This study aims to endeavor to explore the extent of gender digital divide(GDD) in Uttar Pradesh (U.P., IT-Hub of North India), a most populous state of India, with a particular…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to endeavor to explore the extent of gender digital divide(GDD) in Uttar Pradesh (U.P., IT-Hub of North India), a most populous state of India, with a particular focus on the first and second order of digital divide, including availability, access time and use of the internet.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors have adopted stratified multistage sampling procedure for this research and conducted an empirical study on the data set of 600 respondents of six districts of U.P. to perform the inter-regional analysis. Furthermore, χ2 method has been used to reveal the factors responsible for the GDD among selected districts of UP.
Findings
Statistical results clearly indicate that out of 12 sub-districts, most of the districts suffered from first order as well as second order of GDD, and this gender disparity within an increasing digitization environment is due to the existence of exclusion from basic technological skills, social norms and financial constraints.
Practical implications
The results have implications for the U.P. Government in general and policymakers behind digitization projects in particular as well as the promoters of gender equality including researchers and fellows.
Originality/value
This study is the first to illustrate the orders of the digital gender gap in a developing economy such as India and to gain an insight into the factors behind it. This research will also consider a promising avenue for future work.
Details
Keywords
Kalpana Rajsinghot, Shashi Bala and Puja Singhal
Rural entrepreneurship is an important vehicle to drive sustainable rural development in India. The process of planning, starting, and operating a new business is termed as…
Abstract
Rural entrepreneurship is an important vehicle to drive sustainable rural development in India. The process of planning, starting, and operating a new business is termed as entrepreneurship. It has been described as having the ability and willingness to create, plan, and manage a business enterprise while accepting any risks involved to generate a profit. In India’s rural areas, enterprise and entrepreneurship are what fuel economic progress. A rural entrepreneur is someone who uses rural resources to develop products and establish enterprises that support the development of the rural economy and its growth potential. Although, these rural business owners encounter issues similar to those faced by urban business owners due to the rural setting in which they operate amplifies their difficulties. To reduce rural people’s migration and to support rural upliftment, it is necessary to encourage entrepreneurship and new employment opportunities. Consequently, rural entrepreneurship has the potential to greatly increase employment in rural areas. It is a more effective method of eradicating poverty and hunger, sustainable health and well-being, enhancing gender equality, quality education, decent work conditions, promoting innovation in industries, and ultimately reducing the inequalities which are mapped with the important agenda of the United Nation’s sustainable development goals (SDGs 2030). To bring about change, institutions must concentrate on the interactions between education, skill, entrepreneurship, and employment. This chapter explores the challenges and skills required for rural entrepreneurship in India, proposing a framework to enhance rural development through entrepreneurship.