Artificial intelligence (AI) is becoming embedded in teaching, learning, research, assessment, and employment, making AI literacy an increasingly important component of higher-education readiness. Awareness of AI tools does not necessarily imply the ability to understand their limitations, evaluate outputs, protect privacy, recognise bias, or use AI ethically. Gender adds another layer to this problem because access to digital resources, confidence, patterns of technology use, institutional support and perceptions of risk may not be evenly distributed. This critical integrative review examines the relationship between AI literacy, gender and future readiness among women in higher education. The review synthesises conceptual scholarship on AI literacy, recent evidence on gender differences in higher-education AI engagement, international digital-inclusion data, and policy frameworks concerning AI competencies and responsible educational use. The analysis treats AI literacy as a multidimensional capability comprising AI knowledge, functional use, critical evaluation, ethical judgement, and future-oriented agency. Recent systematic evidence indicates that gender differences in AI engagement exist, while also showing that female students may approach AI more cautiously and express stronger concerns about privacy, dependency, reliability, and critical thinking. Such patterns should not be interpreted automatically as technological deficiency; they may also reflect different risk perceptions and expectations concerning responsible academic use. Global digital-access data further show that the gender digital divide remains present, with women representing 65% of Internet users compared with 70% of men globally in 2024. The review proposes a Women’s AI Readiness Framework linking awareness, literacy, critical evaluation, ethical competence, confidence and future participation. The paper argues that universities should move from tool-oriented AI adoption towards human-centred, gender-responsive AI education that equips women to become informed users, critical evaluators and responsible co-creators of AI-enabled knowledge and professional practices.