Global Gender Differences in Access to Technology Support

Abstract

Women in low- and middle-income countries remain less likely than men to own mobile phones and use mobile internet. Further, when they do have access to devices, enabling factors such as training, affordability, safety, and social support remain limited. As a result, this gender imbalance can cost the Global South over 500 billion dollars in GDP over the next five years. Our study moves beyond the common first-level access metrics (e.g. access to technology) and also focuses on examining second-level digital divides (e.g. access to technology support). We investigate gender differences in: (1) internet access and, (2) satisfaction with local technology support, across 27 countries. We analysed survey data from 2,740 respondents, collected through the 2023 C20 Grassroots Survey. We examined whether the gender disparities in technology access and support exist across national contexts and global regions, and how these patterns vary by demographic factors. We used mixed-effects regression models which control for country-level baseline differences, age, and educational attainment. The findings showed variations at the country level, wherein some countries had men reporting better internet access, and some the exact opposite. Although at the global level, with all countries combined, gender differences arose neither in internet access nor in technology support, but on disaggregating by region, we uncovered few divergences. In the Global South, women reported lower satisfaction with technology support than men, despite having similar levels of internet access. No gender differences in satisfaction with technology support were observed in the Global North, with women even reporting slightly better internet access than men. However, our strictest analyses found no gender differences in neither internet access nor satisfaction with technology support. Our findings support that the gender digital divide is not a homogenous phenomenon, that it appears differently in different places. Ground reality of women includes many intersecting constraints such as unpaid care burdens, mobility restrictions, and social norms that restrict their technology use. Without giving corresponding technology support, women would remain disadvantaged, preserving the gender gap. Access to technology should come along with culturally responsive training and support systems considering women's real-life challenges. Policymakers must recognize that bridging the second-level digital divide would require investments in social infrastructure along with the digital infrastructure.