Symbolic order (cross-cutting dimension)

Gender representations on the web are often shaped by stereotypes. Algorithms for pre-selection in job application processes, filter bubbles that show more and more of what was previously viewed, for example, in search engines, in the use of digital communication and in the advertising industry contribute to the reproduction of stereotypes and the reinforcement of discrimination against women and girls. 

Algorithms can be particularly discriminatory in learning artificial intelligence (AI) systems. Gender characteristics can lead to a face not being recognized or a voice not being responded to - if this was not taken into account accordingly during programming.

Care economy/care work

There is currently little research on the influence of smart household appliances on the (partnership-based) division of housework, whether there is a redistribution of working time in the household, and what influence a redistribution of responsibilities and tasks in relationships through household automation has on resource consumption and the environment. The lack of research on this aspect is also due to the fact that research to date has been very technology-oriented and has not been conducted in an interdisciplinary manner. Social aspects thus neither play a role in the questions posed nor in the research itself. However, it can be assumed that the switch to smart household technologies is more likely to be oriented toward the interests of male household members due to gender-specific role attributions and male affinity for technology.

Labor economics

By contrast, the effects of digitalization on the labor market have been better studied from a gender perspective. The Third Gender Equality Report of the German Federal Government, with its 17 expert reports, has made a significant contribution in this regard, illuminating the topic from many different perspectives. 

In principle, a very ambiguous picture emerges: on the one hand, the possible effects of a digitalized world of work on improving the compatibility of career and family - with the negative side effects of the dissolution of working hours. On the other hand, there is the low proportion of 16% women in the IT industry itself, with a correspondingly low proportion of women in decision-making positions. There is also much discussion about the replacement of human labor through digitalization and artificial intelligence (AI), which seems to be higher in male-dominated work areas such as manufacturing than in female-dominated work areas such as nursing. However, the situation is not as clear-cut as it appears at first glance; differentiated analyses are required here.

Public resources/infrastructures

Women and other discriminated persons often face access barriers to the Internet. This "digital gender gap" and the access barriers that cause it must therefore be analyzed and reduced on a context-specific basis. These barriers include, for example, lack of affordability, lack of infrastructure, insufficient digital skills. 

It is also striking that although women are more active users of social media than men, they are less visible online and contribute less to content generation. Globally, women's entries on Wikipedia were 9% in 2018, and biographies about women and women-specific research papers are also massively underrepresented. Causes for this include a culture in which women do not feel welcome and the tolerance of violent and abusive language (cyberbullying). 

Institutionalized androcentrism/ power of definition

How prevailing attitudes about gender roles shape technology development and use has been discussed since the 1980s. However, this feminist critique of technology has not yet resonated with the development of digitalization technologies. This may have to do with the definition of problems and solution models being clearly oriented toward masculine models of life. An example of this is autonomous driving, which denies the need for (personal) care with technical (digital) control over driving. Here, as well as in the research in the context of smart homes and smart cities, it can be seen that these are oriented towards the needs and visions of the rather male technology developers, but not necessarily towards the needs of the users and residents (see German blog post by Göde Both).

Shaping Power at actor’s level

A large proportion of the power to shape the digitization process lies with people with technical expertise, e.g. programmers, IT experts or technicians, with the low proportion of women already described and the above-mentioned problems of alignment with their own masculinity models and experiences. 

The participation of women in the development and production processes of digitization rarely takes place. However, participatory technology design offers a set of methods to involve real users of technology in the development process from the very beginning through to usability.

Body, health, self-determination and privacy ('intimacy')

The production and use of digital technologies can affect women's health. In addition to the high health impacts when mining raw materials - for example, in Congo coltan is primarily mined by women, who often have their small children with them (see study Digitalization and Sustainability by Felix Sühlmann-Faul & Stephan Rammler in German) - the violence to which women are exposed during their activities on the net is particularly worth discussing here. Many studies indicate that hate and violence in social media disproportionately affects women, gays, lesbians, trans, people with non-binary gender identities or Women of Color. 

Similarly, with smart home technologies, it appears that if a person does not have access to these technologies, they are at a disadvantage when it comes to violence. In a power-asymmetrical partnership, the control and monitoring made possible by the technologies (e.g. light, movement, door locking functions) can prove to be a trap for the person who does not have access to the control of the “smart home”: "The more tech-savvy the man, the higher the risk to the woman" (see expert opinion accompanying the Third Gender Equality Report by Regina Frey in German).