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Empowering Muslim Youth through ComputerEducation, Access, Use: A Gender Analysis

Farida Khan and Rehana Ghadially

Abstract - In the present information society, technicaleducation has acquired immense importance as theInformation and Communication Technologies (ICTs) holdpotential for bridging socio-economic divides andempowering the marginalized such as women and minoritygroups. This paper explores the access and use ofcom puter/Internet and examines how these affectempowerment levels among young men and women. Thispaper considers the psychological, social, educational andeconomic benefits following from computer education andusage of computer and Internet technology. Data wascollected from 155 young girls (N=82) and boys (N=73) fromthree computer training centers in Mum bai. Statistical testssuch as t-tests, 2-way ANOVA and chi-squares werecomputed to compare male and female subjects onempowerment and ownership/access and use. The figures forownership and home Internet connection were low for theentire sam pie. Com puter training centre and cyber cafe areimportant points of access for females and males respectively.Further, it is found that young women report higher gainsfrom computer learning and technology use, hence, computereducation can be a key gender equalizer. In light of theabove, policy measures to widen access and providesubsidized training are suggested.

Index Terms - access, computers/Internet, empowerment,gender

I. INTRODUCTION

Today's world is shaped by availability ofinformation and ability to communicate, both of which areenabled through the rapid expansion of Internet andextensive use of computers. While there have beendevelopmental efforts to increase the access and use ofInformation and Communication Technologies (ICTs) ingeneral, there is still a marked difference in the technologyaccess across different groups, resulting in the digitaldivide. Access considers equality of access to resources, inthis case to computer and Internet technology. The unevendistribution of ICTs across the world as well as withinsocieties gives rise to a digital divide; that results into twogroups; namely, the information rich, those who haveaccess to abundant information and the information poor,who lack such an access.

Manuscript received September 22, 2008.Farida Khan is with Department of Computer Science and

Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay,India (phone: 91-022-25764966, e-mail:farida@iitb.ac .in).

Rehana Ghadially is with Department of Humanities andSocial Sciences, Indian Institute of TechnologyBombay, India (e-mail: rehana@hss.iitb.ac.in) .

Even as India is a leading destination foroutsourced IT and IT enabled work that promisesemployment opportunities, there are several divides withinthe country that leave the disadvantaged groups out of thedevelopment radar. The digital divide operates acrossgeographic location (rural-urban), class (rich-poor), gender(male-female) and language (English-vernacular) [1].While development effort in India has considered one orthe other of these factors, they overlook the marginalizedstatus of minorities such as Muslims. The Muslimminority is disadvantaged both educationally andeconomically, thus driving them off the informationhighway [2, 3, 4]. In addition, they face societal barrierssuch as limited awareness and discrimination [5]. Cost andlanguage barriers compound the constraints furtherlimiting the extent of computer and Internet use. Womenare doubly disadvantaged as they face an additional genderbarrier [6]. A coverage of ICT and India reports that ICTskills and access provide an opportunity to leapfrog andbridge the disparities in information, education and income[7]. Hence, we postulate that equipping the youngmembers of the Muslim community, especially its womenwith the technical skills and access to the technology willresult in a more balanced development of the country.

In a developing country like India, ownership ofpersonal computers and Internet penetration is limited at2.5 and 4.2 per cent respectively [8]. Most users depend onshared access points, predominantly at educationalinstitutions and workplaces. Three-fourths of Internetusers in the country depend on community access pointssuch as cyber cafe, telecenter, and information kiosk, withcyber cafes as the predominant public access model inurban areas [9]. It is estimated that there are around 50,000cyber cafes used by almost 70 percent of Internet users[10]. However, the cost of surfing Internet at cyber cafesrestricts the usage to the middle and high income groups[11]. In addition, research indicates that even when accessis available, men are advantaged over women in the extentof computer usage [12]. In light of the above discussion ondisparity in the access and use of the technology, thepresent study seeks to explore the different access pointsfor the two sexes and assess gender differences incomputer ownership, Internet connection at home, pointsof access and extent of computer/Internet use.

1

Education especially technical education isinstrumental in expanding capacities and improvingemployment opportunities, thus resulting not only ineconomic but also personal and social empowerment suchas enhancing confidence levels and social status [13].Considering that computer skill is of immense importancein the technology driven society, this paper considers thegains resulting from having acquired basic computereducation. Unlike the much emphasized economic gains,the present paper adopts a multidimensional perspectiveand considers four different facets of empowerment --­psychological, social, educational and economic. Inaddition, it explores the access and use of computer andInternet among men and women and examines how theseaffect the different dimensions and levels ofempowerment.

In recent times, research in gender anddevelopment studies has focused on the concept ofempowerment [14]. According to their theoreticalbackground and parameters of assessment, empowermentis understood by different researchers in different ways.Those from the field of sociology focus on empowermentof the marginalized groups or society as a whole, andassess it in terms of political activism, advocacy andnetworking. Those from the field of economics focus onempowerment of the individual, group or economy as awhole and assess it in terms of improved income levels.Experts in gender studies consider women's empowermentper se and elaborate on how altered gender relations wouldbenefit women and assess it in terms of increased incomeopportunities, greater participation in decision making,social networking and advocacy. On the other hand, thosefrom psychology and management studies concentrate onpsychological gains and characterize empowerment interms of personality (self-efficacy, internal locus ofcontrol), motivational (feeling enabled) and cognitive(meaning, competence, self-determination, impact) factors[15, 16, 17]. For the present study, a cognitive perspectiveof psychological empowerment is adopted. Hence,psychological empowerment is construed asmeaningfulness (commitment to the task), Competence(self-confidence), Self-determination (choice) and impact(making a difference).

In the present information society, computers andInternet are the pervasive technologies that hold potentialfor equalizing the disparities in information, education andincome [18]. With the growth of Information Technologyenabled services (ITES) in India, a plethora of computerrelated jobs have opened up. Comparison of work­participation rate of the ITES with other service sectorsindicates that the field is more accommodating of women[19]. Research has highlighted the personal (selfconfidence) and social gains (status, increasedconnectivity) that come from ICT education [20, 21].However, most of these studies are focused on women;hence a gender comparison does not follow. In addition,the literature is skewed towards the economic benefits thus

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sidelining the other facets of empowerment. This paperattempts to provide a more complete view ofempowerment by considering the psychological, social,educational and economic gains flowing from computerlearning, technology access and usage.

Objectives of the study

• To explore gender differences, if any, incomputer ownership, Internet connection, pointsof access and extent of computer/Internet use.

• To assess the empowerment flowing fromcomputer education for males and females.

• To explore differences, if any, in empowermentamong males and females with different levels ofcomputer/Internet use.

II. METHODOLOGY

Participants of the study comprised of 155trainees (82 females and 73 males) from Mumbai, enrolledin a one year diploma in computer applications and multi­lingual desktop publishing offered by the Ministry ofHuman Resource Development, under the NationalCouncil for Promotion of Urdu language (NCPUL)scheme 1. The course requires the trainees to complete adiploma in Urdu language along with the computer course.While theoretically open to anyone interested in the Urdulanguage, it is particularly the low income Muslim youngwho are drawn to it because it is highly subsidized. Hence,a large section of Muslim boys and girls who are wellversed with Urdu language enroll for the course.Computation from the demographic profile revealed thefollowing information about the sample. The average ageof the subjects was 21.34 years (males = 20.46 years;females = 22.31 years) and their educational level variedfrom higher secondary (45.93 per cent) to undergraduates(22.67 per cent) and college graduates (31.40 per cent).Majority of the subjects (69.77 per cent) studied in Urdumedium schools, while less than one-third (26.74 per cent)had English as the medium of instruction.

Majority (73.2%) of the sample belonged to low(monthly family income of less than Rupees 5000/-; US 1$= 48.70 Rupees) and low middle income group (monthlyfamily income of Rupees 5000/- - 10,000/-). 47.67%fathers were running their own business, 33.14% engagedin service and 19.19% had retired. 87.2% mothers werehomemakers, while 12.79% engaged in home-based work

1 For a detailed description of the scheme, refer RehanaGhadially and Farida Umrani (2004) IT Education: Initiatives amongMumbai Muslims", i4D Informationfor Development, February.

or service. Participants report low educational levels ofparents as nearly one-fourth (24%) of the fathers and half(44%) of the mothers had completed only primaryeducation.

The tools for data collection includedstandardized psychological scales to measureempowerment, a questionnaire to gauge access and use ofcomputer/Internet and a demographic profile. Computerownership was estimated by one question each forcomputer and Internet connection at home. Point of accesswas assessed by one question where subjects selected theplaces of access from a list provided to them. Extent ofcomputer and Internet use was estimated in terms of thenumber of hours subjects spend on a computer/Internet ina week. In addition, a personal profile was estimated to geta few demographic details.

Psychological empowerment was assessed by anadapted version of Spreitzer's 12-item scale [17]. It hasfour subscales - meaningfulness (value of the task),competence (efficacy), self determination (choice) andimpact (difference made). A sample item from thepsychological empowerment scale is, 'Learning computershas given me considerable opportunity for independenceand freedom in how I do my daily tasks.' The reliabilityco-efficients (internal consistency) range between 0.61­0.72. Only overall empowerment score is considered foranalysis in the present study. For social, educational andeconomic empowerment, the scales were designed by theresearchers. Social empowerment was measured by a 4­item scale that tapped four aspects --- increased status,social comparison, being with the times and keeping intouch with friend and/or relatives. A sample item fromsocial empowerment scale is, 'Computer education makesme feel more up to date and current.' Educationalempowerment was measured by a 3-item scale thatcovered three aspects, information source oncourses/colleges/universities, accessing online resourcesand preparation of class reports and presentations. Asample item is, 'Learning computers has opened new waysto find information about differentcourses/colleges/universities for me.' Economicempowerment was assessed by a five-item scale thattapped the following five areas --- opening of new jobopportunities, application in family business, starting acomputer related entrepreneurial venture, earning fromhome and managing family responsibilities with a job. Asample item of economic empowerment scale is 'Learningcomputers has opened new job opportunities for me.' Thereliability co-efficients (Cronbach's alpha) of the social,educational and economic empowerment scales were 0.66,0.72, and 0.77 respectively. Each of the empowermentscale asked the subjects to indicate the extent to whichthey agree that learning computers has resulted in thefollowing outcomes on a 6-point rating scale ranging from1 = disagree to 6 = highly agree. The scales were pilottested and in line with participants' feedback, Hinditranslation was provided along with the English version.

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Permission was ought from the heads of threeNCPUL computer training institutes, to conduct the study.Data was collected across twelve visits by the seniorauthor from a group of 10-15 subjects, on completion often months of computer training.

Data Analysis

Chi-squares and independent t-tests and were computed tocompare male and female subjects on ownership/access,use and empowerment. Two 2-way ANOVAs werecomputed to gauge the influence of gender and differentiallevel of computer and Internet use on the differentdimensions of empowerment.

III. RESULTS

The study gathered information on computerownership, Internet connection at home and points ofaccess. It was found that 14.8 per cent subjects had acomputer at home. This included 12.2 per cent femalesand 17.8 per cent males (X2 =1.38, ns). 6.0 per cent of thesample (5.0 per cent females and 6.8 per cent males, X2

=1.58, ns) had Internet connection a home. These findingsindicate that although the difference between male andfemale subjects' computer ownership and Internetconnection is not significant, there is a trend in favour ofmales.

The different places from where subjectsaccessed the technology beyond class hours at the trainingcentre were explored. The computer institute where thesubjects got their training and cyber cafe emerged as themost important points of access followed by home(own/relative/friend/neighbor) and workplace. A smallgroup of subjects did not have access to computers beyondclass hours. A gendered view of these findings indicatesthat females and males differ significantly on points ofaccess (X2 = 20.19, p<O.OOJ). While the computer traininginstitute emerged as a major access point for females (X2 =10.88, p<O.OOJ; females 57.3 per cent and males 27.4 percent), cyber cafe is more important for males (X2 = 4.26,p<O.05; females, 12.2 per cent, males, 38.4 per cent). Theother points of access --- home and workplace --- did notshow any significant gender difference. 8.5 per centfemales and 4.1 per cent males did not access computersbeyond class hours (Table 1). The findings on the points ofaccess indicate that computer training institutes and cybercafes are the major access points for females and malesrespectively. Though not significant, the trend indicatesthat more males have access to home computers and twiceas many females as compared to males have no access to acomputer at all.

High 31.0 35.6 26.8 0.32 7.1use

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12.3 2.4 4.45*

x2df=2 7.94**

**p<O.Ol, * p<0.05

32.15***

TABLE 1Points of Access to Computers for Males and

FemalesPoints of Total Males Females GenderAccess (T) (M) (F) X2

df=1

Computer 43.2% 27.4 57.3 10.88***instituteCyber cafe 24.5 38.4 12.2 4.26*

Home 23.2 27.4 19.5 0.44

Workplace 2.6 2.7 2.4 0

Do not 6.5 4.1 8.5 1.6access

X2 20.19***

df=4

***p<O. 005, *p<0.05

In addition to the above, the extent of computerand Internet use was also measured. On the basis of thenumber of hours in a week subjects worked on computers,beyond the class hours at the institute, they were classifiedinto three groups --- no use (not at all), low use (less than 5hours) and high use (5 hours or more). More than one-fourthof the sample did not use computers at all, two-fifth reportedlow use and less than one-third were in the high usecategory. The gender view indicates that female and malesubjects differ significantly with regard to the extent ofcomputer use. The number of females and males in nocomputer use category differed significantly (X2 = 7.71, df =1, p<O.Ol). Even when the women use computers beyondclass hours, the extent of use is limited as compared to men.However, this difference is not significant. Thus, thefindings provide evidence for the disadvantage of womenparticipants (Table 2).

TABLE 2Extent of Computer and Internet Use for Males

and FemalesComputer Use X

2 Internet Use X2df--l df--I

T M F T M F

No 27.1 16.5 36.6 7.71* 59.4 35.6 80.5 17.39**% *use

Low 41.9 47.9 36.6 0.38 33.5 52.1 17.1 11.08**use

A similar classification was done with regard toInternet use. More than half of the sample did not useInternet at all, one-third surfed Internet for less than 5 hoursand a small number surfed for more than 5 hours in a week.Female and male subjects differed significantly with regardto the extent of Internet use (X2 = 32.15, df = 2, p<O.OOl).The two sexes differed significantly on each of the threecategories of Internet use --- no use (X2 = 17.39, df = 1, P <0.01), low use (X2 = 11.08, df= 1,P < 0.01) and high use (X2 =4.45, df = 1, P < 0.01). 80.5 per cent females reported notusing Internet at all, while the corresponding figure for maleswas 35.6 per cent. 17.1 per cent females and 52.1 per centmales report low Internet use; while 2.4 per cent females and12.3 per cent males fall in the high Internet use category(Table 2). Thus, Internet use is significantly low for femalesas compared to males. Comparing computer and Internetusage of the two sexes indicated that the disparity intechnology usage is more marked in case of Internet than thecomputer, thus pushing the women off the informationhighway.

In addition to the above, the study estimated thelevels of empowerment of male and female trainees. Anestimate of composite empowerment was calculated byadding scores on the psychological, social, educational andeconomic empowerment dimensions and dividing it by four.To test whether the male and female subjects differsignificantly on empowerment, independent sample t-testswere computed. The two sexes did not differ significantly onany of the dimensions of empowerment --- composite (t = ­1.40, df =153), psychological (t = -0.93, df =153), social (t = ­1.10, df=153), educational (t = -1.53, df=153) and economic(t = -1.27, df=153). Although no significant differences wereobtained on the different dimensions of empowerment, thetrend in all cases was for women to experience moreempowerment than men. Basic computer education results inrelatively higher composite empowerment for females (mean= 30.58, SD = 3.82) as compared to males (mean = 29.75, SD= 3.55). Similarly, females reported higher psychological(mean = 58.83, SD = 9.46) and social (mean = 21.44, SD =2.99) empowerment than males (mean = 57.51, SD = 8.05;mean = 20.90, SD = 3.05, respectively). Following the trend,females reported relatively higher educational (mean = 16.17,SD = 2.83) and economic (mean = 25.89, SD = 4.33)empowerment as compared to males (mean = 15.53, SD =2.27; mean = 25.04, SD = 3.93 respectively).

The interaction effect of gender andcomputer/Internet use on the empowerment was assessed bymeans of a two-way ANOVA (Tables 3 and 4). The combinedeffect of gender and computer use resulted in a significantdifference in the composite [F (1, 151) = 8.02, p<O.Ol],psychological [F (1,151) = 4.14, p<0.05], educational [F (1, 151) =9.62, p<0.015] and economic [F (1, 151) = 6.12, p<O.Ol]empowerment. In other words, females reporting computeruse obtained significantly higher scores on all aspects ofempowerment as compared to males.

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The trend of the scores indicated that femaleswith computer use reported higher empowerment than maleswith computer use as well as females and males with nocomputer use (Table 5).

TABLE 3Results of Two-Way ANOVA Assessing the TABLE 5

Effect of Gender and Computer Use on EmpowermentDependent Source SS df MSS F t-test Scores of Male and Female Ss with Different LevelsVariable of Computer Use on Empowerment

Composite Gender* 101.17 101.17 8.02**empowerment Computer use Emp Computer Use Internet Use(CE) Error 1905.34 151 12.62 M F t M F tPsychological Gender* 306.63 1 306.63 4.14* df=111 df=61empowerment Computer use CE 29.61 31.71 29.63 31.70 -2.09*(PE) Error 11189.03 151 3.22***

Social Gender* 25.04 1 25.04 2.82 PE 57.39 61.07 -2.43* 57.23 61.19 -1.64

empowerment Computer use(SE) Error 1340.46 151 8.87 SE 20.85 22.04 -2.22* 20.98 21.56 -0.70Educational Gender* 58.17 1 58.17 9.62**empowerment Computer use EDE 15.43 17.02 15.19 17.00 -2.82**(EDE) Error 913.115 151 6.05 4.26***

Economic Gender* 101.84 1 101.84 6.12** ECE 24.75 26.69 -2.61** 25.11 27.06 -2.03*empowerment Computer use(ECE) Error 2512.89 151 16.64

**p<O. 01,.*p<O. 05 (one-tailed)**p<O.Ol, *p<0.05

TABLE 4Results of Two-Way ANOVA Assessing the Effect of

Gender and Internet Use on Empowerment

Dependent Source SS df MSS FVariableCE Gender* 21.69 21.69 1.59

Internet useError 2065.48 151 13.68

PE Gender* 99.42 1 99.42 1.27Internet useError 11791.48 151 78.09

SE Gender* 0.02 1 0.02 0.002Internet

Error 1391.486 151 9.21EDE Gender* 28.90 1 28.90 4.40*

Internet useError 990.60 151 6.56

ECE Gender* 11.80 1 11.80 0.68Internet

Error 2607.009 151 17.26 1.27

*p<0.05

A similar computation was done with respect togender and Internet use. The interaction effect of gender andInternet use resulted in a significant difference in educationalempowerment [F (1, 151) = 4.40, p<0.05)]. The trend of themean scores indicates that females with Internet use reportedhigher empowerment than males with Internet use as well asfemales and males with no Internet use (Table 5). The meanscores of females (mean = 31.70, SD = 2.91) and males(mean = 29.63, SD = 3.59) on composite empowerment weresignificantly different (t = -3.22, p<O.005). The mean scoreson psychological, social, educational and economicempowerment of the two sexes reporting computer use werefound to be significantly different (t = -2.43; p<0.05, -2.22;p<0.05, -4.26 p<0.005, -2.61; p<O.Ol). Females reportingcomputer use was significantly higher than males on each ofthe dimensions (Table 5). Thus, technology use providesmaximum benefits for women.

IV. DISCUSSION

A. Computer Ownership/Internet Connection, Access,Computer/Internet Use

The study assessed computer access and usage of thetechnology in terms of family ownership of computer,having an Internet connection at home and the variouspoints of access to computer/ Internet. Computerownership and home Internet connection for the sample isconsiderably lower as compared to ICT penetration inMumbai where the study was conducted. The city ranksfirst in PC penetration with 32 per cent household owninga PC [22]. Research indicates that Mumbai and Delhitogether constitute close to 70 per cent of the total installedcomputers in Indian homes and 46 per cent of thecomputer owners have an Internet connection [12]. Thus,even though the figures of computer ownership andInternet connection for the sample under study are betterthan the national average (2.5 and 4.2 % respectively [8]),they are much lower than the figures for Mumbai city. Thesample consisting of college students and fresh graduates,have no personal disposable income to purchase acomputer. Besides 80 per cent of the subjects in the studybelonged to low income group and hence cannot afford apersonal computer or Internet connection. In addition, dueto low education levels of the parents, there is lack ofawareness about the potential of the Internet. Hence, evenwhen they purchase a computer to support education oftheir children, less than half of the sample has an Internetconnection. Besides, technology access at home isadversely affected by space constraints. Households inMumbai utilize an average of 2.9 square meter of floorspace per person, one of the lowest in the world [23].Given the low socio-economic levels of the sample and thepigeon-hole like houses of Muslim ethnic enclaves ofMumbai, the disadvantage for the young members of thecommunity with regard to computer ownership andInternet connection follows.

The two sexes did not differ significantly oncomputer ownership and home Internet connection. This isbecause majority of the sample belong to low incomegroups and are financially dependent on their families.Hence, both boys and girls were affected by economicconstraints. However, the trend indicates that males areslightly advantaged as compared to females. There is lackof gender segregated data on computer ownership, hencestretching a point, a study on difference in familycomputer usage is considered. A study on computer usagein India indicates that 82 per cent of males compared toonly 16 per cent of females are the primary users of familycomputer [12]. Besides, Indian families tend to makehigher investments in education of the boys compared togirls due to different role expectations [24]. As computeris identified as an educational tool, it is likely that familieswould purchase computers for their sons rather thandaughters. In addition, males identify the home computeras personally owned; while females identify it asbelonging to the head of the family [25]. Cost barrier ismore prominent in case of Internet connection ascompared to computer ownership, in terms of recurringmonthly payments. In addition, due to low educationlevels (one-fourth of the fathers and half of the mothers

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had primary education or were illiterate), parents may notbe aware of the potential benefits of Internet.

Besides private access, the different points ofaccess were explored. It was found that significantlyhigher number of females access computers at the traininginstitute. Access at the institute does not require costinvestment, but does not provide Internet access either.Further, the women will be left vying for access aftercompletion of the course. Cyber cafe is significantly moreimportant point of access for males than females. Thisdifference may be explained by three reasons --- nature ofuse cost and socio-cultural attitudes. Males seek to use theInternet, which the computer training centre does notprovide. In urban India, cyber cafes are the predominantpublic access model for Internet usage. Even though thecost of surfmg in the cyber cafes has reduced from Rupees50 to Rupees 20 per hour in the last decade, this is still outof reach of the low income groups. Young girls mayhesitate to use family resources for surfing the Internet,thus curtailing their visit to cyber cafes. Third, socio­cultural restrictions add to the disadvantage of youngwomen as families impose sanctions against cyber cafes asthese are characterized as boys' hangouts and lack femaleattendants [26]. Besides, families may be more willing toprovide financial support to the boys for accessingtechnology, thus placing them at an advantage as far asaccess at cyber cafe is concerned.

Workplace does not emerge as an importantaccess point as the sample consists predominantly ofcollege students and fresh graduates. Only six participants(4 men, 2 women) were working in part time jobs such asgiving home tuitions, office assistant, etc. Thus, despitepossessing the technical skills, the women from the currentsample have lower access to the technology as comparedto their male counterparts. Limited Internet connection athome and cyber cafe usage seriously disadvantages thewomen as research indicates that Internet provides womenaccess to information, greater participation in decision­making and networking, thus empowering them [18].

Subjects were asked the number of hours theyused computers/ Internet in a week, besides the regularclass hours at the training institute. On the basis of theirresponses, the usage was classified into three levels --- no­use, low-use and high-use a week. A similar classificationwas done with regard to Internet use. Two issues areapparent with regard to computer/ Internet use; one, thedisparity across technology --- computer vis Internet; andgender --- males vis females. While a quarter of thesubjects fell in no-use category for computer use, withregard to the Internet, this rose to 60 per cent. One-third ofthe subjects reported high computer use but only 7.1 percent report high Internet use. These figures bear testimonyto the fact that computer use and Internet use are distinctcategories and merging them into a single unit could bemisleading. While using computers requires only access tothe machine, for Internet use the cost gets multi-fold due

to investments in modems, optical fibers, charges ofInternet service providers and computer maintenance. Thismay explain the lack of Internet usage.

The other reasons for limited Internet use are thenon-availability of subsidized public access points, limitedEnglish language competency and socio-cultural attitudes.Though cyber cafe is the main access point in urban India,the cost of usage is beyond the reach of low incomegroups. Research indicates that one-third of Internet usersin Indian cities have an income above Rupees 25,000/- ,while only 4.4 percent of the Internet users have anincome below Rupees 5000/- [11]. Access at cyber cafes isbeyond the reach of low economic groups. As majority ofthe sample are poor, they have little disposable incomethat could be used for Internet access. Research indicatesthat there is a strong relationship between the use of theInternet and ability to speak English [9, 27]. Surveying agroup of students from Gujarat, it is observed that studentseducated in the vernacular medium at school struggled atcollege where the medium of instruction is English [28].As 70 per cent of the sample in the present study had Urduas the medium of instruction in school, their limitedEnglish language skills probably affected their Internetuse. Although considerable web content is now availablein a variety of Indian languages; a cursory review of theUrdu websites by the first author in 2007, revealed thatthey focused on literature, poetry and news rather thaneducation and employment. Hence, tangible gains do notfollow for the subjects surfing these websites.

B. Computer Education, Use and Empowerment

In addition to computer access and use, the studyfocused on analyzing gender differences in empowermentlevels following from technical skills training. It wasfound that basic computer education yields similarempowerment gains for males as well as females. There isno research comparing men and women on empowermentflowing from computer education hence, the explanationsoffered are speculative in nature. Lack of genderdifferences on empowerment could be due to four reasons.First, the sample consisted of young, college going orfresh college graduates from a metropolitan locale on theverge of entering the job market. The homogenous natureof the sample makes for similar sources of empowermentsuch as marketable skills. Second, empowerment asassessed by the scales focuses on the cognitive level andreflects the subject's estimate of the possible gains fromcomputer education. It does not assess the tangiblebenefits flowing from technical skills, thus overlookingconstraints in the real world that affect the actual benefitsof computer education. Third, the item pool of thedifferent empowerment scales is narrow and specific tothis sample. It is likely that if a more diverse measure wasadopted, the two sexes would indicate differentialempowerment levels. Fourth, men and women scoredifferentially on the items on the scales, thus canceling outthe gap. This will be discussed in the following

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paragraphs.

Although the two sexes do not differ significantly on allmeasures of empowerment, the trend in all cases is forfemales to be more empowered than males. This issupported by research that indicates that thoughmodernization and technological development initiallydisadvantaged women, leT promises a technological U­tum [29]. Findings of this study are strengthened byevidence from a qualitative study of the impact ofcomputer education that indicates that more women thanmen experience higher boost in self-confidence and securecomputer related jobs [30]. It is likely that since SouthAsian women in general are socio-economically deprived,their expectation from something new will be higher thanmales who have better chances of being exposed to thesetechnologies before hand.

Analyses of the participants' response onpsychological empowerment indicate that femalesexpressed slightly higher meaning (mean =14.91, SD=2.76), self-determination (mean = 14.83, SD = 3.18) andcompetence (mean = 15.11, SD = 2.57) as compared tomales (mean = 14.78, 14.01, 14.48; SD = 2.32, 2.59, 2.58respectively). In other words, computer education resultedin creating a sense of new possibilities for involvement,independence and self-confidence for women. On theother hand, males (mean = 14.23, SD = 3.00) reportedslightly higher impact than females (mean =13.97, SD =3.28), indicating that computer education provided thempossibilities for enhanced control over their environment.Thus, the psychological gains for females and males focuson micro and macro levels respectively . Women reportedrelatively higher gains on all aspects of socialempowerment --- feeling contemporary, enhanced status,social comparison, and connectivity --- as compared tomales. This is in line with research that women perceivefamily gain, communication and social gain as the first,second and fifth most important benefit of personalcomputer use [20]. In addition, the social connectivityaspect is supported as women are responsible formaintaining family and kin relations [31].

Women report relatively higher educationalempowerment than men with higher scores on informationon courses/colleges/universities, accessing onlinejournals/books/reports. This is corroborated with theresearch that when females use computers, they do somainly for educational purposes; unlike males, who use itfor general purposes or playing games [11]. More thanone-third females have completed college; hence searchfor educational information follows. Males score slightlyhigher on the use of computers to prepare reports andpresentation, may be because unlike the women, more thanhalf of the men are in college. Females reported slightlyhigher scores on four of the five aspects of economicempowerment --- job opportunities, managing familyresponsibilities with work, earning from home andassisting in family business. There is a general perception

in urban India that a combination of college degree andcomputer skills enhances the possibility of employment.Since a higher number of women participants had alreadycompleted college, they felt better equipped to find a job.The economic gains for females focus on the potential ofIT for combining family with work, a gain which ensuresmaintenance of traditional values and yet beingproductive. On the other hand, males reported a higherpossibility of setting up personal business. This may bebecause belonging to business families (47%), males maybe socialized to start their own business. Besides, familiescould be more willing to provide them the financial capitaldue to future role expectation.

Looking at computer/Internet use andempowerment, it was found that significantly morefemales (more than one-third) fell in the no-use categoryof computer use, than males (one-fifth). Similarly,significantly more females (more than 80 per cent females)than males (one-third) report no Internet use. Althoughboth computer and Internet use was relatively limited forfemales, they were more disadvantaged with regard toInternet use. This is a cause of concern, as most of theresearch that make a case of ICT-Ied empowerment ofwomen, focus on the Internet technology and its ensuingbenefits like networking, political activism and e­commerce [14, 32]. Women's low Internet use in thissample is in line with previous fmdings. In a survey ofMacau residents, it was found that Internet users weremore likely to be males [33]. In a survey of Indian Internetusers, it was found that females start using cyber cafes, acommon Internet access point in urban India later; usethem less often and for shorter duration per session [11].

Gender and extent of computer/Internet usesignificantly influence empowerment levels. Findingsindicate that with the exception of social empowerment,the interaction effect of gender and computer use issignificant for composite and the other three kinds ofempowerment --- psychological, education and economic.The mean empowerment scores of males and femalesindicate that females reporting computer use are moreempowered than males with computer use as well asfemales and males without computer use. Thus, therelevance of computer use for empowerment of femalescannot be overstated. It is in line with the research thatemphasizes psychosocial, educational and economicbenefits of computer access and use for women [34, 35]. Astudy of six projects of the Information for DevelopmentProgram (infoDev) found that computer skills increasedself-esteem and promoted self-confidence of the youngwomen participants [18]. Similarly, a study on novicewomen computer learners found that computer skillsresulted in increased self-esteem and enhanced status [20].The sample of the present research comprised of youngcollege students; hence, educational benefits of usingcomputers like preparing class assignments orpresentations seem relevant. Further, females usingcomputers understand that this technology offers an

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avenue to become economically independent. Even thoughthe advantage of females in social empowerment is notsignificant, the trend is in the same direction. Mediaadvertisements of personal computers in India, project thewomen computer user as a modem, westernizedindividual; cues that highlight the social status andmodernity associated with this technology [36]. Acomputer being associated with masculinity, its usagebrings the females on an equal social footing, enhancingfeelings of being contemporary and moving with thetimes.

The interaction effect of gender and Internet usewas found to result in significant difference on educationalempowerment, with females using Internet obtaininghighest mean empowerment scores as compared to theirmale counterparts. This is not surprising as researchindicates that when women used technology, they do sofor educational purposes unlike males who use it forgeneral purposes or playing games [11]. The sampleincluded higher number of females who had completedcollege; hence they are likely to explore opportunities forcontinuing education using Internet. Thus, young Muslimwomen derive educational benefits out of using Internet.

With regard to other aspects of empowerment, itwas found that there was no significant interaction effectof gender and Internet use. As far as psychological andsocial empowerment is concerned, the trend is in favor offemales. This is in line with previous research that Internetuse increases self-confidence, facilitates networking andexpands income generation capacity [14]. There is limitedcomparative evidence on the differential benefit to malesand females from computer and Internet usage. In light ofthis, the present research fills an important gap byproviding empirical evidence for the benefits of computereducation and technology usage for empowering the twosexes. However, more research with gender as an analyticvariable is necessary before a clearer picture emerges.

v. CONCLUSION AND POLICYRECOMMENDATIONS

Five major conclusions can be drawn from thestudy. First, computer ownership and Internet connectionis very low for the sample compared to figures forMumbai city. Hence, the minority poor as other urbanpoor are on the wrong side of the digital divide. Second,computer training centre is the major access point forfemales, while cyber cafe emerges as the chief accesspoint for males. The primary access model in urban Indiais cyber cafe and is underused by women. Related to this,the third conclusion is that when women do have access tocomputers and the Internet the extent of usage is limited ascompared to males. Thus, the poor urban minority womenare off the information highway. Fourth, technology useempowers females more than the males, thus making astrong case for ensuring sustained access and usage. Thefifth important conclusion is that computer education is a

key gender equalizer as unlike other technologieswomen's engagement with new technologies open's newpossibilities and empowers them as much as the men.

In light of the above conclusions, policyrecommendations are suggested. In order to widen accesspoints and encourage technology use amongst those at theedge of the information society, community access pointsbased on the tele-center model should be set up in urbanlocales with public-private partnerships. Government canprovide tax benefits to business houses investing in suchendeavors. Besides, to improve women's access, cybercafes can reserve special timings, provide separate spacefor girls, appoint female support staff and open womenonly cyber cafes. This will help the young women toovercome the inhibitions in visiting these places fortechnology access. In addition, civil society organizationscan create awareness about potential benefits oftechnology use and facilitate higher familial support fortechnology use by women.

In order to maximize tangible gains fromtechnical skills the computer training center has to bediversified. The center can liaison with the local small andmedium enterprises to provide placement support to itstrainees. It can serve as an intermediary to secure micro­credit to its students, with special concessions for girls.These finances can be used for purchase of a computer andsetting up computer-related business such as a cyber cafe.Further, it can assist the trainees to form a self-help groupto pool their resources and secure credit for computer­related income generation. Urban Muslims being largely apetty business community, their business spirit may assuresustainability. What is required is the initial thrust from anexternal agency.

It is likely that the impact of these policies can bedelimited due to societal conditions such as discriminationand prejudice. Hence, fair disbursement of micro-creditand sensitization to overcome discrimination will help towiden the gains flowing from technology. These measureswill enable the Muslim youth to compete on an equalfooting and lead to their main streaming in India'seconomic growth.

As far as directions for future research areconcerned, a more comprehensive study can yieldrepresentative results. The fmdings of the study are limitedin generalizability as data was not collected from locationsother than Mumbai and across socio-economic class. Acomparative sample from other minority groups mayprovide better insight into the standing of Muslim youthon the information highway.

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