Mexico. Within the framework of International Women's Day 2019, a space for reflection is opened regarding the role played by Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) on gender equity. These technologies are simultaneously constituted as a basic right of all Mexican citizens, but at the same time as a key tool to advance in issues of gender equity and, in particular, in the promotion of a growing empowerment of women.
The National Population Council (CONAPO) reported that there are 125.3 million Mexicans at the end of 2018, just over half (50.9%) are women.
In the labour market this distribution is practically not maintained, since women represent only 36.8% of the economically active employed population. In its segmentation relative to the telecommunications industry, the gap is replicated, such that 36.2% of the employed population are women, according to statistics from the Federal Institute of Telecommunications (IFT).
Gender Parity in ICT Education
Despite the existence of a gender disparity in the sector in its employment dimension, it is identified that in terms of training, access and use, the availability of ICT has served as an equalizer.
With regard to ICT education, the participation of women in ICT-related postgraduate courses registered an increase of 2 percentage points between the 2015-2016 and 2017-2018 school years, going from a female enrollment of 27% to 29%. Promoting the inclusion of women in these careers is an alternative to reversing the growing linear trend of the gender gap in the telecommunications sector.
The inclusion of a greater number of women in the formation of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics in Spanish) professional careers and in ICT would not only shorten in the long term the gender gap identified in the sectoral labor market and reverse its growing trend. Additionally, it would increase the pool of highly specialized human capital, turning this productive factor into a catalyst for innovation and dynamism in the medium and long term.
Equitable Access to ICT Services and Devices
In its consumption dimension, the trends of adoption of services and devices exhibit an equitable scenario, such that in less than a decade access to connectivity between men and women has been democratized.
This represents good news, since the growing decrease observed in the gender gap in different areas such as education and health, is also identified in a one-dimensional way in studies on the adoption of ICT among the population.
Attributable to the multiplicity of technological services, women around the world privilege digital channels, since they are a tool to contact friends and family, access relevant information and generate spaces for the female voice.
Regarding the adoption of connectivity devices, at the end of 2018, it was identified that 87.6% of women mobile phone users own a Smartphone, a level that exceeds the adoption registered in men (86.8%).
As for access to tablets, 36.1% of women have one of these devices, a figure slightly lower than that registered in men (36.7%).
Homogeneous tenure or equal access to these connectivity devices enables equal opportunities for access to information, communication, education, health and entertainment tools for women and men.
In turn, parity in the use of connectivity equipment has resulted in an intensification in the use of mobile internet. In such a way that 55.7% of women Internet users have access to Mobile Broadband.
Among the main uses of BAM in women, the following stand out: chatting (90%), checking social networks (80%) and, in third place, the use of the mobile internet to search for information (51%). But the use of this technology does not end only in covering communication needs, access to information and entertainment, but has begun to permeate the use of productivity tools and assistance at work. Thus, 19% of women users of BAM currently use the service to carry out work activities.
On the other hand, the conditions of access to connectivity tools have driven the equal use of online trading platforms. 29.6% of female Internet users have made a monetary transaction on the Internet from their smartphone, tablet, computer, video game console or other connectivity device, even lower than that registered in men (44.7%).
While 57.5% of women use video games, a lower relative proportion to men (71.0%), this follows an upward trajectory. In terms of access to over-the-top (OTT) audiovisual content platforms, 38.1% of Internet users are subscribed to a video service, while 55.2% have a subscription on an audio platform.
These levels of ICT adoption show an environment of gender equity, that is, both women and men have the same opportunities to access the applications and benefits that enable the use of these technologies.
In short, ICTs have played a significant role in gender equity by allowing greater access and inclusion of women in the telecommunications sector, both in their training dimension and in that of access and use, to finally impact on the workplace.
In the long term, it is expected that the effects of ICT as an equalizing tool will be reflected not only in the sector but in the Mexican economy as a whole, by closing the existing gap and registering a proportion of women close to the population.
Text written by Jacqueline Hernández and Laura Castillo from The Competitive Intelligence Unit.
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