Women in Technology- Interventions and Interfaces

The advancement of Information Technology around the world has the contribution of both males and females counterparts. Over the years, people have effectively adopted and embraced information technology in all sectors and works of life. Although significant number of women have made a mark in the world of technology, it has traditionally been a domain dominated by male. There is inequality between women and men in hiring and retention of women in the field of information technology. Although the increased educational status has raised the status of women, they still have a long way to go when it comes to equal rights in a male dominated society.

Encounter of women and technology can be seen in two ways: role of women in technological interventions in job market, and lives of women affected by the changes in technology. First point can be defined in terms of the workforce, as traditionally it has been seen that women have very low participation in the fields related to information technology and STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics). The second point defines how the lives of women have been affected. For example, internet and mobile services have increased the permeability, accessibility and usability thereby improving the quality of life of people at large.

On the positive side, we can also see that the spread of information technology in the areas like banking and telecommunication have opened new opportunities for women who are computer literate and open to learning new skills. This can be illustrated from the fact that there is a significant increase in the representation of women as board members in Fortune 500 companies. Interestingly, these companies outperform those without women on return on equity, on sales, and on invested capital.

But often it is seen that despite such advancement of technology in the lives of the people, the participation of females in this arena is significantly low. The reasons for low employment of women in IT sector can be varied. Some of the reasons can be listed as follows:

· Restricted access to resources limits women’s chance of gaining equality

· Women have little or low access to jobs and representation in jobs related to automation

· Stark gender technology gap wherein females are less likely to get enrolled in courses related to science and technology due to various socio-economic and psychological factors

· In the sphere of self employment, women tend to lose out on achieving the full potential because of lack of access to business and marketing skills

In the developing countries, many a times, it becomes difficult to gauge the pattern of development and accessibility of women in technology because of huge informal and non-formal sector and unregistered/ unauthorized firms which do not disclose their income and production. In these cases, women who do not have formal employment are seen to have acquired/ learnt the skills on the job.

Although women have played an important role in development of information technology, their role is often downplayed by the fact that women as a group have remained invisible in public domain of commercial decision making as well as vocational education and skill development. It is often said that the dominant group in the society determines the shape and direction of society’s techno-economic order, and the image on an inventor has always been male. Therefore, more women and girls should play leadership roles in designing and shaping technology, especially to advance women’s rights.

With the right tools, the internet can provide women with new and innovative pathways to connect and to meaningfully participate in the economy. Rightly leveraged, technology can play a role in empowering girls either by taking up studies in a STEM field or encouraging them for leadership positions. The need of the hour is to constantly find ways to break through the barriers that hold them back, and build a pathway to amplify their aspirations and ambitions.

Keywords: Technology, Accessibility, Women, Equality