WUNRN
2007-08-15 . Why gender and
ICT?
Why Women in the Knowledge Society?
by Sophia Huyer and Nancy Hafkin, WIGSAT
This FAQ is based on the forthcoming Orbicom report "Emerging Knowledge Opportunities - Engendering the Knowledge Society: Measuring Women's Participation" by Sophia Huyer and Nancy Hafkin prepared for Orbicom with funding from IDRC. It is summarized here at the request of the International Taskforce on Women and ICTs in support of the GK3 conference.
Both social and economic arguments can be made for the inclusion of gender issues in the Knowledge Society. The major difference between the information society and the Knowledge Society is the focus of the Knowledge Society on developing human skills and capacities and acquiring and using knowledge.
The use of information technology to exchange and acquire knowledge is key to the Knowledge Society. We know that a major gender divide exists globally in access and use of ICTs. The 2005 Orbicom report, Women in the Information Society found that the available data on access to and use of ICTs globally indicate that women’s participation in the Information Society, particularly in the poor countries of the world, lags behind that of men.
This is important because we see that privileged groups acquire and use technology more effectively and because the technology benefits them in an exponential way, so that they become more privileged (Bridges, 2001). Given the worldwide dissemination of ICT and its tremendous impact on so many social and economic aspects of life, the fear is that it will be a major exacerbating factor, worsening the marginalization of women, particularly poor women with low levels of education.
This divide is exacerbated in relation to the Knowledge Society because it involves access not only to ICTs but also to the other key elements of the knowledge society – science, technology and innovation – and the representation of women generally falls behind men in all of these in many countries of the world. We reflect here Amartya Sen’s emphasis on gender equality as a means of increasing human capabilities and enhancing opportunities for both men and women. For example, in India's Vision 2020/Mission 2007, half of 1.2 million knowledge workers running village information centers will be women.
As expressed by the UN, "women's empowerment" is the recognition that women are disadvantaged in access to education and resources, and that "the empowerment and autonomy of women and the improvement of their political, social, economic and health status is both a highly important end in itself and necessary for the achievement of sustainable human development." It is defined as having five elements: the sense of self-worth; the right to have and to determine choices; the right to have access to opportunities and resources; the right to have the power to control their own lives, both within and outside the home; and the ability to influence the direction of social change to create a more just social and economic order, nationally and internationally (UN Population Information Network, n.d.).
Building on these approaches, there are several arguments that can be made for promoting and encouraging women's equitable participation in the Knowledge Society, which involve recognizing benefits for both social and economic development:
1. Women as active agents in development
Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen emphasises the centrality of women in the Knowledge
Society in placing emphasis on the agency and capabilities of women. He sees
women’s leadership as a crucial element in development and notes that the
expansion of women's capabilities not only enhances women's own freedom and
well-being, but also has many other effects on the lives of all. Women need ICT
to serve their development needs and should be part of determining the priority
of needs and how ICTs are designed and utilized to address these needs.
A number of arguments center on social welfare aspects – the increase of the general good to society – from women’s participation in the Knowledge Society. Among the benefits that can incur are:
2. The human rights argument
Under the Convention to Eliminate Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) and the
Beijing Platform for Action, governments are obligated to take measures to
guarantee women's rights and access to economic resources that are critically
necessary for poverty reduction, including:
This confirmation by governments and the United Nations of the right of women to economic and technological resources is the basis for the argument that governments are required to support the ability of women to engage fully and actively in the Knowledge Society as part of their legal and political commitments to their population.
Enlightened governments will recognize that fulfilling this commitment is
less a legal requirement than a necessary step towards economic development and
competitiveness.
3. Building human capacity for the Knowledge Society
If we look at knowledge societies as places where ICTs are used for interaction
and co-production, creation and exchange of new knowledge, then a Knowledge
Society is achieved when a range of groups can interact, learn and produce
knowledge using information technology, including professionals, ordinary
information users, and the uninitiated.
In most countries, the capacity of women to engage in the Knowledge Society is grossly under-developed and under-utilised, as indicated by the gender divide and women's participation in the technical workforce. This is an area where action taken will benefit not only women but national economic and technological development. The InterAcademy Council argues that a critical mass of human resources skilled in science and technology is crucial to the Knowledge Society, where countries without the ability to apply scientific advances and new technologies to their industry and national situation (poverty reduction, development, health) will fall farther and farther behind those countries that can, both economically and in terms of social development (InterAcademy Council, 2004).
Concern about shortages in skilled scientific and technical personnel has been ongoing in many countries for several years now, and increasing the number of women working in this area is seen as one solution. In Europe, for example, there is increasing demand for qualified scientists and a base of skilled technical workers to drive scientific advances and technological innovation. At the same time many young people are losing interest in these fields and the number of S&E graduates is falling. According to the EU research, women are under-represented in industrial research in EU member states, but also other OECD countries: US, Japan, New Zealand, Australia, Canada. Women scientists and engineers in the industrial sector are under-represented and more likely to leave technical occupations (as well as the labour force) than women working in other sectors.
Another rationale for increasing the number of women in the knowledge workforce is the diversity argument: a broadening of the recruitment base will improve the attractiveness of a business to markets and clients. Having more women will increase diversity, change modes of communication, bring something new to the innovation process, and improve competitiveness (European Commission, 2003).
Adding to this argument, Catalyst found in a 2004 study on Return on Equity
(ROE) and total Return to Shareholders (TRS) in 353 Fortune 500 companies that
there is connection between gender diversity and financial performance.
According to its research, companies with the highest representation of women
on its top management teams experienced better financial performance than
companies with lowest women's representation. It further notes that recruiting,
retaining and advancing women will position a company to benefit from an increasingly
educated and skilled part of talent pool. Women increasingly are making and
influencing purchasing decisions, so that companies employing women will be
better able to appeal to customers. Finally, diverse groups properly managed
make more innovative business decisions than non-diverse groups (Catalyst,
2004).
4. Contributing to national economic growth
According to the World Bank, “Investing in GE [gender equality] and empowerment
of women is smart economics”: greater gender equality helps improve economic
productivity. (p.3- 2007 Global Monitoring Report on the MDGs). The Bank
further argues that gains made to date in the level of available economic
opportunities for women lag behind women’s economic capabilities. This
inefficiency is related to the fact that women's labor participation and
earnings are associated with reduced poverty and faster growth on the premise
that men, children and society as a whole benefit as well as women from their
economic empowerment. "In sum, the business case for expanding women’s
economic opportunities is becoming increasingly evident; this is nothing more
than smart economics. (World Bank, 2006)"
Women are well placed in a number of countries to contribute to the growth of Knowledge Society. In many countries women are highly represented in the SME and informal economy sector. The UN notes that women's informal employment in collaborative, self-help and traditional activities are "a vital economic resource." (United Nations, 2006). Women's entrepreneurship has become recognized as an important source of untapped economic growth – bringing not only job creation but also providing different solutions to management, organisation and business problems (OECD 2004).
In low-middle income countries, women tend to engage more in self-employment
and start SMEs rather than participate in the workforce (Allen et al, 2006). In
most regions of the world, self-employment is the major portion of
non-agricultural employment for women, while rates for men are equal or lower
than for women. For example, in North Africa, the percentage of self-employment
in non-agricultural employment for women is 72% for women and 60% for men ,
while in Sub-Saharan Africa, the rates are roughly equal for women and men, at
71 and 70% respectively (Chen et al, 2005). OECD SME Ministers have also
recognized that self-employment is one of the most important job opportunities
for women, particularly in developing economies (OECD 2004).
5. Costs of inefficient use of human resources
Women’s lack of economic empowerment, on the other hand, not only imperils
growth and poverty reduction, but also brings a host of other negative impacts,
including less favorable education and health outcomes for children and a more
rapid spread of HIV/AIDS (World Bank, 2006). The Inter Academy Council takes
the position that failing to take advantage of the potential of women has
"robbed countries of enormous reservoirs of talent" (IAC, 2004: 50) –
leading to the conclusion that societies cannot afford to not take advantage of
the abilities and potentialities of women.
But instead of looking solely at what is lost, perhaps the most important reason for promoting the participation of all groups in developing as well as developed countries in the Knowledge Society is because of what can be gained. As the Inter Academy Council argues: "surely the 80 percent of humanity living in those countries should have a greater input into the creation of new knowledge, not only for the right to shape their own destinies, but for the insight and talent that they can bring to the rest of the world (IAC 2004: 24)."
References
Allen, I.E., N. Langowitz and M. Minniti. 2007. “2006 Report on Women and Entrepreneurship.” Global Entrepreneurship Monitor. http://wwwgenconsortium.org/
Bridges.org. 2001. Spanning the digital divide: Understanding and tackling the issues. Cape Town: bridges.org. http://www.bridges.org/files/active/1/spanning_the_digital_divide.pdf (accessed 2 May 2007)
Carr, Marilyn and Sophia Huyer. 2001. "Information and Communications Technologies: a Priority for Women?" Gender, Technology and Development.
Catalyst. 2004. The Bottom Line: Connecting Corporate Performance and Gender Diversity. New York.
Chen, Martha, Joann Vanek, Francie Lund, James Heintz, Renana Jhabvala and Christine Bonner. 2005. Progress of the World's Women: Women, Work and Poverty. New York: UNIFEM.
European Commission. 2003. Women in Industrial Research: Analysis of Statistical data and good practices of companies. Brussels: EC.
Hafkin, Nancy and Sophia Huyer, eds. 2006. Cyberella or Cinderella? Empowering Women in the Knowledge Society. New Hampton: Kumarian Press.
Huyer , Sophia and and Swasti Mitter, 2003. ICTs, Globalisation and Poverty Reduction: Gender Dimensions of the Knowledge Society. Gender Advisory Board, UN Commission on Science and Technology for Development, Toronto.
Huyer, S., N. Hafkin, H. Ertl and H. Dryburgh, 2005, Women in the Information Society in G. Sciadis, ed, From the Digital Divide to Digital Opportunity: Measuring Infostates for Development, Orbicom, Montreal.
InterAcademy Council. 2004. Inventing a Better Future: A strategy for building worodwide capacities in science and technology. Amsterdam, InterAcademy Council.
Shadrach, B. 2006. Mainstreaming ICTS for mainstreaming gender in development. Digital Opportunity Channel. 2006. Available at http://www.digitalopportunity.org/article/view/117334/?PrintableVersion=enabled
United Nations Population Information Network (POPIN). N.d. Guidelines on Women's Empowerment for the UN Resident Coordinator System. New York, UN Population Division, Department of Economic and Social Affairs.
World Bank. 2006. Gender Equality as Smart Economics: A World Bank Gender
Action Plan. Washington, DC.
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