3 Ideas To Close the Digital Gap for Women

The digital world has generated many opportunities for quality jobs for millions of people. According to CAF, if by 2030 Latin America can close the gap in access to new technologies, more than 400,000 jobs would be generated annually, producing US$700 billion in growth.

However, this situation does not seem to apply to women so far. According to UN Women, 30% of women in the region study or work in areas related to the digital industry. This figure is related to 3 main problems, which may have 3 possible solutions. Here are some ideas for eliminating this digital gap so that women can access quality digital employment. 

1. Increase Specialized Knowledge

Women need to be able to go a step further to enter the digital market. The advance in technology has raised the minimum knowledge required to obtain any job, especially in the areas of IT, marketing, communication, or sales.

In other words, during the first years of the 2010s, many entry-level positions required only knowledge of the Office Suite. Today, many job openings require something more. For example, the ability to perform simple graphic designs, automated mathematical formulas, or metrics analysis.

Let's suppose a woman wants to work as a marketing analyst. A good way is for them to get access to a course where they can learn a little bit of everything. For example, she will learn how to do basic advertising campaigns, persuasive copywriting, and analyze marketing budgets.

However, if they want to obtain greater employment opportunities, they will need to specialize in a particular area. For example, it is easier to get a job as an SEM campaign specialist than as a full-fledged digital analyst. In other words, the smaller the job field, the more job opportunities there will be. For example, according to the World Economic Forum (WEF) report, the most in-demand jobs by 2025 could be Data Analytics specialists, Data Science specialists, Big Data specialists, and RPA specialists, among other options. Therefore, you can increase your specialized skills.  

2. Improve Job Opportunities

However, to reduce the labor gap, it is also relevant that there are state and private projects that increase job opportunities. After all, the possibility of more women entering digital jobs depends on the existing job offers. 

Fortunately, some projects try to reduce this gap. One example is TodasConectadas, which aims to be a training and employment platform for more than 3.8 million women in Latin America. However, these are not the only changes being made in society.

In Argentina, a law was promoted to guarantee gender equality in media jobs. The idea is that there should be a fixed percentage of women with positions in the media, to encourage them to start working fixedly in an industry historically dominated by men. However, there are still some market sectors where women's participation is low. For example, in the European Union, there are only 30% of women work in ICT. This is because they feel that they do not have adequate employment opportunities, as most companies prefer men. 

Also read: LINA CÁCERES, VISIONARY OF DIGITAL ENTERTAINMENT

3. Encourage Independent Projects

Finally, it is essential to promote women's independent digital projects. What does this mean? Easy: that there are not only many women working as employees. The idea is that they can become CEOs and successively employ new women. 

For example, MujeresIT, from Uruguay, seeks to promote the inclusion of women in the new technologies sector. They have a directory with 52.6% of women between 26 and 36 years old interested in these new jobs. In other words, they are at the perfect age to start their own companies.

Now, what can they do? Well, there are many options. For example, marketing enthusiasts could set up a feminist design and communication agency. Other women could be freelancers who analyze metrics for companies. Even women programmers could create a successful application.

The important thing is that states can generate the necessary funding for them to materialize these innovative ideas. After all, the idea is that it is not only men who can generate autonomous entrepreneurial projects, but also women who can access the digital world.