IS ICT EMPOWERING WOMEN IN EGYPT? An empirical study

In this study we will focus on the impact of ICT ownership on the gender divide and whether is ICT really empowering women in Egypt. Furthermore, we will explore the effect of ICT on women’s lives in relation to other factors like education and income. Finally, recommendations are given to the policy maker in order to increase ICT’s role in empowering women in Egypt and enhance the gender equality. The contribution of this paper is the creation of ICT ownership index from the sample data ELMPS and then creating a women empowerment index as well. Results reveal that ICT ownership index is largely influenced by education and gender, while ICT ownership index has a significant impact on women empowerment in Egypt. However, controlling for other individual characteristics like women’s occupation and economic activity, ICT ownership index becomes statistically insignificant.