criticized the decision as sexist. The conference ultimately reinstated the award and apologized. It also instated new rules in 2020 to improve the environment at CES, including enforcing a dress code banning booth personnel from wearing clothing that is “sexually revealing or that could be interpreted as undergarments”, regardless of gender.

But for critics and activists who have long pushed for broader recognition of the less-heralded women, the inclusion of Donald Trump’s daughter, who is also a White House adviser, sends exactly the wrong message.

“Ivanka is not a woman in tech,” tweeted Brianna Wu, a video game developer who is running for Congress in Massachusetts. “She’s not a CEO. She has no background. It’s a lazy attempt to emulate diversity but like all emulation it’s not quite the real thing.”

The Women Who Tech group on Facebook also expressed displeasure. The investor Elisabeth Fullerton wrote: “This is an insult to women in technology. We did hard times in university, engineering, math, and applied sciences. This is what extreme privilege and entitlement get you. It’s not what you know it’s who you know I guess”.

The conference organizers have defended inviting the first daughter, saying she leads the White House’s efforts on job creation and economic growth through workforce development, skills training and entrepreneurship.

In a statement issued by the White House on Tuesday, Trump said she was pleased to see CES discussing the critical issue of workforce development.

“Our current and future workforce rely on the efforts of industry, academia and government to fill our workforce needs and I’m excited to discuss how the Trump administration is championing these shared goals.”

During the discussion, Trump said a White House council that she co-leads will launch a nationwide advertising campaign to encourage all pathways to jobs, including apprenticeships, and not just a college degree. “We need to raise awareness about many options that exist,” she told the audience.

Trump also touted her father’s jobs record and claimed that with 7m job vacancies “every American who wants to work can secure employment”. She noted the positive effects of technological innovation on the workforce.

“I believe innovation is a net job-producer,” she said. “Innovation will allow for more inclusive growth.”

Despite the first daughter’s attempts to strike a positive note, the appearance left women in the tech industry dispirited. The tech analyst Carolina Milanesi wrote in an op-ed published in Forbes: “The reason for my upset is rooted in the fact that there are many more women who are in tech and are entrepreneurs who could run circles around Trump on how technology will impact the future of work.”

The hashtag #BoycottCES was seen picking up on Twitter following the speech.

Agencies contributed reporting