PAPER WHITE: The gendered digital divide
The white paper “The gendered digital divide” is composed of two parts: “Portraits of women in tech” (Part I) and “Quebec’s digital mediation ecosystem. Workshops for girls” (Part II). It was produced as part of Printemps numérique’s Youth QC 2030 project, which is supported by the Secrétariat à la Jeunesse of Québec (SAJ). With support from the Canada Research Chair in Digital Equity in Education (UQAM) and Printemps numérique, this document is the result of previous research. It complements the report “Digital culture and inequalities. The question of uses among youth in vulnerable situations in Québec1” (Yagoubi, 2020), which was supported by Mitacs2.
In the research report dedicated to Printemps numérique’s Youth 2030 project on the digital divide among young people in Québec, “Digital culture and inequalities. The question of uses among youth in vulnerable situations in Québec” (2020), we highlighted a first major finding: there is a strong gendered digital divide. Young girls are less interested in technology than young boys; however, their cell phone is a true “totem object” that allows them to strengthen their presence on social media and communicate with their friends.
Although the gendered digital divide does not in itself represent a threat among younger people, it could become problematic in the future, especially from a socioeconomic standpoint. The world of work and society are undergoing accelerated changes with the rise of technologies and the multiplication of digital uses. We observed this growing phenomenon with the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic and the lockdown periods that followed, forcing us to adapt quickly to remote-work contexts. This is why, in today’s world of work, it is important for women to occupy a place equal to that of men in the digital world. It is therefore crucial to organize digital education for young girls in a strategic and innovative way, from an early age, in order to aim for an inclusive society model based on equity.
