Download - Empowerment through ICT education, access and use: A gender analysis of Muslim youth in India

Journal of International Development

J. Int. Dev. 22, 659–673 (2010)

Published online in Wiley InterScience

(www.interscience.wiley.com) DOI: 10.1002/jid.1718

POLICY ARENA

EMPOWERMENT THROUGH ICTEDUCATION, ACCESS AND USE: A GENDERANALYSIS OF MUSLIM YOUTH IN INDIA

FARIDA KHAN1* and REHANA GHADIALLY2

1Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay, India2Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay, India

Abstract: Information and communication technologies (ICTs) developing countries can

bridge socio-economic divides and empower the marginalised, including women and minority

groups. This paper considers four dimensions of empowerment—psychological, social,

educational and economic—and assesses benefits to each following computer education

and usage of computer and Internet technology. Data were collected from 155 young Muslim

women and men studying in three computer training centres in Mumbai, and a gender-based

comparison was conducted. Figures for computer ownership and home Internet connection

were low for the entire sample, and the training centres and cybercafes were important points

of access for females and males, respectively. In terms of perceived empowerment, young

women reported higher gains than men from computer learning when combined with ICT use.

Thus, despite the existence of a gender-based digital divide, when bridged, ICTs showed

potential as an equalising force between the genders. In light of the above, policy measures to

widen access and provide subsidised training are suggested. Copyright # 2010 John Wiley &

Sons, Ltd.

Keywords: ICTs; computers/Internet; empowerment; gender; education; India

1 INTRODUCTION

Today’s world is shaped by availability of information and ability to communicate, both of

which are enabled through the rapid diffusion of the Internet and extensive use of computers.

While there have been developmental efforts to increase access to, and use of information

*Correspondence to: Farida Khan, Department of Computer Science and Engineering, KRESIT, Indian Institute ofTechnology, Bombay, India. E-mail: [email protected]

Copyright # 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

660 F. Khan and R. Ghadially

and communication technologies (ICTs) in general, there is still a marked difference in

both across the world as well as within societies. This gives rise to a digital divide that

results into two groups; namely, the information rich, those who have access to abundant

information and ICT-based services, and the information poor, who lack such an access.

Even as India is a leading destination for ICT-related outsourcing that promises

employment opportunities, there are several divides within the country. The digital divide

operates across geographic location (rural–urban), income (rich–poor), gender (male–

female) and language (English–vernacular) (Kenniston, 2003). It has also affected

marginalised minorities such as Muslims. The Muslim minority is disadvantaged both

educationally and economically, and this has meant they have relatively less access to

the ‘information highway’ (Razzack and Gumber, 2003; Shariff and Razzack, 2004;

Sachar Committee Report, 2006). Discrimination, inequalities of knowledge, and cost and

language barriers compound the constraints, further limiting the extent of computer and

Internet use (Khalidi, 2001). Muslim women are doubly disadvantaged as they face

an additional gender barrier (Hasan and Menon, 2004). Yet, when provided, ICT skills and

access offer an opportunity to leapfrog and bridge the disparities in information, education

and income (Heeks, 2006). Hence, we postulate that equipping young members of the

Muslim community, especially its women, with technical skills and access to digital

technology could result in a more equitable development.

In India, with a population of roughly one billion, ownership of personal computers and

Internet subscription is estimated to be 64.4 million and 45.3 million respectively, covering

just a small fraction of the population (IMRB, 2008; Neilsen, 2009). Three-quarters of

Internet users in the country depend on shared access points, such as cybercafes, telecentres

and information kiosks, with the former being the predominant public access model in

urban areas. It is estimated that there are around 50 000 cybercafes used by almost 70 per

cent of Internet users who comprise mainly college-educated, young, male, high-income

individuals. In addition, research indicates that even when access is available, men are

advantaged over women in the extent of computer usage (Venkatesh, 2000). In light of

the above discussion on disparity in access to, and use of ICTs, the present study seeks to

explore the different access points for the two sexes and assess gender differences in

computer ownership, Internet connection at home, points of access and extent of computer/

Internet use among a sample of Muslim youth.

Education—especially technical education—is instrumental in expanding capacities

and improving employment opportunities, resulting not only in economic but also personal

and social empowerment such as enhanced confidence levels and social status (Huyer,

2003). Considering that computer skills are of immense importance in society, this paper

therefore also considers the gains resulting from having acquired basic computer

education. The impact of such ICT training is often understood solely from an economic

perspective, but the present paper adopts a multi-dimensional approach and considers

four different facets of empowerment—psychological, social and educational as well as

economic. In sum, it looks at the impact of this training and related access and use of ICTs

on these different dimensions of empowerment.

Empowerment is conceptualised as participation in various activities aimed at changing

the nature and direction of systematic forces which foster marginalisation. It is associated

with greater control over one’s own actions as well as the environment and entails

redistribution of power—whether between nations, classes, castes, races, genders or

individuals—thus enabling participation of members of these groups in the mainstream

development process. Those working in applied areas like ICTs and their role in

Copyright # 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. J. Int. Dev. 22, 659–673 (2010)

DOI: 10.1002/jid

Empowerment Through ICT Education, Access and Use 661

development have tended to use the term ‘empowerment’ rather loosely to mean building

of innate capacity of individuals or benefits derived from using the new technologies. Thus,

according to their various backgrounds and parameters of assessment, empowerment is

understood by different researchers in different ways. Those drawing from sociology might

focus on empowerment of marginalised groups, and assess it in terms of political activism,

advocacy and networking. Those utilising a more economics-based frame might focus on

empowerment of the individual or household, and assess it in terms of improved income

levels. On the other hand, those from psychology and management studies concentrate on

psychological gains for the individual, and characterise empowerment in terms such as

personality (self-efficacy, internal locus of control), motivational (feeling enabled) and

cognitive (meaning, competence, self-determination) factors (Conger and Kanungo, 1988;

Sprietzer, 1995; Corsun and Enz, 1999).

Clearly there are limitations in adopting the type of uni-dimensional approach described.

Therefore, for this study, we adopt a multi-disciplinary perspective and consider the four

aspects of empowerment described: psychological, social, education and economic.

In doing this, we follow a tradition of using the concept of empowerment in gender and

development studies (Mitter, 2004). Such studies have themselves tended to take a multi-

dimensional view; for example, assessing the empowerment benefits to women and to

gender relations in terms of not just increased income opportunities but also greater

participation in decision making, social networking, advocacy, build-up of competencies,

and self-image and self-belief.

Given the growing importance of ICTs in economic, social and political life in

developing countries, computers and the Internet can be seen as increasingly pervasive

technologies that can help equalise gender disparities in not just information and

communication but also education and income (Hafkin, 2002). (The latter not least, in

India, through growth in ICT-related jobs; a sector seen to be more accommodating

of women than some others (Kelkar, 2004)). Research has also highlighted the personal

(self-confidence) and social gains (status, increased connectivity) for women that come

from ICT education and use (Hafkin and Taggart, 2001; Umrani and Ghadially, 2003).

Thus our multi-dimensional perspective on empowerment has been matched by an equally

multi-dimensional potentiality for ICTs.

To summarise, this paper studies the psychological, social, educational and economic

gains resulting from computer learning and ICT access and use for young men and women

from one part of the Muslim community of India. Its particular objectives are:

� T

Co

o explore gender differences, if any, in computer ownership, Internet connection, points

of access and extent of computer/Internet use.

� T
o assess the empowerment flowing from computer education for males and females.
� T
o explore differences, if any, in empowerment among males and females with different
levels of computer/Internet use.

The paper is divided into five sections. Section 2 presents the methodology of the study,

while sections 3 and 4 provide the results and discussion, respectively. The paper ends with

Section 5 which presents the conclusion and policy recommendations.

2 METHODOLOGY

Participants in the study comprised of 155 trainees (82 females and 73 males) from

Mumbai, enrolled in a 1-year Diploma in Computer Applications and Multi-Lingual

pyright # 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. J. Int. Dev. 22, 659–673 (2010)

DOI: 10.1002/jid


Desktop Publishing offered by the Ministry of Human Resource Development, under the

National Council for Promotion of Urdu Language (NCPUL) scheme. Data were collected

from three computer training centres—Madni Computer Academy, Homai Peerbhoy

Center for Computer Education and Khilafat College of Education—set up under the

auspices of the NCPUL. The course requires the trainees to complete a diploma in Urdu

along with the computer course. While theoretically open to anyone interested in the Urdu

language, it is particularly young, low-income Muslims who are drawn to it; in part because

the course is highly subsidised (Ghadially and Umrani, 2004).

Four NCPUL centres based in Muslim ethnic enclaves of Mumbai were identified. A

pilot study was conducted at one centre and then the other three centres that run the

programme at the same time (July–April) were selected for the main study. In line with

participants’ feedback following pilot testing, a Hindi translation of the main survey

questionnaire was provided along with the English version1. On completion of 10 months

of computer training, the survey forms were distributed to all the trainees on the

programme. The response rate was 100 per cent as data were collected personally from

each trainee.

As described next, the tools for data collection included a standardised scale to measure

psychological empowerment. Scales were also formulated to assess social, educational and

economic empowerment. Each of the empowerment scales asked the subjects to indicate

the extent to which they agreed that ICT education had resulted in specified outcomes using

a 6-point rating scale ranging from 1¼ disagree to 6¼ highly agree. What is being

measured here is therefore the perception of empowerment, but this has been found to

correlate relatively well with actual behaviours and outcomes (e.g. Itzhaky and York,

2000). In addition, a questionnaire was used to gauge computer/Internet access and extent

of use. Computer ownership was assessed by one question each for computer and Internet

connection at home. Point of access was assessed by one question where subjects selected

the places of access from a list provided. Extent of computer and Internet use was estimated

in terms of the number of hours subjects spent on a computer/Internet in a week. In

addition, a few demographic details were collected to arrive at a personal profile.

Psychological empowerment was assessed by an adapted version of Spreitzer’s 12-item

scale (Sprietzer, 1995). It has four subscales—meaningfulness (value of the task),

competence (efficacy), self-determination (choice) and impact (difference made). Only the

overall psychological empowerment score is considered for analysis in the present study. A

sample item from the psychological empowerment scale is, ‘Learning computers has given

me considerable opportunity for independence and freedom in how I do my daily tasks’.

For social, educational and economic empowerment, the scales were designed by the

researchers, deriving from the manner in which empowerment has been used in the

literature on ICT and gender (Hafkin, 2002; Kelkar, 2004; Mitter, 2004). Social

empowerment was measured by a 4-item scale that tapped four aspects—increased status,

social comparison, being with the times and keeping in touch with friends and/or relatives.

A sample item from the social empowerment scale is, ‘Computer education makes me feel

more up to date and current’. Educational empowerment was measured by a 3-item scale

that covered three aspects—information on courses/colleges/universities, accessing online

academic resources and preparation of class reports and presentations. A sample item is,

1The participants comprised a mix of English- and Urdu-medium students. Hindi was selected as a languagecommon to both the groups. It was also noted during the pilot that those from English-medium schools had limitedlanguage fluency and asked for a Hindi version of the scales.


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‘Learning computers has opened new ways to find information about different courses/

colleges/universities for me’. Economic empowerment was assessed by a 5-item scale—

opening of new job opportunities, application in family business, starting a computer-

related entrepreneurial venture, earning from home and managing family responsibilities

with a job. A sample item from the economic empowerment scale is ‘Learning to use

computers has opened new job opportunities for me’.

For analysis of the data, x2 and independent t-tests were computed to compare male and

female subjects on ownership/access, extent of use and empowerment. Two 2-way

ANOVAs were computed to gauge the influence of gender and differential level of

computer and Internet use on the different dimensions of empowerment. The reliability

coefficients (internal consistency) of the psychological, social, educational and economic

empowerment scales were 0.70, 0.66, 0.72 and 0.77, respectively. These figures indicate

that the scales are psychometrically robust and result in similar scores across items.

3 RESULTS

Computation from the demographic profile revealed the following information about the

sample. The average age of the subjects was 21.3 years (males¼ 20.5 years;

females¼ 22.3 years) and their educational level varied from completion of higher

secondary school (45.9 per cent) to undergraduates (22.7 per cent) and college graduates

(31.4 per cent). The majority of the subjects (69.8 per cent) studied in Urdu-medium

schools, while less than one-third (26.7 per cent) had English as the medium of instruction.

The majority (73.2 per cent) of the sample belonged to the low- (monthly family income of

less than Rupees 5000; c.US$110) and low-middle-income group (monthly family income

of Rupees 5000–10 000; c.US$110–220). 47.7 per cent had fathers who were running their

own business, 33.1 per cent were engaged in service and 19.2 per cent had retired. 87.2 per

cent had mothers who were homemakers, while 12.8 per cent engaged in home-based work

or service. Participants reported low educational levels among their parents as nearly one-

quarter (24 per cent) of the fathers and half (44 per cent) of the mothers had completed only

primary education. Thus, the participants were young, educated up to higher secondary

level or more, mainly Urdu-speaking, from low-income, predominantly petty-business

families.

The study gathered information on computer ownership, Internet connection at home

and points of access. It was found that 14.8 per cent of subjects had a computer at home.

This included 12.2 per cent of females and 17.8 per cent of males (x2¼ 1.4, ns). 6.0 per cent

of the sample (5.0 per cent females and 6.8 per cent males, x2¼ 1.6, ns) had an Internet

connection at home. These findings indicate that although the difference between male and

female subjects’ computer ownership and Internet connection is not statistically

significant, there is a trend in favour of the young men.

The different places in which subjects accessed ICTs beyond class hours were explored.

The computer institute where the subjects got their training and cybercafes emerged as the

most important points of access followed by homes (own/relative/friend/neighbour) and

the workplace. A small group of subjects did not have access to computers beyond class

hours. A gendered view of these findings indicates that females and males differ

significantly on points of access (x2¼ 20.2, p< 0.001). While the computer training

institute emerged as a major access point for females (x2¼ 10.9, p< 0.001), the cybercafe

was more important for males (x2¼ 4.3, p< 0.05) (Table 1). These findings indicate that


DOI: 10.1002/jid

Table 1. Points of access to computers for males and females

Points of access Total Males Females Gender

T% M% F% x2 degrees offreedom (df)¼ 1

Computer institute 43.2 27.4 57.3 10.9��

Cybercafe 24.5 38.4 12.2 4.3�

Home 23.2 27.4 19.5 0.4

Workplace 2.6 2.7 2.4 0

Do not access 6.5 4.1 8.5 1.6

x2 df¼ 4 20.2��

��p< 0.005;�p< 0.05.


computer training institutes and cybercafes are the major access points for females and

males respectively. Though not significant, the trend indicates that more males have access

to home computers and twice as many women as compared to men have no access to a

computer at all outside class.

The extent of computer and Internet use was also measured. On the basis of the number

of hours in a week subjects used ICTs, beyond the class hours at the institute, they were

classified into three groups—no use (not at all), low use (less than 5 h) and high use (5 h or

more). More than one-fourth of the sample did not use computers at all, two-fifths reported

low use and less than one-third were in the high use category (Table 2). The gender view

indicates that female and male subjects differ significantly with regard to the extent of

computer use. The number of females and males in the no computer use category differed

significantly (x2¼ 7.7, df¼ 1, p< 0.01). Even when the women use computers beyond

training hours, the extent of use is limited as compared to men (although this difference is

not statistically significant). Thus, the findings on computer use provide some further

evidence for the disadvantage of women participants.

A similar classification was done with regard to Internet use. More than half of the

sample did not use the Internet at all, one-third surfed the Internet for less than 5 h and a

small number surfed for more than 5 h in a week. Female and male subjects differed

significantly with regard to the extent of Internet use (x2¼ 32.1, df¼ 2, p< 0.001). The

two sexes differed significantly on each of the three categories of Internet use—no use

(x2¼ 17.4, df¼ 1, p< 0.01), low use (x2¼ 11.1, df¼ 1, p< 0.01) and high use (x2¼ 4.4,

df¼ 1, p< 0.01) (Table 2). The findings indicate that Internet use is significantly lower for

Table 2. Extent of computer and internet use for males and females

Computer use x2 df¼ 1 Internet use x2 df¼ 1

T% M% F% T% M% F%

No use 27.1 16.5 36.6 7.7�� 59.4 35.6 80.5 17.4��

Low use 41.9 47.9 36.6 0.4 33.5 52.1 17.1 11.1��

High use 31.0 35.6 26.8 0.32 7.1 12.3 2.4 4.45�

x2 df¼ 2 7.94�� 32.15��

��p< 0.005;��p< 0.01;�p< 0.05.


DOI: 10.1002/jid


women as compared to men. Comparing computer and Internet usage of the two sexes

indicate that the disparity in technology usage is more marked in case of the Internet than

the computer, putting women at a disadvantage on the ‘information highway’. They are

therefore less able to build on their technical education to attain the benefits of Internet

access.

3.1 Impact on Empowerment

As described earlier, the study also estimated the levels of empowerment of male and

female trainees due to computer education. An estimate of composite empowerment was

calculated by adding scores on the psychological, social, educational and economic

empowerment dimensions and dividing it by four. To test whether the male and

female subjects differed significantly on empowerment, independent sample t-tests were

computed (Table 3). In terms of statistical significance, the two sexes did not differ on any

of the dimensions of empowerment—composite, psychological, social, educational or

economic. However, in absolute terms, there was a consistent gender difference—in all

cases women experienced more empowerment than men.

The interaction effect of gender and computer/Internet use on empowerment was

assessed by means of a two-way ANOVA. The combined effect of gender and extent of

computer use (Table 4) resulted in a significant difference in the composite (F(1, 151)¼ 8.0,

p< 0.01), psychological (F(1, 151)¼ 4.1, p< 0.05), educational (F(1, 151)¼ 9.6, p< 0.015)

and economic (F(1, 151)¼ 6.1, p< 0.01) empowerment scores. In other words, with the

exception of social empowerment, women reporting computer use outside class training

hours obtained significantly higher scores on all aspects of empowerment as compared to

men.

In order to compare empowerment levels of men and women using computers, a t-test

was done. The mean scores indicated that females with computer use reported higher

empowerment than males with computer use as well as than females and males with no

computer use. The mean scores of females and males on composite empowerment were

significantly different (t¼�3.2, p< 0.005). So, too, were the mean scores on

psychological, social, educational and economic empowerment of the two sexes reporting

computer use (t¼�2.4; p< 0.05, �2.2; p< 0.05, �4.3 p< 0.005, �2.61; p< 0.01). Thus,

women reporting computer use scored significantly higher than men on each of the

dimensions and composite empowerment (Table 5).

Similar computations were done with respect to gender and Internet use (Tables 5 and 6).

The results are similar to, but more moderated than, those for computer use. The interaction

Table 3. T-test scores on empowerment for males and females

Empowerment Males Females t

(M) (F) df¼ 153

Composite 29.7 30.6 �1.4

Psychological 57.5 58.8 �0.9

Social 20.9 21.4 �1.1

Educational 15.5 16.2 �1.5

Economic 25.0 25.9 �1.3


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Table 4. Results of two-way ANOVA assessing the effect of gender and computer use onempowerment

Dependent variable Source Sum of squares df Mean sum of square F

Composite empowerment (CE) Gender� 101.2 1 101.2 8.0��

Error 1905.3 151 12.6

Psychological empowerment (PE) Gender� 306.6 1 306.6 4.1�

Error 1118.9 151 74.78

Social empowerment (SE) Gender� 25.0 1 25.0 2.8

Error 1340.5 151 8.9

Educational empowerment (EDE) Gender� 58.2 1 58.2 9.6��

Error 913.1 151 6.1

Economic empowerment (ECE) Gender� 101.8 1 101.8 6.1��

Error 2512.9 151 16.6

��p< 0.01;�p< 0.05.


effect of gender and Internet use resulted in a significant difference in educational

empowerment (F(1, 151)¼ 4.4, p< 0.05). The trend of the mean scores indicates that

females with Internet use reported higher empowerment than males with Internet use as

well as than females and males with no Internet use. As far as Internet use is concerned,

females reported significantly higher scores on the composite and two of the four

dimensions of empowerment. Once again, then, we see an advantage in experienced

empowerment for those women who could get beyond-classroom access to ICTs.

4 DISCUSSION

4.1 ICT Ownership, Access and Use

The study assessed ICT access and usage in terms of family ownership of computers,

having an Internet connection at home and the various points of access to ICTs. We can first

compare with the overall population. Mumbai ranks first in PC penetration in India with

32 per cent of households owning a PC and 25 per cent having an Internet connection

(India Broadband, 2010). The comparative figures in our sample—just under 15 per cent,

and 6 per cent respectively—are considerably lower. The reasons for this are likely to lie in

Table 5. T-test scores of males and females with different levels of ICT Use on empowerment

Emp Computer use Internet use

M F T df¼ 111 M F T df¼ 61

CE 29.6 31.7 �3.2�� 29.6 31.7 �2.1�

PE 57.4 61.1 �2.4� 57.2 61.2 �1.6

SE 20.8 22.0 �2.2� 21.0 21.6 �0.7

EDE 15.4 17.0 �4.2�� 15.2 17.00 �2.8��

ECE 24.7 26.7 �2.6�� 25.1 27.1 �2.0�

��p< 0.005;��p< 0.01;�p< 0.05 (one-tailed).


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Table 6. Results of two-way ANOVA assessing the effect of gender and internet use onempowerment

Dependent variable Source Sum of squares df Mean sum of squares F

CE Gender� 21.7 1 21.69 1.6

Error 2065.5 151 13.68

PE Gender� 99.4 1 99.42 1.3

Error 11791.5 151 78.09

SE Gender� 0.02 1 0.02 0.0

Error 1391.5 151 9.21

EDE Gender� 28.9 1 28.90 4.4�

Error 990.6 151 6.56

ECE Gender� 11.8 1 11.80 0.7

Error 2607.0 151 17.26 1.3

�p< 0.05.


the relatively low income of the sample group (which will also manifest in a space

constraint: Mumbai housing space, at an average 2.9 square metres per person, is one of the

smallest in the world, and lower still for lower-income group (Bertaud, 2004)), and low

education levels of parents. Being college students or fresh graduates, the respondents had

little disposable income of their own with which to purchase ICTs. All young members of

this community were thus at an ICT disadvantage in relation to ownership.

The two sexes did not differ significantly on computer ownership and home Internet

connection, but the trend indicates males are slightly advantaged in both these aspects as

compared to females. There is a lack of gender-segregated data on computer ownership that

can be used for comparison but we can consider a study on difference in family computer

usage in India. This indicates that 82 per cent of males compared to only 16 per cent of

females are the primary users of the family computer (Venkatesh, 2000). Besides, Indian

families tend to make higher investments in education of boys compared to girls due to

different role expectations (Chanana, 2001). As the computer is identified as an educational

tool, it is likely that families would prioritise purchase of computers for their sons rather

than daughters. In addition, males identify the home computer as personally owned; while

females identify it as belonging to the head of the family (Heimrath and Goulding, 2001).

Thus, the gender differential seen in this survey in terms of ICT ownership is partly

explained, and partly reinforced, by intra-household gender differences.

Non-household points of ICT access were explored. A significantly higher number of

females accessed computers at the training institute; something that is free but in which

there would be an excess of demand over supply of computers, and in which there was no

Internet connectivity. By contrast, young men tended to use cybercafes more, for three

reasons—nature of use, cost and socio-cultural attitudes. First, males seek to use the

Internet, which the computer-training centre does not provide. Second, in urban India,

cybercafes are the predominant public access model for Internet usage. Even though the

cost of surfing in cybercafes has reduced from Rupees 50 (c.US$1.09) to Rupees 20

(c.US$0.43) per hour in the last decade, this is still a considerable expense for members of

low-income groups (IMRB, 2008). Thus, while one-third of Internet users in Indian cities

have an income above Rupees 25 000 (c.US$548), only 4.4 per cent of Internet users have

an income below Rupees 5000 (c.US$109) (Haseloff and Ghadially, 2007). Given the

different family attitudes outlined above, and differential access to money within the

household, young women will be less willing and less able to spend what they would see as


DOI: 10.1002/jid


family resources on surfing the Internet, thus curtailing their visit to cybercafes. Families

will be more willing to provide money for boys to access ICT. Third, socio-cultural

restrictions add to the disadvantage of young women as families impose sanctions against

cybercafes, which are characterised as boys’ hangouts and lack female attendants (Umrani

and Ghadially, 2006). The workplace does not emerge as an important access point because

of the sample composition. Only six of the 155 participants (four men, two women) were

working at the time of survey; in part-time jobs such as home tutor and office assistant.

Moving from the issue of access to that of ICT use, two divides could be identified: the

one across gender (male vs. female) was described above, but there is also one across

technology (computer vs. Internet). While a quarter of the subjects fell into the no-use

category for computers, with regard to the Internet, this rose to 60 per cent. One-third of the

subjects reported high computer use but only 7.1 per cent reported high Internet use. These

figures bear testimony to the fact that computer use and Internet use are distinct ICT

categories and merging them into a single unit could be misleading. We also know this

developmentally since Internet use is found to provide an informational and transactional

benefit that PC use alone does not (Hafkin, 2002).

The reasons for the computer—Internet difference relate to ongoing costs of Internet

connectivity, to non-availability of subsidised public access points, to limited English

language competency and to socio-cultural attitudes. The difficulties of low-income groups

in accessing (non-subsidised) cybercafes were noted above. Research indicates that there is

also a strong relationship between use of the Internet and ability to speak English (Vehovar

et al., 1999; Haseloff, 2005). As 70 per cent of the sample in the present study had Urdu as

the medium of instruction in school, their limited English language skills likely affected

their Internet use. Although considerable web content is now available in a variety of Indian

languages; a cursory review of the Urdu websites by the first author in 2007 revealed that

they focused on literature, poetry and news rather than education and employment. Hence,

tangible gains did not follow for the subjects surfing these websites.

4.2 Computer Education, Use and Empowerment

In addition to computer access and use, the study focused on analyzing gender differences

in empowerment levels following ICT skills training. It was found that basic computer

education yields relatively similar perceived empowerment gains for both men and women

(though with a consistent pattern of greater female empowerment). If this were the sole

finding, then reasons for this could be hypothesised around the relatively homogeneous

nature of the sample group, the nature of scale items, or the difference between perceived

and actual empowerment. However, beyond the average, it was noted that men and women

scored differently on the items on the scales, but that these cancelled out to deliver a similar

overall average. This will be discussed in the following paragraphs as will the fact that—

beyond the overall similarity—differences emerged when accounting for ICT use levels.

Although the two sexes do not differ significantly on all measures of empowerment, the

trend in all cases is for females to be more empowered than males. This is supported by

research that indicates that though modernisation and technological development initially

disadvantaged women, ICT may—more recently—be delivering a technological U-turn

(Goyal, 2007). Findings of this study are strengthened by evidence from a qualitative study

of the impact of computer education that indicates more women than men experience a

higher boost in self-confidence and secure computer-related jobs (Umrani, 2007). Of


DOI: 10.1002/jid


course, given women in developing countries in general are socio-economically

deprived, their expectation from something new may be higher than males, who also

have better chances of being exposed to these technologies beforehand. However, this

difference in expectation and exposure does not negate any greater effects experienced by

women.

Analysis of the participants’ response on psychological empowerment indicates that

females expressed slightly higher meaning (mean¼ 14.9, SD¼ 2.8), self-determination

(mean¼ 14.8, SD¼ 3.2) and competence (mean¼ 15.1, SD¼ 2.6) as compared to males

(mean¼ 14.8, 14.0, 14.5; SD¼ 2.3, 2.6, 2.5 respectively). In other words, computer

education created a sense of new possibilities for involvement, independence and self-

confidence for women. On the other hand, males (mean¼ 14.2, SD¼ 3.0) reported slightly

higher impact than females (mean¼ 13.9, SD¼ 3.3), indicating that computer education

provided them possibilities for enhanced control over their environment. Thus, the

psychological gains for females and males focus on micro and macro levels respectively.

Women reported relatively higher gains on all aspects of social empowerment—feeling

contemporary, enhanced status, social comparison and connectivity—as compared to

males. This is in line with research that women perceive family gain, communication and

social gain as the first, second and fifth most important benefit of personal computer use

(Umrani and Ghadially, 2003). In addition, the social connectivity aspect is supported as

women are responsible for maintaining family and kin relations (Ghadially, 2003).

How does computer education impact on other dimensions of empowerment for the two

sexes? Women report relatively higher educational empowerment than men with higher

scores on using ICTs for seeking information on courses/colleges/universities, and for

accessing online journals/books/reports. Males score somewhat higher on the use of

computers to prepare reports and presentations. This fits other research showing when

females use computers, they do so mainly for educational purposes; unlike males, who use

it for general purposes or playing games (Haseloff and Ghadially, 2007). Females reported

slightly higher scores on four of the five aspects of economic empowerment—job

opportunities, managing family responsibilities with work, earning from home and

assisting in the family business. On the other hand, males reported a higher possibility of

setting up a personal business. These differences may reflect different role models and role

expectations; with women more often seeing any productive role needing to be combined

with fulfilment of family responsibilities, whereas young men (remembering the 48 per

cent of fathers who were running a business and thus providing a gendered role model) take

a more enterprise-oriented view (something families are likely more willing to finance for

male household members).

Looking at ICT use and empowerment, it was found that significantly more females

(more than one-third) fell into the no-use category of computer use than males (one-fifth).

Similarly, significantly more females (more than 80 per cent) than males (one-third)

reported no Internet use. The much greater gender disadvantage in Internet use is a

particular cause for concern, since most evidence about ICT-enabled empowerment of

women in developing countries, focuses on the Internet and its ensuing benefits for

networking, political activism, e-commerce, etc (Huyer and Carr, 2002; Mitter, 2004). But

this disproportionately low use of the Internet by women is in line with previous findings.

In a survey of Macau residents, Internet users were more likely to be male (Cheung, 2001).

In a survey of Indian Internet users, it was found that even when women do start using

cybercafes, they use them less often and for shorter duration per session than men (Haseloff

and Ghadially, 2007).


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Gender and the extent of ICT use significantly influenced empowerment levels. The

interaction effect of gender and extent of computer use is significant for composite and

three specific kinds of empowerment—psychological, education and economic. Of course

there has been work previously showing the psycho-social, educational and economic

benefits of computer access and use for women (Huyer and Sikoska, 2003; Primo, 2003).

As a concrete example, a study of six infoDev projects found computer skills increased

self-esteem and promoted self-confidence of young women participants (Hafkin, 2002).

Similarly, a study on novice women computer learners found that computer skills resulted

in increased psycho-social gains such as self-esteem and enhanced status (Umrani and

Ghadially, 2003). The difference here is the evidence that such gains are greater than those

experienced by men where women can make additional use of ICT outside the classroom.

Even though the advantage of females in social empowerment was not statistically

significant, the trend is in a similar direction with computer-using women reporting more

empowerment than men. In India, media advertisements for personal computers project the

female computer user as a modern, westernised individual; cues that highlight the social

status and modernity associated with this technology (Ghadially and Ranganathan, 2006).

A computer being associated with masculinity, its usage can be seen to potentially bring

women onto an equal social footing, enhancing feelings of being contemporary and

moving with the times.

The interaction effect of gender and Internet use on empowerment was only seen

strongly in relation to educational empowerment; perhaps no surprise given the research

noted above showing women—unlike men—use ICTs particularly for educational

purposes (Haseloff and Ghadially, 2007).

5 CONCLUSION AND POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS

The major conclusion of the study is that ICTs hold empowerment potential for

disempowered groups generally, and an equalisation potential for women particularly.

Sustained access to ICTs is important to both sexes but especially for young women as it

has—when combined with training—a more positive impact on perceived empowerment

than for men. Put another way, computer education can in certain circumstances be a force

for gender equalisation even when offered to both men and women.

As far as access to technology—home ownership, Internet connection, public access

points—is concerned, the findings here show a double digital divide. The Muslim youth

surveyed have less access than the average. Women have less access than men. Income is

part of this story, but socio-cultural norms and expectations are another. Thus women have

less access to, and make less use of, most shared ICT provision whether at home or in

cybercafes. The computer institute in which they trained was the only equaliser here.

In light of the above conclusions, policy recommendations are suggested. In order to

widen access points and encourage technology use amongst those at the edge of the

information society, the right model must be selected. The commercial cybercafe model

seems to be male-dominated and favour men. Better would be community access based

around the telecentre model; perhaps built on public-private partnerships. But the

cybercafes should not be ignored. Through tax or other incentives, cybercafes could be

encouraged to help improve women’s access, for example by reserving special times for

women, providing separate spaces, and appointing female support staff. This would all

have a commercial as well as developmental logic and one can even imagine the potential


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for women-only cybercafes. Such supply-side measures can help make use of public ICT

by women more feasible, but can be combined with continued demand-side measures (like

the computer training described above) to make women aware of the benefits to them of

ICT access and use.

Given that computer-training institutes emerge as an important ICT access point,

especially for women, their role and services could be diversified. Such institutes can act as

part-time (after-class) cybercafes to provide extended computer and Internet use with

students allowed to use facilities either free of charge or at lower rates than the commercial

cybercafes. This will ensure sustained access, especially for young women. The

importance for women of this type of ICT access—and the lack of alternatives—needs to

be recognised by the heads of such training institutes.

Training institutes have been good at providing basic ICT skills, but a broader and

deeper set of training may be required. For example, labour market relevance of trainees—

both male and female—would be increased if English language training was provided, and

training on the types of software found in many local businesses, such as accounting

packages. The idea of helping turn perceived into actual empowerment, particularly in

relation to employment, may require a different mindset within—and diversification of—

training institutions. They need to become better at outreach; for example, liaising with

local businesses to identify training needs and to arrange trainee placements. And they

need to consider how a better ‘beyond-training’ support package can be provided, such as

micro-credit from banks to allow trainees to set up their own ICT-based businesses, and

self-help groups of trainees who can help actualise income-generating ideas. In both cases,

specific care may be needed to ensure a level playing field for women.

The results presented here are those of just one, specific, study; albeit one supported by

findings from related work. Future research looking at women and other disadvantaged

groups in other locations will no doubt be useful. This can help test further the idea found

here that ICTs are turning from a tool of developmental inequality to a means for greater

equality.

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