Gender Barriers to ICT

Abstract

Produced by the intergovernmental organisation Commonwealth for Learning (COL), these four regional meeting reports and one summary document focus on the concern that women in developing countries may be marginalised when information and communications technologies (ICTs) are used in open and distance learning (ODL) courses. The report consists of documents gleaned from these four regional meetings: Asian region, Caribbean region, African region, and Pacific region. Representatives from these regions were then invited to Ottawa to review a synthesis report. The following excerpt is from the review document:

• "One of the most significant barriers to women's access to education (with or without ICTs) is the lack of relevancy of the content. When learning strategies fail to value women's knowledge, wisdom and experience, the education is not perceived as valuable to them...
• A combination of the impact of...illiteracy, poverty, time famine and socio-cultural restrictions...can severely restrict a woman's mobility. This lack of mobility can hamper a woman's ability to benefit from educational opportunities (whether offered traditionally or through ICTs), if she needs to travel some distance to access the courses, or if the courses are offered at a time or place that is either unsafe or culturally prohibited...
• [At issue are]...all the ICTs, not just the newer, computer-based ICTs.
• ..the following additional costs [are] related to the use of ICTs for ODL - electricity/battery charges, capital costs, the high cost of obsolescence, and training costs.
• ...women also need information about the broader issues around the importance of ICTs - its potential relevancy and potential capacity.
• ...many effective strategies use a multi-media, multi-faceted approach, sometimescombining the traditional with the modern.
• ...If there is an overall message about the ideal way to provide equipment for women's use of ICTs for ODL it is, "Bring the equipment to the women."
• ...[we] recommend sharing resources.
• ...women should take on the role of trainer/educator. Women should be trained in such a way that they can build on their skills, and on-the-job training should be encouraged. Women should be trained not just as users. They should be trained in both hardware and software skills, as content developers, and as providers of user support and technical support. Also, how to retain skilled people in the organisation, region, or country is a challenge that needs to be addressed in any campaign that addresses skill needs.
• ...[there is a] need to inform the broader population about the issues surrounding women's use of ICTs for ODL...[I]nformation campaigns need to show the same gender-sensitivity as discussed for the ICTs themselves, and the training. Design gender-appropriate information campaigns. Use appropriate communications channels to reach women. Sensitise them to the issues through traditional channels.
• ...[there is a] need to integrate ICTs and gender recognition into a broad range of sectoral and regional policies. As well, ICTs and Gender policy should be developed at all levels - regional, national, local and sectoral. Also, user experience needs to be fed into the policy development.
• ...gender should be incorporated as a research variable in all ICTs and ODL research. National surveys should be conducted on the needs of learners, the current state of ICTs provision and the appropriateness of different ICTs for ODL. These surveys should be gender-specific and the data should be disaggregated by gender. Gender-specific databases about ODL and ICTs should be developed at all levels - local, national and regional. There is also a need to evaluate the effectiveness of the implementation of policies with respect to ICTs and gender. There is a need to share information about gender, ODL and ICTs, and information about successful projects in use of ICTs for ODL should be widely disseminated..."

Click here to access all of the Gender Barriers to ICT documents on the COL site.

Keyword: Girls.