Impact of Gender Digital Divide on Success of Enterprises

Abstract

Entrepreneurs are considered to be the only realistic employment opportunity creators in developing countries. Digital technologies and Information and Communication Technology (ICT) have become inevitable elements in today’s competitive business world. They facilitate business enterprises to grow and develop rapidly to reach their products and services globally. Communication through social media such as WhatsApp and Facebook has opened a new medium for entrepreneurs to market their products. Entrepreneurs experience digital technology and ICT elements in all aspects i.e market analysis, decision making, monitoring and control, communication, distribution channels and delivery. It has been observed that though digital technology plays a crucial in the success of enterprises gender has its share in influencing technology adoption among entrepreneurs. Male entrepreneurs are more technologically adopt compared to female entrepreneurs. Women entrepreneurs are aware of new technologies but lack of training, inadequate infrastructural facilities can be a disadvantage. Taking into consideration the conspicuous gender gap in entrepreneurship this paper seeks to examine existing literature on technology usage of men and women entrepreneurs, gender digital divide and impact of ICT and digital technology on the success of entrepreneurship.

Keywords: Entrepreneurship, Gender, Gender digital divide, Information and Communication Technology, Digital technology.