Abstract
This brief deals with some of the most intractable and related problems that currently confront countries in the Global South. They are related in that they all have to do with the mobile Internet and use very recent data to analyse the use and misuse of this technology, problems of gender bias and the learning process associated with the acquisition of digital skills.
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Notes
- 1.
Following this logic, having more females in the design process would tend to increase the desirability of technology from a women’s point of view.
- 2.
For a fuller description see Mak (2020).
- 3.
Kenya has 48 active technology hubs, closely behind Nigeria, South Africa and Egypt. It also has one of the best education systems in Africa and a well-known mobile money scheme, M-Pesa.
- 4.
The Indian government appears to have taken an especially active role in bringing the Internet to its citizens, including those living in rural areas.
- 5.
Many of the barriers are related in one way or another to patriarchal values and norms which do not view STEM subjects as suitable for girls. Such views are especially common in the rural areas of LMICs.
References
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James, J. (2022). Introduction. In: Gender, Internet Use, and Covid-19 in the Global South. SpringerBriefs in Economics. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-15576-5_1
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