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Technology, a tool to integrate women into the markets of the region

March 27, 2018 by Ana Inés Basco Leave a Comment


Industrial Revolution 4.0, which is marked by the use of robotics, automation, artificial intelligence, and digitization in the economy and everyday life, has brought massive benefits, including greater efficiency and productivity. However, its potential for destroying jobs is also prompting genuine concerns. This challenge is facing citizens the world over, but Latin Americans are particularly affected by it because they live in a region where a substantial share of exports are concentrated in activities that run a particularly high risk of being automated. Latin America also remains the most unequal region in the world.

The situation is even tougher for women, due to the persistence of gender inequality in the world of work in Latin America. According to the International Labour Organisation (ILO), in 2015, 52.2% of women in Latin America were active in the labor market, but 79.7% of men were. The unemployment rate among Latin American women is 8.5% but is only 5.7% among men. The gender income gap is also significant: women in Latin America earn only 83% of what their male counterparts do. They also spend more hours per day on unpaid work.

In other words, Latin American women play a smaller role in the labor force, have higher unemployment rates, and spend more hours per day on unpaid work, which means that they face greater job instability, have less social security coverage, and receive lower pay.

Fortunately, Latin American society is increasingly aware of this. According to the INTAL/Latinobarómetro alliance, 66% of the region’s citizens acknowledge current tensions between men and women to be “strong” or “very strong.” Awareness of these conflicts grew by 10 percentage points (from 46% to 56%) between 2010 and 2017.

With regard to the digital divide, a recent study that we carried out at the Institute for the Integration of Latin America and the Caribbean (INTAL/IDB) a unit of the Integration and Trade Sector of the Inter-American Development Bank on Argentina’s millennial population found that women from a representative sample of all young people in the country used technology at work less than men do: only 24% say they use technology there “a lot” or “all the time,” while 30% of men do. The study also found that men always state that they have more technology-related skills than women do. For example, while 82% of the male respondents said they had computing skills, only 72% of women claimed this.

With regard to the degree program they are taking or would like to take, we found that a greater percentage of young men are doing or would like to do degrees that relate to computing, IT systems, or engineering. This gap is particularly wide: while 14% of men opt for these programs, only 0.2% of women do.

The gender gap also affects ownership of technology

Almost 65% of men have a laptop computer while only 58% of women do. Likewise, INTAL/Latinobarómetro found that 47% of men in Latin America own a smartphone while 41% of women do.

These findings point to the conclusion that in this new technological era, women are suffering the effects of digital inequality in addition to those of the historical gender gap in the labor market. Women use less technology at work, have less technological skills, and do degrees that are less associated with these disciplines.

Unfortunately, the digital inequality that we observed in Argentina and the rest of Latin America may contribute to widening the gender gap even more. Industrial revolution 4.0 is ripe with potential but may lead to greater gender inequality. As women are also up against many other deep-rooted forms of inequality, they stand to benefit the most from preparing for this new technological era by developing digital skills that will help them to reduce inequality at work and close the gender divide.

The W-20 is an ideal setting in which to address these challenges. It has strengthened our resolve and represents a channel of hope in this vast sea of inequality that will sadly continue to grow if we do not take immediate action in the face of the huge challenge that is industrial revolution 4.0.


Filed Under: Innovation and Technology, Regional Integration Tagged With: INTAL, Technology and Innovation

Ana Inés Basco

Ana Basco is the Director of the Institute for the Integration of Latin America and the Caribbean (INTAL) of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), an institution in which she has worked for 16 years leading different projects related to integration, gender equality and new technologies. With more than 20 years of professional experience, she has coordinated the publication of a large number of IDB studies on trade, industry 4.0, and gender gaps. She has led projects on integration and trade; and has formed strategic alliances with multiple institutions of great international prestige in Latin America, the United States and Europe. At INTAL, she was previously appointed as a specialist in Regional Integration and a consultant in the IDB's Institutional Capacity of the State division. Before joining the IDB, she worked as a consultant for both the Argentine Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Transportation as well as in civil society organizations. Ana Basco is an Economist and a Political Science graduate from the University of Buenos Aires (UBA). She has a master's degree in Regional Economic Integration from the International University of Andalucía and a postgraduate degree in International Business Management from Georgetown University.

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This space explores how trade, investment and sustainable development in strategic sectors can boost productivity and strengthen more dynamic, inclusive and resilient economies in Latin America and the Caribbean. From trade facilitation and export and investment promotion to entrepreneurship, the development of public-private synergies, agri-food systems and tourism, we address challenges and opportunities for growth in the region.

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