Gender Gap in the Use of ICT among Entrepreneurs in India

This chapter focuses on the gender gap in the adoption small entrepreneurs in India. Notwithstanding rapid digitalization, a persistent gender gap exists, with women-owned enterprises having a lower likelihood of adopting information and communication technology (ICT). Using a logistic regression framework, we find that businesses owned by women have lower odds of using the internet as well as computers compared to male-owned businesses. Our findings also highlight that education is an important factor in narrowing this gender gap in ICT adoption. The gender gap in ICT adoption reduces with the higher educational attainment of women entrepreneurs. Additionally, state-level factors, such as digital skills and gender norms, are also critical factors influencing ICT adoption among female entrepreneurs. These results underscore the need for specific policies to bridge the gender gap in ICT adoption among small entrepreneurs in India.