Digital Genders Divide in Nigeria: Leapfrogging opportunities to bridge the Imbalance

Abstract

There is a low participation of females in ICT as compared to males due to their gender and roles. Gender is a social construct defining differentiated roles of males and females. Gender equity is promoting equal opportunity and fair treatment for males and females. Acquisition and application of information technology requires that one creates time and resources. People with more roles to perform outside their daily work tend to be disadvantaged and thus lag behind in information technology. In Africa, gender roles are clearly defined. Females play most of the family chores that eat into their time heavily. This affects their technological advancement. The paper seeks to examine how roles ascribed to genders affect their acquisition and use of information technology. It will also assess whether gender equity as advocated by affirmative action has had an impact in bridging the gap between men and women in information technology. Data were collected and analysed qualitatively through content analysis. The paper concluded that any countermeasures to eradicate the imbalance should be done gradually. One of the suggestions proffered by the paper is that Nigeria and other Sub-Saharan countries should endeavour to keep abreast of new innovations which would aid in the speedy growth of IT in the region and that both females and males should be targeted by establishing Separate Access and Training Strategies.