Women and Digital Technologies: Comparative Analysis of Australia, Chile and India Kim M. Thompson SIS Research Seminar Series 2017 17 May 2017 SCHOOL OF INFORMATION STUDIES
Gendered involvement with digital technology SCHOOL OF INFORMATION STUDIES
Gendered involvement with digital technology “The great equalizer” “Gender neutral” SCHOOL OF INFORMATION STUDIES
How do we gender library science/archives (stereotyping, Dewey) digital technologies (apps, layouts, usability) the Internet (content, hierarchies) information behaviors (socialisation) Wikipedia (only 15% written by female authors) programming (code like a girl) SCHOOL OF INFORMATION STUDIES
How do we gender Until 1984, women were the “programmers” and men were the “hardware” side of computing SCHOOL OF INFORMATION STUDIES
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Digital technology designed for women SCHOOL OF INFORMATION STUDIES
Honeywell Kitchen Computer, 1969 • First wave of computers marketed for home use • 16-bit mini-computer • Memory 4K to 32K • Save and retrieve recipes (built in cutting board) • Create and organize menus • Save shopping lists • Balance family checkbook • $10,600USD ($70,600USD today) • 2 week training course • 1000 recipes • Pastel cotton apron • No record of any being sold SCHOOL OF INFORMATION STUDIES
Domestic life Takes place in the home, and specifically in common spaces in the home Needs organisation Needs storing and retrieving of information Needs calculation, basic mathematics Can be enhanced with technology SCHOOL OF INFORMATION STUDIES
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Why does it matter if women do not adopt, use and enjoy digital technology? SCHOOL OF INFORMATION STUDIES
Digital fluency acts as an accelerant at every stage of a woman’s career Education Employment Promotion Leadership SCHOOL OF INFORMATION STUDIES
Who writes our social and cultural history? SCHOOL OF INFORMATION STUDIES
Quality is enhanced by diversity We know that results and solutions are improved if people with a diverse range of skills and bringing a diversity of experiences are allowed to contribute to decision-making processes. SCHOOL OF INFORMATION STUDIES
Technology reflecting the society it serves The purpose of digital technology is to benefit society. The designers, coders, and programmers are shaping what is noted as being of beneficial to society. SCHOOL OF INFORMATION STUDIES
IT students and workers drawn from whole population Courses aim to attract the highest achieving students into degree programs, while simultaneously growing the number of students enrolled. This can only be done through improving equity in female/male enrolments. SCHOOL OF INFORMATION STUDIES
Digital leadership and senior leaders E-government Virtual communities Online education Digital inclusion SCHOOL OF INFORMATION STUDIES
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Does everyone need to code? SCHOOL OF INFORMATION STUDIES
Digital fluency Mindset Willingness to try new things Non-gendered career choices A digital world can empower historically disadvantaged and underserved groups SCHOOL OF INFORMATION STUDIES
How and why do women use technology? Women's use of ICT is important to understand as it can help in accommodating their needs in the overall ICT development and policy implementation of a nation. SCHOOL OF INFORMATION STUDIES
One model: Technology Acceptance Model SCHOOL OF INFORMATION STUDIES
Technology Acceptance Model perceived usefulness -- how much the technology is seen to be enhancing job performance perceived ease of use -- how little effort might be required to use the technology Davis, F. (1986). A technology acceptance model for empirically testing new end-user information systems: Theory and results (doctoral dissertation). Cambridge, MA: MIT Sloan School of Management. Davis, F. (1989). Perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, and user acceptance of information technology. MIS Quarterly, 13 (3), 319-340. SCHOOL OF INFORMATION STUDIES
Technology Acceptance Model men motivated by productivity factors, i.e., usefulness of the technology for completing work women motivated by perceived ease of use and “the degree to which an individual believes that people who are important to [her] think [she] should perform the behavior in question” (p. 119). Venkatesh, V. M., & Morris, M. G. (2000). Why don't men ever stop to ask for directions? Gender, social influence, and their role in technology acceptance and usage behavior. MIS Quarterly, 24 (1), 115-139. SCHOOL OF INFORMATION STUDIES
Technology Acceptance Model female adoption of technology is more colored by emotional factors such as perceived playfulness or enjoyment of the technology males are more interested in the perceived use of the technology Padilla-Melendez, A., Aguila-Obra, A. R., & Garrido-Moreno, A. (2013). Perceived playfulness, gender differences and technology acceptance model in a blended learning scenario. Computers & Education, 63 , 306-317. SCHOOL OF INFORMATION STUDIES
Technology Acceptance Model gendered approaches to information technology are socially constructed and “gender roles have a strong psychological basis and are relatively enduring, yet open to change over time ” (p. 449). Venkatesh, V., Morris, M. G., Davis, G. B., & Davis, F. D. (2003). User acceptance of information technology: Toward a unified view. MIS Quarterly, 27 (3), 425-478. SCHOOL OF INFORMATION STUDIES
Technology Acceptance Model perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness are not static personal attributes with increased experience a user will feel more capable and feel less anxiety about technology Venkatesh, V., & Bala, H. (2008). Technology acceptance model 3 and a research agenda on interventions. Decision Sciences, 39 (2). SCHOOL OF INFORMATION STUDIES
Adoption, use, confidence and enjoyment SCHOOL OF INFORMATION STUDIES
Purpose of the study …to enhance the utility of digital technologies for the benefit of the community through a focus on identifying adoption and use of technology by women. SCHOOL OF INFORMATION STUDIES
Kerala, India NSW and QLD, Australia, Valparaiso and Santiago, Chile Literacy rates for women Economic development Gender equity SCHOOL OF INFORMATION STUDIES
Demographics 1. Females aged 25-50 2. Tertiary qualification 3. Use technology in the workplace 4. Used ICT for at least five years 5. Owners of current and relevant ICT such as mobile phones, laptops, tablets, etc. SCHOOL OF INFORMATION STUDIES
Snowball sampling At least 3 strands per country SCHOOL OF INFORMATION STUDIES
Researchers Teachers Professors University administrators Nurses Doctors Dentists Entrepreneurs Engineers Government workers IT professionals SCHOOL OF INFORMATION STUDIES
Preliminary findings… Thompson, K. M. & Paul, A. (2016). “I am not sure how much it will be helpful for me”: Factors for digital inclusion among middle- and upper-class women in India. The Library Quarterly, 86 (1), 93-106. Paul, A., Thompson, K. M., & Heinstrom, J. (2015). After access: An inquiry into ICT use factors for Indian women. Proceedings of the 78 th ASIS&T Annual Meeting: Information Science with Impact: Research in and for the Community, 52(1), Article 35. Paul, A. (2015). Use of information and communication technologies in the everyday lives of Indian women: A normative behaviour perspective. Information Research, 20 (1). SCHOOL OF INFORMATION STUDIES
Works in progress… Paul, A. & Thompson, K. M. (under review). Women in digital India: An in-depth analysis of the e-government preparedness of middle-class Indian women. Thompson, K. M. & Paul, A. (in process). Comparative analysis of women and digital technology adoption, use and enjoyment in India, Australia, and Chile. Thompson, K. M. & Santelices, C. (in process). Women and digital technologies in Chile. [working title] Thompson, K. M. (in process). Women and digital technologies in Australia. [working title] SCHOOL OF INFORMATION STUDIES
Similarities across countries The participants who had technologies in the home as a child (even VHS) and were encouraged to use them tend to feel more confident in their digital technology use as adults SCHOOL OF INFORMATION STUDIES
Similarities across countries The participants who had technologies in the home as a child (even VHS) and were encouraged to use them tend to feel more confident in their digital technology use as adults (particularly if their father praised them/played with them) SCHOOL OF INFORMATION STUDIES
The participants whose mothers used ICT feel more confident (even if it was just computer typing up sick notes for school) SCHOOL OF INFORMATION STUDIES
The participants whose mothers used ICT feel more confident (even if it was just computer typing up sick notes for school)…but very few within our demographic have mothers who used ICT SCHOOL OF INFORMATION STUDIES
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