The study found that in the developed world, women account for just 25 percent of graduates in information and communications technology, and 24 percent in engineering — even though women outnumber men in graduate schools over all.

According to a 2017 Unesco report, female student enrollment is particularly low in information and communications technology (ICT) at 3 percent. It is 5 percent in natural science, mathematics and statistics and 8 percent in manufacturing and construction. The highest is in health and welfare at 15 percent.

The implications of a digital gender divide multiply on the global scale. Most of the 3.9 billion people in the world who are off line are women; in Africa, only 12 percent of women are online and in the developing world, women’s access to the internet is 25 percent below that of men.

As jobs change around the world, technology — and the flexibility it promises — could offer women a chance to choose how, when and where they work. But these opportunities are lost without the skills to access them, which is why many said at the global women’s forum, in which The New York Times is a partner, that giving women the skills to master technology is a social, moral and economic necessity.

“Fixing that is the right thing to do,” Ms. Estanislao said.

The time to encourage girls to develop an interest in math and sciences is between the ages of 11 and 15, said Shelley McKinley, general manager for technology and corporate responsibility at Microsoft, speaking at another conference event. She cited a recent study conducted in the United States that showed the gap in interest in STEM fields between boys and girls increased from 6.1 to 9.4 percent in those years.