The Nordic countries have been branded “superpowers” of gender equality, however, they still struggle to achieve gender balance in information technology (IT) education and work. The mismatch between a high score on international ratings of gender equality and a continuous gender divide in most fields of IT, has been labeled a gender equality paradox. The international footprint of the paradox shows a tendency for affluent countries with high scores on gender equality ratings to be less successful in recruiting women to IT than less-affluent countries with lower scores on gender equality in southern Europe, Asia, and Africa. While similar gender barriers such as a masculine culture of technology and gender stereotypes making it less likely for girls to imaging a future career in IT than boys, have been found across the Anglo-Saxon world, the paradox appears even more extreme in the Nordic countries.