Women and ICT: Experiences in India and China
Update Newsletter number 6
March 2004
The Hawke Research Institute held a successful international forum on 5–7
November with researchers from India and China sharing their work on women
and information technology. The interdisciplinary workshop titled ‘Women,
Information and Communication Technology in India and China’ was hosted
jointly with the Institute of International Studies at the University of
Technology, Sydney and was held at Magill Campus.
‘We’re here representing two very big revolutions of the twenty-first
century: that of ICT and the empowerment of women in all parts of life’,
said host and Hawke Research Institute Director, Professor Alison Mackinnon,
opening the workshop. The forum was also hosted by Adjunct Professor Eleanor
Ramsay, who has a longstanding involvement in education and women’s
leadership in China.
Twenty women from India, China and Australia presented thought-provoking
research from anthropological, socio-cultural and economic viewpoints,
drawing examples from the grassroots and the business and academic worlds.
They debated tough questions that prompted their research: is IT the great
enabler and gender neutraliser? What is its role in the emancipation of
women, and how does one measure it?
Ms Nirmala from the Development of Humane Action (DHAN) Foundation in Tamil
Nadu, India studied women in rural communities. When they were provided with
Internet access they were able to educate themselves, access telemedicine
and e-governance facilities, and earn a living running village Internet
kiosks. Educating women was found to be particularly effective because the
women then passed on their education to their children.
The case studies from India and China highlighted similarities between the
two cultures: women still fight great pressure to follow traditional
gendered roles and they lack a nurturing, mentoring external environment.
But there are great differences among women, too. Curtin University of
Technology’s Dr Wanning Sun described a huge divide between professional
Chinese and Indian women IT users and their maids and nannies. Regional
differences within the two countries are also stark. As Dr Anne McLaren of
the University of Melbourne pointed out, Internet use in the more developed
eastern cities of China is six times higher than in the other regions.
The presenters were optimistic about the growth of women’s use of IT, but
cautious about the continuing effects on women of family responsibilities
and gendered patterns of management. Some believed that the growth in female
literacy in both China and India means tradition will be less of a hindrance
in the future. As Ms Rajalakshmi, Director of Software Technology Parks of
India, said, mind power is not gender-specific.
By E-Ling Liaw and Kate Leeson.
This article first appeared in UniSA News ‘extras’, Nov/Dec 2003.