IGF 2019 WS #360 Innovation and inequality?: online gender disparities

Relevance to Theme: Although there have been significant advances towards gender equality in basic levels, women remain underrepresented in different aspects in their everyday lives; the ICT field is not an exception. The possibility to access and use the Internet is unevenly distributed between men and women (Gray et al. 2016) and factors such as education, socioeconomic level and skills could play a fundamental role in explaining gender differences in ICT use (Robinson et al. 2015). Information technologies are usually considered to be gender neutral, however existing social power relationships determine who benefits and shapes the content, development and use of them (SIDA 2015). In particular, cultural values and practices tend to exclude women from access and development of these technologies, moreover these entrenched norms constrain women from the benefits that ICT could bring in different dimensions, like education, relationship with the government, work, among others (Rashid 2016; Spence 2010). If ICT public policies do not take into account these issues, it will be difficult for women to obtain the same benefits as men from the digital paradigm (Hafkin 2002). In this sense, it is important to ask what the “new” ways of gender digital disparities are(understand what exactly a gender gap means considering new advances in technology) , and how digital inequalities emerge in society (consequences in a rapidly digitizing world). Therefore, this panel provides analysis and discussion of high-level findings from the After Access surveys in the Global South. Among the diverse topics of digital gender inequalities, we highlight three levels that complement each other in an interesting way:
(1) ICT use (mobile phone apps use);
(2) ICT monetary benefits (microwork or digital labor); and
(3) ICT challenges and risks (cybersecurity).
The first level refers to the diversity of ICT uses through mobile phones (in particular, the use of apps like games, social media, transport, commerce or business apps). Evidence shows that not only ICT usage levels (frequency or intensity of use) but also apps use differs between men and women (Economides & Grousopoulou 2008; GSMA 2018). We show evidence on four indicators to assess gender differences in the first level of analysis: mobile apps use, frequency of mobile apps uses, digital skills related to mobile apps uses, and reasons for not using smartphones.
In the second level we seek to relate ICT use to a relevant outcome: digital labor. Digital labor is becoming increasingly important to workers particularly those that live in low and middle-income countries. On the one hand, women might face new forms of exclusion in this new segment (for example, entry barriers or a gender wage gap); on the other hand, women can take advantage of entering the digital labor market that could not be exploited in the traditional labor market. For this level, we discuss three indicators: microwork participation, types of microwork tasks and main determinants for adopting microwork.
Finally, both mobile apps use and digital labor participation can lead to new challenges and risks. In the third level, we discuss the potential challenges and risks that women face when they adopt ICT and participate in the Information Society. In this sense, we seek to present and discuss about four indicators: type of information shared in the Internet, comfortability in online discussions by topics, online violence victim, online problems such as phishing or spam.

Relevance to Internet Governance: Digital Inclusion is key to encompass a broad sector of Internet governance. Digital Inclusion aims to provide a framework for assessing and considering the various elements and policies which can promote equitable access and opportunities in the digital age. It also enhances identifying those with less or no access to the Internet (marginalized groups, minorities, people with disabilities or people lacking digital literacy) and promotes the achievement of an inclusive information society. Furthermore, fostering digital inclusion contributes to a stronger economy and economic development through shared wealth, shared employment, and equal opportunities for all. On the other hand, Digital Inclusion has to go hand in hand with security, safety and stability of digital platforms that increases the potential benefits to whole information society. Thus, it is important to encourage digital users’ resilience to account for online risky behaviors and reduce the probability to be a victim of a growing range of online threats.