Women’s income generation through mobile Internet: a study of focus group data from Ghana, Kenya, and Uganda
For many women in resource-constrained environments, mobile phones are the first and foremost information and communication technology (ICT) used. In theory, the increasing pervasiveness of mobiles and mobile Internet across developing countries should provide growing opportunities to women, especia...
Saved in:
| Main Authors: | , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Default Article |
| Published: |
2017
|
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/2134/32356 |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| id |
rr-article-9502898 |
|---|---|
| record_format |
Figshare |
| spelling |
rr-article-95028982017-11-03T00:00:00Z Women’s income generation through mobile Internet: a study of focus group data from Ghana, Kenya, and Uganda Savita Bailur (7185185) Silvia Masiero (2940726) Other commerce, management, tourism and services not elsewhere classified Mobile Internet Income generation Women and mobile phones Women entrepreneurs and mobile phones Affordances Business and Management not elsewhere classified For many women in resource-constrained environments, mobile phones are the first and foremost information and communication technology (ICT) used. In theory, the increasing pervasiveness of mobiles and mobile Internet across developing countries should provide growing opportunities to women, especially in terms of earning through small, on-the-fly jobs, using the very mobility aspect of the devices. Using Donner’s six affordances of mobile Internet and Cornwall’s discussion of what women’s empowerment means, we analyze data from 30 focus groups conducted with 18 to 25-year-olds earning under $2 a day in peri-urban areas of Nairobi, Kenya, Accra, Ghana and Jinja, Uganda). We explore the relation between the affordances of mobile Internet and structural changes in the economic and societal status of subjects, as reflected in the narratives of women adopters. We find that such affordances, while leading to new mechanisms for income generation, at least in our focus groups, do not result in changes of societal structures: older cultural stereotypes are built around adoption of the new technology, and policies underlying economic activities are hardly challenged by digitalization. This problematizes the extent to which the mobile Internet can be universally conceived as a tool for income generation, and by extension as a long-term, secure means for the empowerment of many women. 2017-11-03T00:00:00Z Text Journal contribution 2134/32356 https://figshare.com/articles/journal_contribution/Women_s_income_generation_through_mobile_Internet_a_study_of_focus_group_data_from_Ghana_Kenya_and_Uganda/9502898 CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 |
| institution |
Loughborough University |
| collection |
Figshare |
| topic |
Other commerce, management, tourism and services not elsewhere classified Mobile Internet Income generation Women and mobile phones Women entrepreneurs and mobile phones Affordances Business and Management not elsewhere classified |
| spellingShingle |
Other commerce, management, tourism and services not elsewhere classified Mobile Internet Income generation Women and mobile phones Women entrepreneurs and mobile phones Affordances Business and Management not elsewhere classified Savita Bailur Silvia Masiero Women’s income generation through mobile Internet: a study of focus group data from Ghana, Kenya, and Uganda |
| description |
For many women in resource-constrained environments, mobile phones are the first and foremost information and communication technology (ICT) used. In theory, the increasing pervasiveness of mobiles and mobile Internet across developing countries should provide growing opportunities to women, especially in terms of earning through small, on-the-fly jobs, using the very mobility aspect of the devices. Using Donner’s six affordances of mobile Internet and Cornwall’s discussion of what women’s empowerment means, we analyze data from 30 focus groups conducted with 18 to 25-year-olds earning under $2 a day in peri-urban areas of Nairobi, Kenya, Accra, Ghana and Jinja, Uganda). We explore the relation between the affordances of mobile Internet and structural changes in the economic and societal status of subjects, as reflected in the narratives of women adopters. We find that such affordances, while leading to new mechanisms for income generation, at least in our focus groups, do not result in changes of societal structures: older cultural stereotypes are built around adoption of the new technology, and policies underlying economic activities are hardly challenged by digitalization. This problematizes the extent to which the mobile Internet can be universally conceived as a tool for income generation, and by extension as a long-term, secure means for the empowerment of many women. |
| format |
Default Article |
| author |
Savita Bailur Silvia Masiero |
| author_facet |
Savita Bailur Silvia Masiero |
| author_sort |
Savita Bailur (7185185) |
| title |
Women’s income generation through mobile Internet: a study of focus group data from Ghana, Kenya, and Uganda |
| title_short |
Women’s income generation through mobile Internet: a study of focus group data from Ghana, Kenya, and Uganda |
| title_full |
Women’s income generation through mobile Internet: a study of focus group data from Ghana, Kenya, and Uganda |
| title_fullStr |
Women’s income generation through mobile Internet: a study of focus group data from Ghana, Kenya, and Uganda |
| title_full_unstemmed |
Women’s income generation through mobile Internet: a study of focus group data from Ghana, Kenya, and Uganda |
| title_sort |
women’s income generation through mobile internet: a study of focus group data from ghana, kenya, and uganda |
| publishDate |
2017 |
| url |
https://hdl.handle.net/2134/32356 |
| _version_ |
1797554078888230912 |