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Who's got the phone? The gendered use of telephones at the bottom of the pyramid

Who's got the phone? The gendered use of telephones at the bottom of the pyramid. Ayesha Zainudeen, Tahani Iqbal, Rohan Samarajiva & Dimuthu Ratnadiwakara ICA Communication & Technology Section, Montreal 26 May 2008. `. Research questions.

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Who's got the phone? The gendered use of telephones at the bottom of the pyramid

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  1. Who's got the phone? The gendered use of telephones at the bottom of the pyramid Ayesha Zainudeen, Tahani Iqbal, Rohan Samarajiva & Dimuthu Ratnadiwakara ICA Communication & Technology Section, Montreal 26 May 2008 `

  2. Research questions • Is there a gender divide in access to phones at the BOP? • Do women and men really differ in their use of the phone at the BOP? • Overview: • Teleuse@BOP2 background & methodology • Divide in access @ BOP? • Differences in use @ BOP? • [The case of Pakistan • Implications] if possible

  3. SEC A, B & C SEC D & E ‘Bottom of the pyramid’(BOP)defined • Many definitions of poverty, but this study uses SEC D and E; between ages 18-60 • SEC defined by education and occupation of chief wage earner, but it is closely correlated with income levels *excluding FANA/FATA – Tribal Areas; **excluding N&E Provinces

  4. Quantitative sample • BOP segment is representative of the BOP population • Diary respondents also representative of BOP • Small (non-representative sample) taken of SEC groups A, B & C for comparison purposes

  5. Divide in telecom access @ BOP?

  6. Why worry about gender and telephone access? • Many benefits of access to telecom; information, empowerment, etc… • Lots of focus on creating equality in access – research, projects, etc.

  7. Is there a gender divide at the BOP?

  8. Primary access modes 1.1 : 1 1 : 1 1.9 : 1 2.7 : 1 1.8 : 1 2.7 : 1 0.3 : 1 0.7 : 1

  9. ‘Male dominated’ access modes?

  10. Who decided to get female mobile owners connected? • South Asian males also tended to dominate decisions with regards to expenditure on food, electricity and the household fixed phone

  11. Internet use & awareness • Large gender divide in Internet use, even in the Philippines and Thailand • Divide in awareness of the internet was highest in India

  12. Is there a gender divide at the BOP? • In Pakistan, India and to a limited extent SriLanka, YES • Males more likely to use mobiles and public phones; men even dominate the decision to buy a phone • Females more likely to use other peoples’ phones if not household fixed phones • In the Philippines or Thailand, NO

  13. Differences in use @ BOP?

  14. A look at the literature… • Several studies suggest that compared to men, women use telephones: • more frequently; • for longer; • and primarily for ‘relationship maintenance’ Moyal 1992; Fischer 1992; Rakow 1992; Claisse and Rowe 1993; Ling 1998; Smoreda and Licoppe 2000; etc,

  15. Men receive and make as many calls as women(except for Pakistan) Source: Diary

  16. Men at the BOP talk as long as women(except for Pakistan) Source: Diary

  17. Men @ BOP use the phone for same purposes as women(except for Pakistan) • Although studies in Western Africa have found that women make and receive more social calls than men (Huyer, S., Hafkin, N., Ertl, H., and Dryburgh, H., 2006) Source: Diary

  18. The strange case of Pakistan

  19. Pakistan • Severe divide in mobile access/ownership • Decisions taken by men • Little use of public facilities by women, more often use friends, neighbors, family’s phones, if at all • Few calls as a result, but calls are longer in duration • More relationship-maintenance, etc.

  20. Implications • Does the gender divide close as penetration grows? • Need time-series data and further study • If at all, not in the short-term • If countries want to see the divide close, policies which promote greater mobile access will benefit respective countries

  21. Many plan to get connected by mid-2008; mostly to mobiles  will the gap narrow? 2008 data will show

  22. Implications • Gender divide on mobile has serious implications for up-take of new SMS-based services by women • Pakistani universal service policies may be less imbalanced • If funds are put into promoting mobile access, not public access only • With regard to funds put into public access (telecenters), make sure that the public-access points are explicitly designed to be hospitable to women

  23. more at www.lirneasia.net; search term “BOP”samarajiva@lirne.net

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