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CONSTANTINE PORPHYROGENETUS INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION
Journal of Management Sciences and http://www.stt.aegean.gr/geopolab/GEOPOL%20PROFILE.htm
Regional Development ISSN 1107-9819
Issue 7, December 2011 Editor-in-Chief: John Karkazis ()
NEW TECHNOLOGIES AND WOMEN: CAN GREEK WOMEN ADJUST TO THE NEW ENVIRONMENT?
Amalia Polydoropoulou
Associate Professor
Department of Shipping Trade and Transport
University of the Aegean
Chios, Greece
Abstract. The aim of this paper is twofold: first to examine the degree to which Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) are adopted by women, and second to register the ICTs impact on the way women schedule their work related activities and develop their careers. To capture and to render women’s decision-making processes a personalized questionnaire was designed. The data collection methodology involved 300 questionnaires of women in Greece. The data collected and its subsequent analysis reveal that the degree to which women use modern technologies (including teleworking) in their daily activities is relative low. It has shown that the future usage of ICTs will be affected by factors such internet speed and costs for work-related as well as leisure activities. Policy measures to promote women’s entrepreneurship are also explicitly studied.
Key Words: ICT, women, entrepreneurship, work balance, behavioral analysis, Stated Preference Experiments, happiness.
1. INTRODUCTION
Ιnformation and Communications Technologies (ICTs) continuously change the way people perform different economic and social activities, such as work, education, entertainment, shopping, banking, etc. In the past,, individuals’ activities have been related to a continuity of travel conducted during certain times and specific locations. This fact has been changing through the increasing use of different ICT applications (Golob and Regan, 2001; Polydoropoulou et al., 2003; Rahman et al., 2005).
While in the past individuals scheduled their daily travel taking into account the restrictions they had due to time and place, together with their knowledge of the traffic conditions in a specific area, today they have the opportunity of altering the traditional number of daily trips via electronic shopping (teleshopping) (Papola and Polydoropoulou, 2005; Farag et al., 2005; Ferrell, 2005; Hsiao, 2008), working from home (telework), and receiving distance education (e-learning) (Lambrou et al., 2006). Therefore, ICTs render individuals’ daily schedule more flexible. The impact of ICTs on activities participation and duration (time-use), is an area of accrued interest research-wise.
Clearly ICTs have a direct effect on transport-related decisions and potential travel time savings (Polydoropoulou and Ben-Akiva, 1998; Tsirimpa and Polydoropoulou; 2011). ICTs and travel are sometimes substitutes and other time complements (Kitrinou and Polydoropoulou, 2007). Research findings have demonstrated that some urban areas suffer less from traffic congestion due to the implementation of ICTs (Mokhtarian, 1997; Moss and Townsend, 2000). Additionally, it is a fact that less developed geographical areas become more readily accessible via the wider implementation of ICTs and the options of teleworking (Kitrinou and Polydoropoulou, 2010; Kitrinou et al., 2010).
During the past decades the factors affecting the choice of teleworking (see Bernardino et al., 1993; Bernardino and Ben-Akiva, 1996; Mahmassani et al., 1993; Mokhtarian and Salomon, 1996, 1997; Yen et al. 1998) and the effect of telecommuting on travel demand through the substitution of commuting and the potential travel savings have been studied in detail (see Golob and Regan, 2001; Mokhtarian et al., 2004; Polydoropoulou et al., 2005; deJong et al., 2005).
Many employees consider that part time employment via tele-working as way of keeping a balance between their professional and social life, benefiting in parallel from the reduction of commuting time to and from work. Employers see tele-working as way of improving employee productivity without losing control. Another study conducted by (Yeraguntla and Bhat, 2005) brought the following results to light: 1) ¶women with children are more likely to work part time; 2) women without children are less likely to telework than men; and 3) women with children are more likely to telework than men.
In spite of the considerable attention that research has placed on the effects of ICTs on individuals’ decision making process, research on its impacts on women's activities patterns, work-life balance, and provision of equal carrier opportunities remains uncertain. Therefore, this study aims at introducing a methodology for quantifying the level of usage of ICTs by women; their future performance in work-related under alternative scenarios; and the effect of different policy measures on women’s entrepreneurship.
The remainder of this paper is structured as follows. Section 2 presents related background statistics for Greece. Section 3 presents the research methodology. Section 4 presents a descriptive analysis of the data collected. Section 5 describes future activity scenarios under different ICT implementation. The concluding section 6, presents policy recommendations and guidelines for further research.
2. BACKGROUND STATISTICS
This section presents some background statistics for women in labour force and ICT usage.
2.1 Women in Labor Force
According to the data published by UNECE (2010) concerning the first quarter of 2008 the active workforce in Greece represents 53.3% of the total population. According to Figure 1, Greek women represent the 40.5% of the country’s labour force.
FIGURE 1: Women in Labor Force
Source: UNECE Statistical Division (2010)
As seen in Figure 2a female unemployment reaches the level of 13% whereas that of men is just 7% in 2008. Figure 2b presents the rise of unemployment for the last two years, which makes the working environment more unstable especially for women.
According to Figure 3, salary-related data from all sectors of Greek economy show that women are paid an average 16.5% less than men for the same work. More specifically, the average monthly salary for men amounts to 1695 Euros whereas the equivalent for women is barely above the 1400 Euro mark (Table 1). According to research conducted in 2009 in the USA by the Institute for Women's Policy Research, ,the gender wage gap was 23%, when comparing the median annual earnings for employed women and men.
FIGURE 2a: Unemployment Rates
Source: UNECE Statistical Division (2010)
FIGURE 2b: Unemployment Rise
Source: Hellenic Statistics Agency (2010)
FIGURE 3: Greek Wages according to Gender
Source: UNECE Statistical Division (2010)
2.2 ICT use
Figure 4 presents the percentage of the population using computers for different European countries. Greece is amongst the countries with the lowest levels of general PC and Internet use by both genders, and especially by women.
FIGURE 4: Computer Use (in 2008)
Source: UNECE Statistical Division (2010)
As seen in Figure 5, both computer and internet use in Greece increases at a constant pace reaching the levels of 40% and 34% respectively. Based on Hellenic Telecommunications and Post Commission (HTPS, 2007) data, around 22% of men and 19% of women make daily use of PC and internet. Those that make use of new technologies less than once a week are just 7% and 4% of men and women respectively.
FIGURE 5: Percentage of Greek Population Using Computer by Age and Year
Source: Hellenic Statistics Agency (2010)
FIGURE 6: Percentage of Greek Population Using Internet by Age and Year
Source: Hellenic Statistics Agency (2010)
The adoption of ICTs is continuously increasing especially for the young generations. It is expected that the use of ICTs will shape the activities conducted by next generations very differently. However, what happens with working women of the generation 25 to 54+ now?
From the above statistics, it is obvious that further research on gender issues is imperative.
Main research questions include:
1. Can ICTs be the key to a recovery from the economic crisis?
2. Can ICTs help reduce the wage gap between men and women, and increase women’s entrepreneurship?
3. Can ICTs assist women to achieve a better work-life balance, a higher quality of life and a greater overall happiness?
It is strongly believed that the introduction of ICTs and the opportunities they offer may significantly assist the hypotheses presented above, if related policies by organizations and government are applied. In order to enhance the current knowledge on the impacts of ICTs, this research focuses on women’s short-term and longer-term decision-making processes with respect to their social and financial activities, as well as the latter's impact on the former's working conditions and overall happiness.
3. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
3.1 Scope
The scope of this research was to collect Revealed Preferences (RP) data on the basis of activities women undertake, their duration, and the use of ICTs for each activity (Table 1). The aim was to quantify the decision making of women as per Figure 6.
TABLE 1: Activities Mode of Conduct / Duration
Activity / Electronic MeansTelephone / Email / Web
1. Work related
2. Personal Developement (e.g. foreign languages)
3. Banking Transanctions
4. Buying Grocery
5. Buying Clothes
6. Buying Cosmetics
7. Recreation
FIGURE 7: Decision Making Tree for ICT Usage per Activity
Furthermore, hypothetical scenarios of future conditions for the year 2015 were developed, where ICTs developments vary together with other travel conditions as well as governmental policies and organizational culture. Under these scenarios women were asked to describe the activities they would perform as compared to today’s decision making. Section 3.3 describes the Stated Preferences Scenarios in detail.
3.2 Data Collection Methodology
A two-stage methodology was followed in 2007. Initially an internet survey was conducted for the period of 3-weeks. The first 150 questionnaires were obtained from a sample of younger women with high knowledge of computers and usage of internet. Then another 150 questionnaires were gathered via personal interviews in order to assure that the sample was spread across urban, suburban and island areas (16% of the respondents are from Islands, 75% from the Attica region and 9% from the rest of the mainland), as well as across age ranges. This two-stage sampling methodology has been successfully used by Viegas et al., 2004.
3.3 Survey Instrument
The questionnaire is composed of five parts. In the first part respondents are asked questions relevant to their working conditions, tele-working activities, and factors influencing their career development. The second part includes questions relevant to their residential location characteristics and perceptions regarding the choice of residential location. In the third part women are asked to define the activities they do in a typical day (in a form of a time-use survey). In the fourth part their level of education along with their knowledge in computers and ICTs and e-learning activities are presented.
The innovative part of this questionnaire was the design of a stated preferences experiment. A number of scenarios describing future situations (for year 2015) were introduced in order for the respondents to indicate the way they would conduct their activities in the future. These future scenarios are described by five categories of attributes:
- ICT – related characteristics;
2. Inter-urban and urban travel times by car and public transport;
3. Policies of companies promoting tele-working and assisting mothers by supporting measures;
4. Intercity travel times and costs; and
5. Government policies for subsidies in investments and taxation on new businesses.
TABLE 2: Attributes of Stated Preferences Experiments
Attributes of Stated Preferences Experiments /High-Speed of Internet Connection
Initial Charge of High-Speed Internet
Monthly Charge of High-Speed Internet
Internet Security: Fraud
Telephone Call Charge
Urban Travel Time
Interurban Travel Time
Public Transport Network Coverage
Company’s encouragement of tele-working
Company provided day care or kinder-garden children support
Intercity Travel Time
Intercity Travel Cost
Government Subsidy for setting up a business as a percentage of initial investment
Tax Free Government Policy for the new business
Under each future scenario respondents are asked how they would change their daily activities and working trends. Furthermore, the probability of becoming a business owner the next three or five years is also asked. Finally, in the last part, personal details of the respondents are identified.
4. DESCRIPTIVE DATA ANALYSIS
This section provides the descriptive data analysis for the:
1. Socioeconomic Characteristics;
2. Work Characteristics;
3. ICT Characteristics;
4. Level of Happiness; and
5. Activities and ICTs.
4.1 Socioeconomic Characteristics
As presented in Figure 8 the majority of the sample is between 18 and 35 years old and their net personal monthly income ranges between 500 Euros and 1500 Euros.
FIGURE 8: Socioeconomic Characteristics
4.2 Work Characteristics
According to the responses, 80% of the sampled women work, 55% of which works in the private sector and 45% in the public. Three quarters of the working respondents work full time and a mere 25% works part time.
4.3 ICTs Characteristics
ICTs characteristics are depicted in Figure 8. Despite that fact that female awareness of PC and internet usage is very high, only 10% of the women in question appear to be tele-working. The fact that 75% of the respondents has stated that their PC knowledge is good, to say the least, while 80% of them stated the same concerning their internet knowledge is aligned with the results from surveys which present a continuous increase in the usage of new technologies by women. The fact that 56% of the sampled women have internet access at work and the percentage rises to 73% when it comes to home connections is another indicator of the growing familiarization of women with the new technologies.
FIGURE 9: ICTs Characteristics
4.4 Level of Happiness
Women in Greece are less happy with their financial and work-related situation than with their social and family life (Figure 10).
FIGURE 10: Level of Happiness
4.5 Activities and ICTs
In urban areas women tend to use electronic means to a greater extend, with web services coming first, followed by email services and phones. The average duration of email usage is 2hrs, of internet usage is 1hr and 50 minutes and of phone usage is 1hr.