Women empowerment through icts a comparative study in kumaun division of uttarakhand

Abstract

ABSTRACT newlineInformation and Communication Technologies (ICTs) are the potential catalyst that improve communication and networking between and among people on a global scale. ICTs have been recognized as the tool for advancing sustainable evelopment, empowerment and building capacity of people. ICTs provide opportunities for empowerment of women in many areas. Gender equality is a common concern all over the world and women empowerment is crucial target of Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). In today s information society differences in ownership, access and utilization of ICTs by women clearly highlights Digital Gender Divide. However the gap in terms of facilities and infrastructure for rural women as compared to urban women further deepens this divide. Thus there is an urgent need to understand the factors that encourage involvement of women with ICTs so that women can battle hurdles in the way of social, economical, psychological, educational, political and cultural empowerment. The study was undertaken in rural and urban areas of Kumaun Division of Uttarkhand. Two districts viz. Nainital and Udham Singh Nagar were selected purposively as they have highest female population among districts of Kumaun newlinedivision (According to India Census 2011). One block and one Urban Local Body (UBL) from each district were selected through simple random sampling. Two villages and two wards from each block and UBL were selected respectively. Women respondents were selected through PPS method and the study sample comprised of 410 respondents. Descriptive research design was used. Data was collected using a pre-tested structured interview schedule and was analysed using appropriate statistical techniques. The findings revealed that in both urban and rural areas more than 60 percent of respondents belonged to young age category, more than three fourth respondents were married and belonged to nuclear type family also more than two third respondents had medium family size. More than 90 percent of respondents in both urban and rural areas had medium family education status and more than 30 percent of respondents in both urban and rural areas were graduates. Moreover, 60 percent of respondents were found to be either self employed with income less than Rs.5000 or were house wife and majorly belonged to upper middle socio-economic category in urban areas (46.40%) and lower middle socio-economic category in rural areas (47.90%). Social participation of both urban and rural women was found to be low. Most owned ICTs were smartphone and television. The overall ICT ownership and ICT access insource status was found to be medium in both urban and rural areas. Moreover, ICT access outsources was found to be low in both urban and rural areas. ICT utilization was found to be high in urban areas and low in rural areas. However, social media utilization was found to be medium in both urban and rural areas. Attitude towards ICTs was found to be favourable in both urban (70.27%) and rural areas (61.70%). Anxiety towards ICT applications was found to be medium in both urban (47.00%) and rural areas (49.00%). Women empowerment was found to be favourable in both urban (68.00%) and rural areas (51.10%). Comparative analysis of personal, socio-economic, communication and psychological characteristics along with women empowerment of respondents revealed that social participation, family education, education of respondent, socio-economic status, ICT ownership, ICT access outsource, ICT utilization and women empowerment in urban areas were significantly different than rural areas. The results also revealed that independent variables viz. family education, education of respondent, occupation, social participation, attitude towards ICTs, ICT ownership, ICT and social media utilization were found to have significant positive relationship with women empowerment in urban areas, while independent variables namely, age and anxiety towards ICT applications were found to have significant negative relationship with women empowerment in urban areas. In case of rural areas, independent variables viz. socio- economic status, family education, education of respondent, occupation, social participation, attitude towards ICTs, ICT ownership, ICT access insource and outsource, ICT and social media utilization were found to have significant positive relationship with women empowerment while independent variables namely, age and anxiety towards ICT applications were found to have significant negative relationship with women empowerment in rural areas. The most important constraints in using of ICTs by women were lack of time in using ICTs (personal constraints category), complex nature of ICTs in (technical constraints category), fear of doing wrong that can t be reversed (psychological constraint category), traditional belief that ICTs are waste of time (cultural constraint category) and less accessibility to internet because of expensive data pack recharge (financial constraint category). Further ordinal regression analysis was used to find the effect of independent variables on women empowerment and it was found that socio- economic status, family education, education of respondent and ICT utilization had significant effect on women empowerment. newline newline