Around 90 percent of adolescent girls and young women do not use the internet in low-income countries, while their male peers are twice as likely to be online. This is according to a new UNICEF analysis detailed in a report released on Thursday.
The report titled, “Bridging the Digital Divide: Challenges and an Urgent Call for Action for Equitable Digital Skills Development offers data on the gender digital divide among young people aged 15-24 years having analyzed available data on internet use, mobile phone ownership, and digital skills in mostly low-, lower-middle-, and some middle-income economies.
The report finds that girls are being left behind in an increasingly digital and connected world.
“Closing the digital divide between girls and boys is about more than just having access to the internet and technology. It’s about empowering girls to become innovators, creators, and leaders,” said UNICEF Director of Education Robert Jenkins. “If we want to tackle gender gaps in the labor market, especially in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math fields, we must start now by helping young people, especially girls, gain digital skills.”
According to the report, in most countries analyzed, the share of youth with access to the Internet at home is much higher than that of youth with digital skills.
On average across 32 countries and territories, girls are 35 percent less likely than their male peers to have digital skills, including simple activities like copying or pasting files or folders, sending emails, or transferring files.
The root barriers are far deeper than a lack of access to the internet, according to the report.
The findings suggest that educational and family environments play a critical role in the gender digital divide. For example, even within the same home, girls are far less likely than boys to access and be able to make full use of the internet and digital technologies. Among 41 countries and territories included in the analysis, households are much more likely to provide mobile phones for boys than girls.
Barriers to accessing opportunities to higher learning and the labor market, pervasive discriminatory gender norms and stereotypes, and concerns over online safety may further restrict girls’ digital inclusion and skills development.
The report also argues that even when girls have equitable access to gain foundational reading and math skills – and perform on par or better than their male peers – it does not always translate to digital skills. To break the barriers holding girls back, they need early exposure and access to technology, digital and life skills training, and efforts that address harmful gender stereotypes, especially within families, and online violence.
UNICEF asks governments to come up with innovations that protect girls’ safety online through virtual safe spaces, policies and laws, and education. They also recommend the promotion of girls’ access to peer learning, mentoring, internships, and job shadowing in the digital world.
