We often hear that men are more technical compared to women. They also dominate technical jobs like engineer or computer scientist but there is also another problem: the digital divide
The digital gender divide basically describes the unequal access, use and knowledge of information and communication technologies (ICT) between men and women. In our information age these abilities are crucial. Campaigns and foreign aid programs are often concerned to empower women and girls to use and have access to ICT's .
Especially in non-western, even more male centred societies and religious groups, women lack crucial information they could get easily via the Internet. Men dominate or limit the access to the Internet for women in these societies, informally.
If women are empowered to use ICT's more sufficient and widely, they could inform themselves and might be able to escape the paternalistic & patriarchal system they often live in across societies. This could make them informed and more equal members of societies and empower them to life a free and less dominated life.
They also could enter more technical jobs, which gives them access to better paying jobs in ICT's and make more women economically independent. For more information about the 'pay gap' women face visit our next blog post.
(Resoruces: Martin Hilbert, Digital gender divide or technologically empowered women in developing countries? A typical case of lies, damned lies, and statistics, Women's Studies International Forum, Volume 34, Issue 6, November–December 2011, Pages 479-489, ISSN 0277-5395, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.wsif.2011.07.001. (http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277539511001099
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