Working-class women worked during the first industrial revolution for lower wages than men and often began working as children. Women also have to be housekeepers, so they can work day and night to maintain their daily routine. Today, women continue to play an important role in the fourth industrial revolution and gender inequality still exists.
International Women’s Day is celebrated every year on March 8 with the aim of upholding the achievements of women, recognizing the special challenges they face and focusing more on women’s rights. The theme for this year’s International Women’s Day is DigitALL: Innovation and technology for gender equality.
Almost everything is now through digital processes, increasing the dependence on strong technological integration. Although women account for more than half of the world’s population, 259 million fewer women have access to the internet than men.
While the digital revolution brings great potential to improve social and economic outcomes for women, it also carries the risk of perpetuating existing patterns of gender inequality. Despite several important initiatives, interventions and policies to promote women’s empowerment and gender equality in this revolution, a significant digital gender gap remains, limiting the equitable realization of the benefits of digital transformation in all income countries.
The digital skills gap in the education sector can lead to the coding of gender bias in technology, creating the need for educational technology to overcome this and eliminate masculine stereotypes in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields.
With many women unable to access the internet, they are unable to develop the digital skills needed to participate in the digital space, which limits their opportunities to pursue careers in STEM-related fields. By 2050, 75% of jobs will be related to STEM fields, but currently only 22% of job opportunities in STEM fields are held by women.
This changing work environment has a negative impact on women, including increasing underemployment and “male failure” in the tech workplace, as well as the underrepresentation of women in technical fields – all of which will increase gender bias in the digital space.
Digital technologies continue to transform society at a rapid pace, simultaneously enabling unprecedented advances in the human condition and leading to new challenges. The increasing opportunities created by the application of digital technology, however, are paralleled by abuses and unintended consequences.
Along with the successful implementation of various technologies over the years, new risks and challenges related to justice and inclusion, privacy and data autonomy, accountability and transparency as well as security are becoming increasingly clear. For example, according to the 2022 Gender Snapshot Report, a study in 51 countries showed that 38% of women experience online violence.
Barriers to the widening digital gender divide include a lack of education as well as biases and socio-cultural norms embedded in masculine power structures that reduce the ability of women and girls to benefit from the digital revolution. In Saudi Arabia, for example, the Absher App has been used by men to track and control women’s movements, strengthening the country’s male guardianship system.
In addition, it is important to understand the role that sociocultural influences play in the digital gender divide.
In India about a fifth of women were found to believe that the internet is not suitable for them, due to a number of cultural reasons. About 12% of women reported not using the internet because of negative social perceptions associated with its use, and 8% because it was not accepted by family members. These barriers may range from lack of support to discouragement or even prohibition.
There is nothing to suggest that the digital revolution has not had a positive impact on women. Early feminist responses to the revolution were generally optimistic about the potential of digital technology – especially information and communication technology (ICT) – to empower women and transform gender relations.
Cell phone technology has been particularly useful for women in increasing access to information and facilitating collective action.
Several initiatives and projects focused on access to technology have been implemented to promote women’s digital empowerment. Recognizing the enormous potential of digital technologies, the sustainable development goals (SDGs) promise to “promote the use of enabling technologies, especially information and communication technologies, to promote women’s empowerment” (Goal 5b).
Aspiration 6 of Agenda 2063 mentions “Africa, whose development is driven by people, depends on the potential of African people, especially women and youth, and care for children”.
The AU recognizes that gender equality is a fundamental human right and is an integral part of regional integration, economic growth and social development and has developed the AU strategy for Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment (GEWE) to ensure the inclusion of women in Africa’s development agenda.
One pillar of GEWE’s strategy focuses on “optimizing E-TECH opportunities, results and dividends.” According to this pillar, in order for women to be economically empowered, and contribute to sustainable development, they must have equal access to quality education and control over productive resources.
UN Women, in partnership with the African Union Commission (AUC) and the International Telecommunications Unit (ITU) is implementing the African Girls Can Code Initiative (AGCCI) to train young women in critical coding and technology skills. The initiative aims to train a minimum of 2,000 girls aged 17-25, setting them up for the future as computer programmers, creators and designers. AGCCI has developed guidance on mainstreaming ICT, gender and coding in national curricula across the continent, launched an eLearning platform and hosted several webinars to sustain learning during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Closer to home, Good Governance Africa in association with The Telkom Foundation held an ICT workshop in Centurion, Gauteng, to highlight the progress and careers available to girls in the digital space and STEM fields.
Women’s ability to access and use digital technologies is directly and indirectly influenced by market-related factors including investment dynamics, regulations and competition, especially in rural areas.
These areas are often marginalized and infrastructure investments and installations, such as broadband and mobile phone towers, are often less economically profitable for service providers – due to the low population density in these areas. According to UN Statistics, this affects women in developing countries disproportionately as they appear to be more likely to be in rural areas, while working-age men are more likely to be in urban areas.
Women and girls in rural areas of developing countries face persistent structural obstacles, including a higher probability of dropping out of school than boys – this probability is twice as high as that of girls in urban areas.
Furthermore, women and girls in rural areas generally work in agriculture (subsistence farming) and their work is often unpaid or considered a contribution to the family. UN Women Watch highlights that, when working, women in rural areas tend to have shorter and more precarious jobs and are generally less protected than men. digital technology, and have scarce resources, especially financial, to go online.
To close the digital gender gap, there is an urgent need for concrete policy reforms to promote the advancement of women’s rights in the digital society, especially in developing countries and in marginalized and rural areas.
The design and implementation of an active national digital strategy aimed at closing the gender digital gap – and improving the affordability of digital technologies along with improving online security – is an important step to take.
Chrissy Dube is head of government insight and analysis at Good Governance Africa.
The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect official policy or position Mail & Guardians.