Skip to main content

Mobile Technology and Gender Equality

  • Living reference work entry
  • First Online:
Gender Equality

Definitions

Information and communication technologies (ICTs) is an extensional term for information technology (IT) that stresses the role of unified communications and the integration of telecommunications – telephone lines and wireless signals – and computers, as well as softwares that enable users to access, store, transmit, and manipulate information. Mobile technology is, literally speaking, the type of technology that goes where the user goes. It consists of portable two-way communication devices, computing devices, and the networking technology that connects them. Currently, mobile technology is typified by internet-enabled devices like smartphones, tablets and watches. In this work, mobile technology refers more narrowly to mobile phones of any types, including smartphones.

The United Nations (UN) define gender equality as equal rights, responsibilities, and opportunities of women and men and girls and boys. Equality does not mean that women and men become the same but that...

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Abdulrahman SA, Rampal L, Ibrahim F, Radhakrishnan AP, Kadir Shahar H, Othman N (2017) Mobile phone reminders and peer counseling improve adherence and treatment outcomes of patients on ART in Malaysia: a randomized clinical trial. PLoS One 12(5):1–16

    Google Scholar 

  • Abubakar NH, Dasuki SI (2018) Empowerment in their hands: use of WhatsApp by women in Nigeria. Gend Technol Dev 22(2):164–183

    Google Scholar 

  • Agu MN (2013) Application of ICT in agricultural sector: women’s perspective Monica. Int J Soft Comput Eng 2(6):58–60

    Google Scholar 

  • Aker JC (2010) Information from markets near and far: mobile phones and agricultural markets in Niger. Am Econ J Appl Econ 2(3):46–59

    Google Scholar 

  • Aker JC, Mbiti IM (2010) Mobile phones and economic development in Africa. J Econ Perspect 24(3):207–232

    Google Scholar 

  • Aker JC, Ksoll C, Lybbert TJ (2012) Can mobile phones improve learning? Evidence from a field experiment in Niger. Am Econ J Appl Econ 4(4):94–120

    Google Scholar 

  • Al Dahdah M, Kumar A (2018) Mobile phones for maternal health in rural Bihar: reducing the access gap? Econ Polit Wkly 53(11). https://www.epw.in/journal/2018/11/special-articles/mobile-phones-maternal-health-rural-bihar.html

  • Asongu S, Asongu N (2018) The comparative exploration of mobile money services in inclusive development. Int J Soc Econ 45(1):124–139

    Google Scholar 

  • Backman M, Karlsson C (2016) Determinants of self-employment among commuters and non-commuters. Pap Reg Sci 95(4):755–774

    Google Scholar 

  • Bastian G, Bianchi I, Montalvao J, Goldstein M (2018) Short-term impacts of improved access to mobile savings, with and without business training: experimental evidence from Tanzania. Working Paper 478

    Google Scholar 

  • Baumüller H (2016) Agricultural service delivery through mobile phones: local innovation and technological opportunities in Kenya. In: Gatzweiler F, von Braun J (eds) Technological and institutional innovations for marginalized smallholders in agricultural development. Springer, Cham, pp 143–162

    Google Scholar 

  • Bhandari A (2017) Women’s status and global food security: an overview. Sociol Compass 11(5):1–17

    Google Scholar 

  • Bishwajit G, Hoque MR, Yaya S (2017) Disparities in the use of mobile phone for seeking childbirth services among women in the urban areas: Bangladesh Urban Health Survey. BMC Med Inform Decis Mak 17(1):1–9

    Google Scholar 

  • Blumenstock J, Eagle N (2010) Mobile divides: gender, socioeconomic status, and mobile phone use in Rwanda. ACM Int Conf Proc Ser. ICTD ’10: Proceedings of the 4th ACM/IEEE International Conference on Information and Communication Technologies and Development. Article No. 6., Pages 1–10. https://doi.org/10.1145/2369220.2369225

  • Bongaarts J, Watkins SC (1996) Social interactions and contemporary fertility transitions. Popul Dev Rev 22(4):639–682

    Google Scholar 

  • Castaño PM, Bynum JY, Andrés R, Lara M, Westhoff C (2012) Effect of daily text messages on oral contraceptive continuation: a randomized controlled trial. Obstet Gynecol 119(1):14–20

    Google Scholar 

  • Coleman J, Bohlin KC, Thorson A, Black V, Mechael P, Mangxaba J, Eriksen J (2017) Effectiveness of an SMS-based maternal MHealth intervention to improve clinical outcomes of HIV-positive pregnant women. AIDS Care 29(7):890–897

    Google Scholar 

  • Dasuki SI, Zamani ED (2019) Assessing mobile phone use by pregnant women in Nigeria: a capability perspective. Electron J Inf Syst Dev Countries 85(5):1–13

    Google Scholar 

  • Diese M, Kalonji A, Izale B, Villeneuve S, Kintaudi NM, Clarysse G, Ngongo N, Ntambue AM (2018) Community-based maternal, newborn, and child health surveillance: perceptions and attitudes of local stakeholders towards using mobile phone by village health volunteers in the Kenge Health Zone, Democratic Republic of Congo. BMC Public Health 18(1):1–12

    Google Scholar 

  • Donner J (2006) The use of mobile phones by microentrepreneurs in Kigali, Rwanda: changes to social and business networks. Inf Technol Int Dev 3(2):3–19

    Google Scholar 

  • Duncombe R (2016) Mobile phones for agricultural and rural development: a literature review and suggestions for future research. Eur J Dev Res 28(2):213–235

    Google Scholar 

  • Fatehkia M, Kashyap R, Weber I (2018) Using Facebook ad data to track the global digital gender gap. World Dev 107:189–209

    Google Scholar 

  • Frissen V (1995) Gender is calling: some reflections on past, present and future uses of the telephone. In: Grint K, Gill R (eds) The gender-technology relation. Contemporary research and literature. Taylor & Francis, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Garcia OPM (2011) Gender digital divide: the role of mobile phones among Latina farm workers in Southeast Ohio. Gend Technol Dev 15(1):53–74

    Google Scholar 

  • Geser H (2004) Towards a sociological theory of the mobile phone. Online Publications, Zurich

    Google Scholar 

  • Granot Y, Ivorra A, Rubinsky B (2008) A new concept for medical imaging centered on cellular phone technology. PLoS One 3(4):1–7

    Google Scholar 

  • Green N (2002) On the move: technology, mobility, and the mediation of social time and space. Inf Soc 18(4):281–292

    Google Scholar 

  • Hall CS, Fottrell E, Wilkinson S, Byass P (2014) Assessing the impact of MHealth interventions in low- and middle-income countries – what has been shown to work? Glob Health Action 7(1):25606. https://doi.org/10.3402/gha.v7.25606

  • Heeks R (2010) Development 2.0: transformative ICT-enabled development models and impacts. Manch Cent Dev Inform 1–6. Manchester Centre for Development Informatics, Short Paper No. 11. Centre for Development Informatics, University of Manchester, UK

    Google Scholar 

  • Hobbis SK (2018) Mobile phones, gender-based violence, and distrust in state services: case studies from Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea. Asia Pac Viewp 59(1):60–73

    Google Scholar 

  • Holmes D (2010) Rwanda: an injection of Hope. Lancet 376(9745):945–946

    Google Scholar 

  • Husmann C, von Braun J, Badiane O, Akinbamijo Y, Abiodun F, Virchow D (2015) Tapping potentials of innovation for food security and sustainable agricultural growth: an Africa-wide perspective. ZEF Working Paper Series. Center for Development Research (ZEF), Bonn

    Google Scholar 

  • Islam MS, Gronlund A (2007) Agriculture market information e-service in Bangladesh: a stakeholder-oriented case analysis. In: Wimmer MA, Scholl J, Gronlund A (eds) Electronic government. EGOV 2007. Lecture notes in computer science, vol 4656. Springer, Heidelberg/Berlin, pp 167–178

    Google Scholar 

  • Jensen R (2007) The digital provide: information (technology), market performance, and welfare in the South Indian fisheries sector. Q J Econ 122(3):879–924

    Google Scholar 

  • Jensen R, Oster E (2009) The power of TV: cable television and women’s status in India. Q J Econ 124(3):1057–1094

    Google Scholar 

  • Jukes MCH, Turner EL, Dubeck MM, Halliday KE, Inyega HN, Wolf S, Zuilkowski SS, Brooker SJ (2017) Improving literacy instruction in Kenya through teacher professional development and text messages support: a cluster randomized trial. J Res Educ Effect 10(3):449–481

    Google Scholar 

  • Komunte M (2015) Usage of Mobile Technology in Women Entrepreneurs: a case study of Uganda. Afr J Inf Syst 7(3):3

    Google Scholar 

  • Lee D (2009) The impact of mobile phones on the status of women in India. Working Paper, Unpublished Dissertation

    Google Scholar 

  • Lund S, Nielsen BB, Hemed M, Boas IM, Said A, Said K, Makungu MH, Rasch V (2014a) Mobile phones improve antenatal care attendance in Zanzibar: a cluster randomized controlled trial. BMC Pregnancy Childbirth 14:29

    Google Scholar 

  • Lund S, Rasch V, Hemed M, Boas IM, Said A, Said K, Makundu MH, Nielsen BB (2014b) Mobile phone intervention reduces perinatal mortality in Zanzibar: secondary outcomes of a cluster randomized controlled trial. J Med Internet Res 2(1):e15 https://doi.org/10.2196/mhealth.2941

  • Malhotra A, Schulte J, Patel P, Petesch P (2009) Innovation for women’s empowerment and gender equality. ICRW, International Center for Research on. Women, North Washington, DC

    Google Scholar 

  • Masika R, Bailur S (2015) Negotiating women’s agency through ICTs: a comparative study of Uganda and India. Gend Technol Dev 19(1):43–69

    Google Scholar 

  • McCarthy OL, Wazwaz O, Jado I, Leurent B, Edwards P, Adada S, Stavridis A, Free C (2017) An intervention delivered by text message to increase the acceptability of effective contraception among young women in Palestine: study protocol for a randomised controlled trial. Trials 18(1):1–11

    Google Scholar 

  • Mittal S (2016) Role of mobile phone-enabled climate information services in gender-inclusive agriculture. Gend Technol Dev 20(2):200–217

    Google Scholar 

  • Montgomery MR, Casterline JB (1996) Social learning, social influence, and new models of fertility. Popul Dev Rev 22(1996):151–175

    Google Scholar 

  • Moyi ED (2019) The effect of mobile technology on self-employment in Kenya. J Glob Entrep Res 9(1):1–13

    Google Scholar 

  • Mpiima DM, Manyire H, Kabonesa C, Espiling M (2019) Gender analysis of agricultural extension policies in Uganda: informing practice? Gend Technol Dev 23(2):187–205

    Google Scholar 

  • Murphy LL, Priebe AE (2011) ‘My co-wife can borrow my mobile phone!’ Gendered geographies of cell phone usage and significance for rural Kenyans. Gend Technol Dev 15(1):1–23

    Google Scholar 

  • Nguyean KA, Luo Z, Watkins C (2015) On the feasibility of using two mobile phones and WLAN signal to detect co-location of two users for epidemic prediction. In: Gartner G, Huang H (eds) Progress in location-based services 2014. Lecture notes in geoinformation and cartography. Springer, Cham

    Google Scholar 

  • Noordam AC, Kuepper BM, Stekelenburg J, Milen A (2011) Improvement of maternal health services through the use of mobile phones. Tropical Med Int Health 16(5):622–626

    Google Scholar 

  • Nyemba-Mudenda M, Chigona W (2018) MHealth outcomes for pregnant mothers in Malawi: a capability perspective. Inf Technol Dev 24(2):245–278

    Google Scholar 

  • O’Donovan J, Bersin A (2015) Controlling Ebola through MHealth strategies. Lancet Glob Health 3(1):e22

    Google Scholar 

  • Oliver-Williams C, Brown E, Devereux S, Fairhead C, Holeman I (2017) Using mobile phones to improve vaccination uptake in 21 low- and middle-income countries: systematic review. JMIR Mhealth Uhealth 5(10):e148

    Google Scholar 

  • Owusu AB, Yankson PWK, Frimpong S (2018) Smallholder farmers’ knowledge of mobile telephone use: gender perspectives and implications for agricultural market development. Prog Dev Stud 18(1):36–51

    Google Scholar 

  • Page N, Czuba CE (1999) Empowerment: what is it? J Ext 37(5). https://www.joe.org/joe/1999october/comm1.php

  • Pesando LM, Rotondi V (2020) Safer if connected? Mobile technology and intimate partner violence. Working Paper

    Google Scholar 

  • Peter J, Barron P, Pillay Y (2016) Using mobile technology to improve maternal, child and youth health and treatment of HIV patients. S Afr Med J 106(1):3–4

    Google Scholar 

  • Pop-Eleches C, Thirumurthy H, Habyarimana JP, Zivin JG, Goldstein MP, De Walque D, MacKeen L et al (2011) Mobile phone technologies improve adherence to antiretroviral treatment in a resource-limited setting: a randomized controlled trial of text message reminders. AIDS 25(6):825–834

    Google Scholar 

  • Porter G, Hampshire K, Abane A, Munthali A, Robson E, De Lannoy A, Tanle A, Owusu S (2020) Mobile phones, gender, and female empowerment in sub-Saharan Africa: studies with African youth. Inf Technol Dev 26(1):180–193

    Google Scholar 

  • Quisumbung AR, Meinzen-Dick R, Raney TL, Croppenstedt A, Behrman JA, Peterman A (2014) Gender in agriculture. Springer Netherlands, Dodrecht

    Google Scholar 

  • Rakow LF (1992) Gender on the line: women, the telephone, and community life. University of Illinois Press, Urbana

    Google Scholar 

  • Rotondi V, Kashyap R, Pesando LM, Spinelli S, Billari FC (2020) Leveraging mobile phones to attain sustainable development. Proc Natl Acad Sci 117(24):13413–13420. https://www.pnas.org/content/117/24/13413

  • Sekabira H, Qaim M (2017) Can Mobile phones improve gender equality and nutrition? Panel data evidence from farm households in Uganda. Food Policy 73(October):95–103

    Google Scholar 

  • Smith C, Gold J, Ngo TD, Sumpter C, Free C (2015) Mobile phone-based interventions for improving contraception use. Cochrane Syst Rev 26(6):CD011159

    Google Scholar 

  • Suri T, Jack W (2016) The long-run poverty and gender impacts of mobile money. Science 354(6317):1288–1292

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Svensson J, Larsson CW (2016) Situated empowerment: mobile phones practices among market women in Kampala. Mobile Media Commun 4(2):205–220

    Google Scholar 

  • Talbot D (2008) Upwardly mobile. MIT Technol Rev. https://www.technologyreview.com/2008/10/20/33244/upwardly-mobile/

  • Tata JS, McNamara PE (2016) Social factors that influence use of ICT in agricultural extension in Southern Africa. Agriculture 6(2):15. https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture6020015

  • Tenhunen S (2014) Mobile telephony, mediation, and gender in rural India. Contemp South Asia 22(2):157–170

    Google Scholar 

  • Tirkaso WT, Hess S (2015) The role of ICT expenditure for cash crop production and income generation in Southern Ethiopia. Electron J Inf Syst Dev Countries 71(1):1–14

    Google Scholar 

  • Tizzoni M, Bajardi P, Decuyper A, King GKK, Schneider CM, Blondel V, Smoreda Z, González MC, Colizza V (2014) On the use of human mobility proxies for modeling epidemics. PLoS Comput Biol 10(7):e1003716. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1003716

  • Uduji JI, Okolo-Obasi EN (2018) Young rural women’s participation in the e-wallet programme and usage intensity of modern agricultural inputs in Nigeria. Gend Technol Dev 22(1):59–81

    Google Scholar 

  • Valk JH, Rashid AT, Elder L (2010) Using mobile phones to improve educational outcomes: an analysis of evidence from Asia. Int Rev Res Open Dist Learn 11(1):117–140

    Google Scholar 

  • Varriale C, Pesando LM, Ripamonti JP, Kashyap R, Kirley R, Ladreit C, Platini U, Rotondi V (2020) Mobile phones and attitudes towards women’s participation in politics: evidence from Africa. Working Paper

    Google Scholar 

  • Viboud C, Santillana M (2020) Fitbit-informed influenza forecasts. Lancet Digital Health 2(2):e54–e55

    Google Scholar 

  • Watkins SC, Robinson A, Dalious M (2013) Evaluation of the information and Communications Technology for Matyernal, newborn and child health project known locally as Chipatala Cha Pa Foni. Invest in Knowledge Initiative, Balaka District, Malawi

    Google Scholar 

  • Wei R, Lo V-H (2006) Staying connected while on the move: cell phone use and social connectedness. New Media Soc 8(1):53–72

    Google Scholar 

  • Wekwete NN (2014) Gender and economic empowerment in Africa: evidence and policy. J Afr Econ 23(Suppl 1):i87–i127

    Google Scholar 

  • Yaman İ, Şenel M, Yeşilel DBA (2015) Exploring the extent to which ELT students utilise smartphones for language learning purposes. S Afr J Educ 35(4):1–9

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Yankah E, Mohamed O, Wringe A, Afaneh O, Saleh M, Speed O, Hémono R et al (2019) Feasibility and acceptability of Mobile phone platforms to deliver interventions to address gender-based violence among Syrian adolescent girls and young women in Izmir, Turkey. Vulnerable Child Youth Stud 00(00):1–11

    Google Scholar 

  • Zhenwei Qiang C, Kuek SC, Dymond A, Esselaar S (2012) Mobile applications for agriculture and rural development. World Bank Report no 96226

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Luca Maria Pesando .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Section Editor information

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2020 Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this entry

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this entry

Pesando, L.M., Rotondi, V. (2020). Mobile Technology and Gender Equality. In: Leal Filho, W., Azul, A., Brandli, L., Lange Salvia, A., Wall, T. (eds) Gender Equality. Encyclopedia of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-70060-1_140-1

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-70060-1_140-1

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-70060-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-70060-1

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Earth and Environm. ScienceReference Module Physical and Materials ScienceReference Module Earth and Environmental Sciences

Publish with us

Policies and ethics