Abstract
Digital technology opens up a direct window for women to the outside world. Information flows to them without distortion or any form of censoring, and they have access to the same information as their counterparts. This leads to broadening of perspectives, building up of greater understanding of their current situation, and causes of poverty and the initiation of interactive processes for information exchange. Furthermore, such forms of networking open up alternate forms of communication. The present study is an analysis of the digital gender divide and strategies that are inclusive when it comes to women. It also deals with impact of the significant reduction in the cost of internet services that will enable more women to use the internet more frequently for information.
TopDigital Technology And Women
The digital revolution is hailed as bridging the gender divide since women have benefited much from it. The gender digital divide refers “to the structure of opportunities, cultural attitudes and skills related to the use of ICTs” (UNESCO, 2014, p. 50). Technology seems to have penetrated this divide up to a point. Not only is there a greater availability of job opportunities where gender need not be a handicap, but also there is more social connectivity. In terms of the Internet, the digital divide is fundamentally gender related. Women get connected to large sections of society through social networks like Facebook, WhatsApp etc. (Bimber, 2000; Kennedy, Wellman, Klement, & Klement, 2003; Ono & Zavodny, 2003; Vijayalakshmi & Bhavani, 2006). While the Internet is considered to be ‘genderless’ since it is available to and usable by anyone who chooses, a greater proportion of the unconnected global citizens are women (UNESCO, 2013). This helps to widen their horizons and give them new opportunities. Social networking seems to be welcomed by women. Many women believe that social media can increase the visibility of causes. One of the major factors that contributes to the digital divide and social inequality in Internet usage is insufficient skills to use the Internet (Gui &Argentin, 2011; van Deursen, Helspe, & Eynon, 2014).
Key Terms in this Chapter
Social Inclusion: Social inclusion is the act of making all people in a society feel valued in all aspects, such as civic, social, economic, and political activities, as well as participation in decision making processes.
Digital Divide: Digital divide is any uneven distribution in the access to, use of, or impact of digital technologies between groups such as social, geographical, or geopolitical criteria, for instance women or marginalized sections of society.
Gender Gap: Refers to gap in any area between women and men in terms of their levels of participation, access, rights, remuneration or benefits. From the point of view of economics, gender economics refers to systematic differences in the outcomes that men and women achieve in the labor market.
ITU: Acronym for International Telecommunication Union, Geneva, Switzerland.