Minding the gender gap

The following is an extract adapted from “The Task Force on Gender Issues: A Catalyst for women’s advancement in Information and Communication Technologies”. It examines some of the concerns of gender inequality in the ICT sector and proposes strategies for improvement

Connectivity, content, and capacity

The digital divide that threatens to increase the inequalities between the rich and poor, educated and uneducated, also looms large over the divide between the sexes. Although women have just broken the 50 per cent mark as users of the Internet in the United States, Canada and Ireland (see Female Internet users, 2000), in virtually all countries women use information and communication technologies less extensively than men. A small percentage of women receive technical education and training, a smaller proportion of women work in technology-related jobs, and even fewer hold high-level positions within the technology sector. Not only must women participate in the information revolution at an equal level with men, but strategies must be pursued to ensure that ICTs are not used to exacerbate gender inequalities.

Connectivity, content, and capacity encompass the major initiatives surrounding the development of ICTs. Connectivity deals with issues surrounding universal access to ICTs. Content examines the information that is available from these media networks. Capacity involves creating strategies for the most productive and effective use of ICTs. Each of these areas raises specific challenges to women.

The ITU Task Force on Gender Issues (TFGI), now known as Working Group on Gender Issues, was created with the mandate to ensure “that the benefits of telecommunications and the emerging information society are made available to all women and men in developing countries on a fair and equitable basis.” With representatives from the public and private sector and experts representing both international and local interests, the TFGI serves as a catalyst for expanding opportunities to women previously left out of this rapidly expanding sector.

TFGI compiles the most recent information by ICT specialists in the area of gender and development (see Initiatives /Networks in existence). Its members use this information as a resource for their work in ICTs and development in their own countries and organizations.

Everyone benefits from closing the gender gap

Increasing women’s participation in the ICT sector benefits society as a whole. In her address to the High Level Panel of the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), Noeleen Heyzer, Executive Director of the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) stated: “We have discovered that when development programmes include women through micro-credit, education and health, children, communities and countries benefit.” The World Bank has discovered another advantage of greater gender equality. Decreasing disparities between the sexes results in faster economic growth. Programmes excluding half the population deprive the ICT sector of crucial resources, guaranteeing an ineffective, unsustainable, and inefficient result.

Connectivity

Every new user of ICTs increases the value of ICTs for everyone already connected. Each new user offers information and experience — someone with whom to communicate. As the network grows, we must ensure that women are not left out. Illiteracy, limited resources, isolated location, and time constraints can all limit access to technology that appears gender neutral. These barriers must be overcome to achieve universal access for both men and women.

The rural/urban divide

Rural areas often lack the resources and infrastructure for ICTs in which women comprise 60 per cent of the population. Without an improvement in rural access, women may be at a greater disadvantage than men to connect to ICTs. Information and communication technologies can improve the quality of life in rural areas through increased inclusion in the national economy, greater access to government services online, and an enhanced sense of belonging that could discourage excessive migration to urban centres.

Cost: a barrier

Women often have access to fewer resources than men. Three-fifths of the world’s one billion poor are women, and the Beijing Plus Five Conference emphasized and documented the significant gender inequalities of resource access.

As a result, women’s access to ICTs is more dependent on the cost of the services, requiring a coordinated public response and appropriate private pricing schemes that ensure women are not systematically excluded. The Report of the High Level Panel of Experts in April 2000 called for reducing the cost of access by a factor of five by year-end 2001.

Strategies

Increase availability of “scribes” for dictation at telecentres: In some telecentres, assistants type e-mail messages while the user dictates, facilitating the use of text-based applications.

Develop human computer interfaces that are non-text based: The development of new technologies, such as iconographic software or voice-recognition, will make it easier for illiterate users to access the Internet independently, possibly “without touching a keyboard or using a mouse.”

Use public resources and regulation to ensure affordable access to ICTs: The public sector can assist those with limited resources to obtain access. Increasing the efficiency of the public sector could be used to help justify any significant public investment.

Public access for collective use: ICT facilities can become accessible and commercially viable if used on a collective basis.

Link ICTs with more widely available forms of media: Traditional media, such as the radio, is still the primary source of information for millions of people. Initiatives linking traditional media to new technologies can take advantage of existing media networks to meet the needs of communities where new ICTs are not yet available.

Combat the negative portrayal of women: ICTs have been used to perpetuate negative and degrading images of women, often through pornography or heavily stereotyped presentations.

The networks that perpetuate the negative portrayal of women can also be used to combat these same stereotypes. Networks have been used to anonymously identify criminals involved in sex trafficking and to develop campaigns to battle negative gender roles.