Top > Economic Affairs > The Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) > ASEM Seminar on the Digital Opportunity > Session 1: IT to Meet Social Needs > New Economy and Gender (Presentation)

Presentation
New Economy and Gender

Dr. Gyong-gyu Choi
Associate Research Fellow, Korea Institute for Industrial Economics and Trade, Korea

Gender is currently not a major issue in discussions on Internet use. Nonetheless, access to the Internet is important in the empowerment of women, and the Government of Korea is implementing a number of policies in this regard.

Globalization and IT are the dynamic forces of the new century, bringing about a paradigm shift that will see information economics arise in a different way to the previous production structure, leading to economies of scale, and the creation of a knowledge based economy. The cyber community will also flourish through Internet use and the information explosion.

Women should also be empowered by the new economy. It is hoped that through networks and IT, systematic economic, social and cultural changes will be brought about and the transition to a new economy will bring around startling transformation. New business opportunities should be created for females, in addition to market consolidation, giving them purchasing power. Women should enjoy a new lifestyle by participating actively in economic activities.

The gender gap within the digital divide has been reduced in some cases: in some countries the number of females online actually exceeds the number of men online. However, the gaps in Internet access and informatization have also deepened, due to culture, social customs, institutional and organizational features that are unfavorable to female workers. The digital gender gap can be deepened by the compounding factors of age, education and social status.

In Korea, almost 50% of Internet users are women. In the United States, the female online population now surpasses the male population. It is expected that by 2005, the majority of the online population will be female. The female online population also is growing very rapidly, significantly faster than overall growth. However, figures can often veil the reality that while many women have access to the Internet, actual utilization can be quite low. There are many segments of society that still do not have online access and gaps in Internet access and informatization still exist.

Concerning the differences between genders in the purpose of using personal computers (PCs), women use PCs more often than men for word processing, education and private information. Females are considered to be information consumers, and they tend to use the online world for personal enhancement and personal information; whereas males are considered to be information producers or processors.

In the context of the gender digital divide, it is important to look into education, culture, social customs, and institutional features that are unfavorable to female workers. For example, concerning the average years of education attainment, by gender and age group, males have a longer educational background in higher education. Within the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), compared to men, a lower percentage of women of university graduate age and over participate in economic activity. This is particularly so in Korea, where it appears that an increased rate of female achievement in higher education does not coincide with an equivalent increase in female participation in economic activity.

When considering the utilization of female labor, in one example, Korea has a very low number of females serving as senior officials in government, reporting a figure of 4%, compared to the OECD average of 20%. Females account for 29% of the total number of government officials, but only a very small percentage work at the senior level. Due to this low empowerment, high-skilled female labor in Korea is wasted and competitiveness is reduced as a result. The empowerment of women through IT needs to be accompanied by a cultural paradigm shift towards identifying women as knowledge possessors and processors, with access to the policy decision-making processes.

Against this background, the Presidential Commission on Women's Affairs has been launched to promote the function of planning and coordination policies in government organizations. In January 2001, the Ministry of Gender Equality was also established to develop women's capabilities and advance towards an equal society. Due to deep rooted cultural norms, the government is required to devote greater energy to the role of women in projects with a gender focus.

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