Bridging the Digital Divide -- GENDER

Someone earlier wrote:
"I really don't see a need (at least in the US) for anything geared to a specific 'group' since 'special groups' mean you are segregating from the other 'groups'

There is a definite need, in the US and elsewhere, and it's been re-affirmed by the vast majority of posts in this forum, particularly in the posts from women in developing countries.

The reality is that everyone is DIFFERENT and "one size does NOT fit all". There is no one tried-and-true learning style that everyone must adhere to, one absolute environmental standard that we had all just better get used to or forget participating at all.

I do great in lecture/based workshops and loathe visuals that are supposed to help me understand concepts (they just confuse me); by contrast, most of the people I work with fall asleep in a lecture-based workshop and seem to come alive during exercises to help them visualize a concept, and walk away with a good understanding of the workshop objective. The best workshops, IMO, are those that mix these styles, to accommodate the greatest variety of learners possible.

Not all people learn the same way. Likewise, not all people feel comfortable in the same situation. I'm a woman who has no problem being in a room full of men and dicussing computers -- but the dynamics of such are usually very, VERY different than when I'm in a room full of women, and I have to say that I usually prefer the latter. The culture of such rooms gets even more varied if it's a room full of guys from Silicon Valley versus a room full of guys who volunteer in Community Tech Centers. Those "cultures" are real, they are different, and different things appeal to them. Again, there is no "one size fits all."

Several people on this forum have given excellent examples of the gender digital divide, and I'm not going to repeat the examples now. To address this and other divides (the digital divide for people with disabilities, for the elderly, etc.), we need to look at the factors that have lead to this divide, and address them accordingly. And often -- in fact, I'd dare to say always -- in learning to accommodate a particular group that has been left out thus far, you will end up accommodating EVERYONE better. That's certainly been my experience in learning about accessibility issues for people with disabilities: in learning to better recruit, accommodate and support these folks, I've learned to better support EVERYONE.

Anyway, very glad to see this discussion going on and on and on.

UNIFEM (the women's fund at the United Nations) URGES FOR MORE ATTENTION TO BE PAID TO GENDER DIMENSIONS OF DIGITAL DIVIDE

In a UNIFEM statement issued at the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) in Geneva, UNIFEM, called for more attention to the gender divides inherent in the global move towards an Information Society. The UNIFEM statement emphasized the need for the international community to recognize that without concerted action to address the growing gender digital divide, a truly equitable Information Society would not be possible.

Complete press release here:
http://www.unifem.org/pressreleases.php?f_page_pid=6&f_pritem_pid=153

Women in many Asian countries do not have as much access to computers and the Internet as men, speakers at a technology summit said Monday. The disparity exists in countries from South Korea, the world's largest market for broadband Internet, to India, an emerging software superpower, speakers said at the Asia Information Technology Ministers Summit. "In Internet usage, we are at the top, but we too suffer from the digital divide," said Kyu-hon Lee of the Korean Agency for Digital Opportunity and Promotion. He said 70.5 percent of South Korean men surf the Internet, but only 57.5 percent of women....

From the Associated Press
Complete article here:

http://www.boston.com/business/technology/articles/2004/01/12/computer_access_unequal_in_asian_nations/

Hey Jayne,

Those links didn't show up. Could you repost them?

Thanks,

Susan

I would be curious as to where the statistics are from. According to any other reasearch I found the numbers are more like 49% of women in SK use the internet compared to 56% of men. Overall 45% of internet users inSK are female, and are the fastest growing segment. That is a gap but not nearly the proportions that are getting reported. Accoring to other sources the biggest gap by gender are in Italy, france and Germany.

from cyber atlas
"The most noticeable demographic shift is seen among Internet use by gender. Female Web surfers have overtaken men in numbers in the United States, and are surging onto the Net in the Asia-Pacific region. Other trends show that women are more efficient in their Web behavior than men, and are showing an increasing willingness by women to purchase online.
"

I think the better issue is who can get access to the net more so than who uses it.

My house 3 males I female so that makes the gender divide look very wide. In fact my wife uses the net more than both my sons.. maybe I should get a couple of girlfrinds to even things out LOL
Usage does not mean folks are not using it ..Just because folks dont use the net everyday it does not mean it's not available.
Also the stats have to be very vague due to privacy issues and how does one know that !@$#^#$123456@aol.com is boy girl dunno.
Reminds me of great internet cartoon.
2 dogs surfing the net and one dog says to the other dog. "The internet is great no one really knows you are a dog"
The net per se is the best non gender tool. As gender means nothing when you are surfing the net..
Your PC cares not of your gender and I can assure you that TCP/IP cares even less.

Maybe its a case of the laws of science are for the people to understand but cannot change..
The laws of people can change but science cannot change but try to understand..
( Ozmoziz)
Math majors take note (grin)

It's easy to get lost in the numbers..
Better to help people getting lost !
I think in general it's grave mistake to push the net to anyone race color or creed.
The net by the science has and will always evolve .
It's usage should evolve also within the confines of each person/ race country idiology.
Once you move out of that bubble you will create plenty of problems..
No of which serve mankind.
I think the need is to nurture the people rather than push the net.
Lets be real here the net is really a bastardised American culture that others may chose to adopt.
Maybe we a forcing our cultural will upon others Maybe many of the women outside the net don't want it ?
Just maybe much the divide is self imposed by women because they want it that way ???

On the UNITeS web site, there is an excellent article by Subbiah Arunachalam (Arun for short) about the M. S. Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF) operating the Information Village Research Project in rural southern India (in 12 villages near Pondicherry). One of the things that makes this project outstanding is its emphasis on local volunteer involvement and capacity-building, as well as its emphasis on involving local women as volunteers in the knowledge centers.

Arun's article discusses the ways obstacles were overcome to involve local women volunteers in these technology centers, which contributing to more women using the centers. Have a look:

http://www.unites.org/cfapps/WSIS/story.cfm?Sid=2

Hello, my name is Lillie Fortenberry. I live in New Orleans, Louisiana. I work as a webmaster/policywriter. I am currently working to help bridge the digital divide by providing technology classes my annual family reunion.

I am the family's webmaster/e-group moderator/e-newsletter editor. I am also putting a group of professionals together to host technology workshops at different churches, summer camps and places where people meet.

The hurdles that I have encountered is the lack of equipment. I do not have a LCD projector or many laptops to carry my "roaming classroom" in these different envirnonments. I look forward to any assistance that can be provided. Thanks.

It's been six years since this discussion originated on TechSoup, but I was reminded yet again of how cultural practices can keep women in developing countries out of community technology centers, telecenters, Internet cafes, etc. while corresponding last week with an Afghan female colleague: for various reasions, her employer has blocks on hundreds of web sites, including several she needs for her own career and skills development. But using an Internet cafe outside of work hours is not an option for her, and thousands of other women in Kabul like her, because:

• her family would never allow her to go to such a place without a mahram (a male relative she could not marry, such as a brother, uncle, or father, acting as a safety and social escort), and most men aren't willing to devote a few hours a week to accompany a female relative to an Internet cafe.


• given the atmosphere of many public Internet sites -- the posters in the wall, what's being looked at on some of the computer screens by male patrons, men coming and going -- it's not an option for her to use a public Internet site even with a mahram.

My friend -- and thousands of other women in Kabul -- need a place that's either devoted only to women Internet users, or, a public site that has women-only hours. But I have yet to find either using Web searches and posts to various online communities.

I appreciate so much that I have the freedom where I live to walk into any public place with Internet access, and not have to worry about any social or legal ramifications as a result. But I also have to acknowledge that not every woman on Earth does have this freedom. Public Internet access points in Kabul, elsewhere in Afghanistan, or in other developing countries, could encourage more women to use their services by: 

• creating women-only hours at a time that is appealing to women, or creating a women-only space with its own supervised entrance/exit and its own bathroom


• providing women-only classes


• staffing women-only hours, women-only spaces or women-only classes by women volunteers or women paid staff members, and with just one or two male staff members (if any) closely supervised and never, ever alone with any woman (staff or customer)


• providing childcare for women using the site (it's okay to charge a nominal fee for this)


• a computer user space free of any images that might be deemed offensive to a conservative culture

How else can community technology centers, telecenters, Internet cafes, etc. in conservative areas be more accommodating of women and girls?