Session document

FINAL

A5-0279/2003

15 July 2003

REPORT

on Women in the New Information Society
(2003/2047(INI))

Committee on Women's Rights and Equal Opportunities

Rapporteur: Anna Karamanou

CONTENTS

Page

PROCEDURAL PAGE............................................................................................................... 4

MOTION FOR A EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT RESOLUTION............................................... 5

EXPLANATORY STATEMENT.............................................................................................. 12

PROCEDURAL PAGE

At the sitting of 15 May 2003 the President of Parliament announced that the Committee on Women's Rights and Equal Opportunities had been authorised to draw up an own-initiative report, pursuant to Rule 163 of the Rules of Procedure, on women in the new information society and the Committees on Industry, External Trade, Research and Energy and on Culture, Youth, Education, the Media and Sport had been asked for their opinions.

The Committee on Women's Rights and Equal Opportunities had appointed Anna Karamanou rapporteur at its meeting of 26 November 2002.

It considered the draft report at its meetings of 20 May, 10 June and 10 July 2003.

At the latter meeting it adopted the motion for a resolution by 12 votes to 6 , with 0 abstention.

The following were present for the vote: Jillian Evans, acting chairman; Anna Karamanou, rapporteur; Ulla Maija Aaltonen, María Antonia Avilés Perea, Regina Bastos, Véronique De Keyser (for Joke Swiebel), Fiorella Ghilardotti, Lissy Gröner, Rodi Kratsa-Tsagaropoulou, Astrid Lulling, Thomas Mann, Maria Martens, Emilia Franziska Müller, Christa Prets, Miet Smet, Elena Valenciano Martínez-Orozco, Arie M. Oostlander (for Amalia Sartori pursuant to Rule 153(2)), Bartho Pronk (for Marielle de Sarnez pursuant to Rule 153 (2)) and Ursula Schleicher (for Christa Klaß pursuant to Rule 153 (2)).

The Committee on Culture, Youth, Education, the Media and Sport decided on 22 April 2003 not to deliver an opinion and the Committee on Industry, External Trade, Research and Energy decided on 22 May 2003 not to deliver an opinion.

The report was tabled on 15 July 2003.

MOTION FOR A EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT RESOLUTION

 on women in the new information society (2003/2047(INI))

The European Parliament,

– having regard to Articles 2, 3(2), 141(4) of the EC Treaty,

– having regard to Lisbon Strategy and the conclusions of the Lisbon European Council of 23 and 24 March 2000 on the objective of building a "learning society" in Europe[1],

– having regard to the conclusions of the Stockholm European Council of 23 and 24 March 2001[2],

– having regard to the conclusions of the Barcelona European Council of 15 and 16 March 2002[3],

– having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 2836/98 of 22 December 1998 on integrating of gender issues in development cooperation[4],

– having regard to Council Regulation (EC, ECSC, Euroatom) No 781/98 of 7 April 1998 amending the Staff Regulations of Officials and Conditions of Employment of Other Servants of the European Communities in respect of equal treatment[5],

– having regard to the Directive N° 2002/73/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 September 2002 amending Council Directive 76/207/EEC on the implementation of the principle of equal treatment for men and women as regards access to employment, vocational training and promotion, and working conditions[6],

– having regard to Council Decision N° 2001/63/EC of 19 January 2001 on Guidelines for Member States' employment policies for the year 2001[7],

– having regard to Commission Decision N° 2000/407/EC of 19 June 2000 relating to gender balance within the committees and expert groups established by it[8],

– having regard to its resolution of 3 July 2001 on the Commission communication to the Council and the European Parliament: "Framework Strategy on Gender Equality - Work Programme for 2001"[9],

– having regard to Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council of 3 February 2003 : Framework Strategy on Gender Equality - Work Programme for 2003[10],

– having regard to its resolution of 3 February 2000 on the Communication from the Commission on "Women and science - Mobilising women to enrich European research"[11],

– having regard to Resolution of the Council and of the Representatives of the Governments of the Member States meeting within the Council of 17 December 1999 on the employment and social dimensions of the information society[12],

– having regard to Council Resolution of 20 May 1999 on women and science[13],

– having regard to its resolution of 16 September 1997 on the Commission Communication - Incorporating equal opportunities for women and men into all Community policies and activities - "gender mainstreaming"[14],

– having regard to Community Framework Strategy on Gender Equality (2001-2005)[15],

– having regard to Annual Report on Equal Opportunities for Women and Men in the European Union 2002 from the Commission to the Council, the European Parliament, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions of 5 March 2003[16],

– having regard to the Commission Communication "Making a European Area of lifelong Learning a Reality"[17],

– having regard to its resolution of 27 April 2001 on the Commission communications on the initiative and the action plan for 2001-2004 entitled "e-Learning - Designing tomorrow's education"[18],

– having regard to its resolution of 17 October 2000 on the report from the Commission to the Council and the European Parliament on Designing tomorrow's education: promoting innovation with new technologies[19],

– having regard to the Commission Report on "Concrete future objectives of education systems"[20],

– having regard to the Communication from the Commission to the Council, the European Parliament, the Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions: eEurope 2005 - an Information Society for all, an action plan for the Sevilla European Council 2002[21],

– taking into account the Communication from the Commission to the Member States of 14 April 2000 establishing guidelines for the community initiative EQUAL and more precisely Pillar 4 of the programme aiming to "reconcile family and working life" and "to reduce the gender pay gap and combat job segregation"[22],

– having regard to the conclusions of the 47th session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women in March 2003 on participation in and access of women to the media, and information and communication technologies and their impact on and use as an instrument for the advancement and empowerment of women[23],

– having regard to the ongoing preparations for the World Summit on the Information Society to be held in December 2003 and in 2005 and for the World Conference on Women Beijing+10[24],

– having regard to the documentation of the International Conference "ITech Women" held in Vienna in October 2001[25],

– having regard to the Report "E-Commerce and Development" of the UN Conference on Trade and Development, Geneva 2002[26],

– having regard to the documentation of the Expert Group Meeting, organised by the UN ICT Task Force in November 2002, on the advancement and empowerment of women[27],

– having regard to the publication "The life of women and men in Europe – A statistical portrait"[28],

– having regard to statistics on women and science available online[29],

– having regard to the political guidelines laid down by the Nice European Council and commitments to improve access to lifelong education and training, particularly in the new technology sector[30],

– having regard to the conclusions of the Athens informal ministerial meeting on "Gender and Information Society" on 6 May 2003[31],

– having regard to Rule 163 of its Rules of Procedure,

– having regard to the report of the Committee on Women's Rights and Equal Opportunities (A5-0279/2003),

A.  whereas globalisation and information and communication technologies (ICT) have dramatically changed all areas of European working and social life and are making constant progress,

B.   whereas the current policy framework for the development of new ICT has largely been focused on economic aspects and the control of the ICT is primarily left to private sector, without any social impact assessment or proper incentives policies for equal rights of women and men, in order to acquire the necessary skills for the "knowledge society". This approach leads to the inappropriate perception of open participation to all.

C.  whereas the information society and the access to ICT is widely considered as gender neutral ;

D.  whereas the planned policies about information society do not address any gender issues and fail to recognise the uneven results for men and women,

E.  whereas the emerging social exclusion danger emanating from the inability to use ICT - the digital illiteracy - concerns to a large extent women,

F.  whereas studies and data show a persistent gender imbalance to the disadvantage of women in ICT related education and ICT related jobs,

G.  whereas the right to participate in the Information Society must enable women to fully take their role as actors in shaping the future society,

H.   whereas educational and vocational systems in most European countries tend to sustain prejudices and stereotyped perceptions of the ICT professions and ICT industry with the disappointing figures of less than 20% female students in the ICT sector, and even fewer women setting up their own business and being in positions of responsibility and creativity in this sector,

I.    whereas 60% of new work opportunities during the five past years belong to the ICT sector;

J.   whereas private and public sectors are obliged to care about gender equality, promoting the participation of each gender, 

K.  whereas the under-representation of women in science and ICT sector prevents the achievement of the Lisbon objectives,

L.   whereas Europe continues to face the under-representation of women in the science and ICT sector without making the most of its human resources and potential, and its lag in innovation and economic competitiveness towards the US can not be reduced,

M.  whereas the rapid growth of ICT 's is being globally recognised as the most important factor in the development of any nation, the new technologies present a new opportunity that arise with globalisation, however women are often the least able to seize the opportunities, 

N.   whereas it is of utmost importance to pay adequate attention at to formulate parameters of women participating in the ICT world, not only within the actual Member states of the Union, but also in the New Member states, including Bulgaria and Romania,

1.   Calls on the Commission and the Member States to devise policies intended to include women in all sectors of the new ICT ;

2.   Calls on the Commission and the Member States to ensure the full involvement of women in planning and decision-making on Information Society policies and control and management of the ICT and media sector;

3.   Calls on the Commission and the Member States to pay particular attention to women at risk of being excluded from the benefits of the Information Society, such as older women, unemployed and low-income women, migrant women, women belonging to ethnic minorities and women with disabilities, in order to prevent the emergence of a two-speed society and to give them the opportunity to participate in easily accessible ITC courses in their home localities;

4.   Urges the Commission to collect systematic data on structural differences in the ICT sector broken down by gender in the sectors of education and the labour market (education level and type of education, type of jobs and level of seniority, grades and wages);

5.   Calls on the Commission and the Member States to implement gender equality policies, that aim especially to vocational training, life long learning, compatibility between professional and private life and the equal division of family responsibilities between men and women, which will facilitate women's participation in the Informatιon Society;

6.   Calls the Commission and the Member States to undertake the commitment - with the full use of Structural Funds and in particular the Social Fund - for training in ICT, particularly with regard to entry or return to the job market (unemployed women, initiatives for re-training, always in the context of the Lisbon objective for the employment participation rate),

7.   Calls on the Member States to encourage the inclusion of ITC into primary schooling from an early age, thus giving girls a more natural relationship to ITC, counteracting the gender-stereotypical attitude to ITC which may occur later in life;

8.   Calls for access to ICT to be affordable; 

9.   Calls on the Council and the Commission to continue existing gender mainstreaming policies and initiatives for confronting the under-representation of women in education in the fields of ICT;

10.  Calls the Commission and the Member States to undertake the commitment for:

a) integrate specific ICT training for women within a broader process of cooperation between all the parties concerned: the education authorities and organisations, school and vocational guidance, the private and public sector, the training organisations, the lenders of capital, the central and/or regional and/or local authorities, equal opportunities organisations, undertakings, women's groups or associations;
b) reorganise the school, university and vocational guidance services in such a way that they seek out rather than wait to be approached by the people concerned and encourage the participation of girls in higher education, particularly in technical and technological fields
c) encourage the participation of women and girls in specific ICT training courses by providing more decentralised and more widely distributed education and training facilities;
d) develop awareness and information measures so as to offer women and those around them images of women engaged in non-traditional activities, particularly those related to ICT activities

e) encourage greater participation by girls in the various initial vocational training systems outside the school education system, especially ITC apprenticeships and adapt or, where appropriate, abolish types of training for women which do not provide real occupational skills or lead girls into traditional female or overcrowded occupations;

11.  Stresses the important role of the social partners for promoting gender equality and equal treatment in employment ; 

12.  Calls on the Commission and the Council to submit practical strategy proposals and contribute to the incorporation of horizontal policies for gender equality in the United Nations World Summit on the Information Society scheduled to be held in Geneva in December 2003; 

13.  Calls on the Commission and the Council, within the framework of the European and the Member States development policies to pay due attention to the fact that women's and girl's education is recognised as most sustainable development of development countries, in particular to the advantages of ICT for women and more specifically in the new forms of information transfer in the area of health, (sexual) education, food production and environmental knowledge; 

14.  Calls on the Commission to promote programmes and projects in developing countries of networks of women in ICT whereby the aim should be to strengthen women's economic capacity which, linked to new technology, would lead to a more active participation by women in the shaping of the new economy and society, helping to lift themselves and their families from poverty; 

15.  Requests the Commission to study, together with the industry, in which way ICT technology and products could be made available, as cheaply as possible, on a wide scale in developing countries, taking full account of the potential local production capacities, with the effect at to prevent division between the few which are able to purchase expensive technology and the masses who cannot; 

16.  Calls on the Commission within the framework of the financial programs for the adhesion countries and after entry into the Community by 2004, within the Structural Funds, to give a higher priority to educational, professional programs whereby ICT is offered to unemployed women in order to increase their chances on the labour market;

17.  Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission and the governments of Member States and Accession Countries.

EXPLANATORY STATEMENT

Introduction

At the dawn of the 21^st century a number of events of historical importance is rapidly changing economic and social structures and the way in which the world of employment operates. The explosive development of technology and the globalisation of the economy are swiftly transforming the material basis of society and redefining relations between the economy, the state and society.

Changes in social and life are as dramatic as those in the technological and economic spheres. Computers are creating new channels of communication and redefining human relations. However, despite the global range of communications networks, social activity is still structured around primary, basic identities which are determined by nationality, language, religion, sexual orientation and gender.

The World Conference on Women held in Beijing in 1995 characterised the communications media and the new technologies as a critical sector for the equality of men and women and the advancement of women. The intervening years have demonstrated the need to integrate the gender dimension in the Information Society which is currently being established as a means of striking a balance in relations between men and women and promoting social progress. With preparations underway for the first ever World Summit on the Information Society, it is vital to ensure that account is taken of the importance of strengthening the role of women and the needs of women in shaping the policy which will determine how the Information Society develops.

Unfortunately, the public debate on the development and impact of the new technologies has so far focused chiefly on the economic consequences, ignoring the gender dimension; the result is that technological issues are wrongly interpreted as being gender-neutral. Lack of access to the new technologies and digital illiteracy are increasingly becoming new forms of social exclusion which pose a direct threat to women.

EDUCATION AND VOCATIONAL TRAINING

The position of women in the world of employment is directly related to their position and the options they choose in the educational system. The different educational routes taken by men and women lead in the creation of two gender-determined labour markets with huge differences between them. Inequality in education results in inequality at work and therefore in wage levels and living conditions. Unfortunately, social stereotypes and cultural prejudices restrict the choices available to girls and obstruct their career paths; this has more general adverse consequences for the economy due to the failure to use human resources rationally.

According to the available statistics, in all EU countries girls are less well represented than boys in secondary-level vocational training and more represented than boys in higher education; the rate of increase is more rapid among women than men. However, they have far fewer opportunities to study science, mathematics, computer science, etc., and clearly have less opportunity to pursue post-graduate studies.

Women account for less than 20% of all IT students and a mere 14.5% of entrepreneurs starting up multimedia companies, despite the fact that the EU's Fifth Framework Programme for Research and Technology set 40% as a minimum for each gender. In continuing vocational training, there is no great difference between the numbers of men and women. However, there are significant differences between the north and south of Europe (women account for over 60% of workers in enterprises in Sweden, 53% in Denmark and 50% in Finland, but less than 18% in Portugal). Men and women have greater opportunities to take part in vocational training programmes when they work in large enterprises.

A substantially larger percentage of women compared to men takes part in more practical, employment-oriented programmes, rather than more theoretical or research programmes or programmes which provide access to professions requiring high qualifications. Training in communications networks and computer programming is dominated by men. Women are involved only in word-processing programmes,which prepare them for secretarial positions.

In 1985 the Equal Opportunities Commission in the UK announced that gender discrimination in educational programmes was the reason why so few women chose scientific and technological subjects. However, the new technologies are not simply didactic material to be added to school textbooks; rather they profoundly change the way in which knowledge is acquired and overturn all traditional methods of teaching and learning.

Proposals – Policy measures

In order to increase the number of women in education and training in the new technologies, computers and the Internet must be integrated at an early stage in primary school curricula so as to encourage girls to pursue mathematics and other science subjects. Research has shown that exposure to science and technology at an early age could change the attitude of women before stereotypes begin to affect their behaviour. Strategies must also be developed to boost the participation and presence of women at all levels of education in this area.

Various role models of successful, independent and satisfied women working in the new technologies sector must be provided for girls engaged in choosing a career. It is vital that education approach gender issues sensitively: it must start by questioning distinctions in the motivation, utilisation, expectations, wishes, perception and stereotypes with which both girls and boys approach computers and the new technologies generally.

Education and training must go beyond teaching word-processing or entering data and include the production of knowhow. Policies must ensure that women participate both in decision-making and in shaping IT policies.

For the continuing education of the workforce, cooperation between undertakings, NGOs, vocational institutes, universities and governments in creating IT education centres is essential. Special support must be given to local educational centres, in particular for women and girls, but also for marginalised groups. Particular incentives must be provided for IT companies which practise gender mainstreaming in their training and promotion policies.

EMPLOYMENT

Over the last decade three million new jobs have been created, 1.6 million of which are held by women. Over 60% of new jobs created between 1995 and 2000 were in the high-tech sector where women are under-represented, especially at the higher levels of technical specialisation and decision-taking. The labour market remains divided by gender, with men dominating the new technologies and women more prominent in less well-paid positions which require less specialisation and provide less security. Women are recruited chiefly to posts applying contemporary technology in services where IT is used, while the creative positions of computer software programmers and systems analysts are dominated by men.

Teleworking offers new opportunities to women, in the form of flexibility, part-time employment and piecework. At the same time, women are very worried about combining teleworking with bringing up children and other family responsibilities. Other dangers are the lack of social or legal protection and the perpetuation of the unequal and unfair division of responsibilities in private and public life between men and women.

Another topic to be borne in mind is the dominance of the English language in the Information Society and the danger that women who do not know English will be excluded. However, opportunities exist for developing translation software and designing websites in national languages.

ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND SELF-EMPLOYMENT

The promotion of entrepreneurship and self-employment lies at the heart of the European Employment Strategy. Statistics show that independent businesswomen account for 28% of the total, while women entrepreneurs with employees account only for 2.5% of women employed in industry and services (compared to 8% for men). Self-employed women correspond to a mere 8% of the total of working women in the EU, compared to 16% of men.

Women perform less well when they create their own enterprise; they do so usually in the services sector rather than in the processing and new technologies sector, and their enterprises tend to be smaller than those run by men. Women usually start with less funding and have fewer contacts and less entrepreneurial experience.

The access of women to and involvement in the media and the new technologies are also determined by factors such as education, family situation, urban or rural background, language, immigration and disabilities.

PROPOSALS- POLICY MEASURES

Governments must commit themselves to drawing up action frameworks aimed at using the new technologies in such a way as to consolidate equality between men and women in employment. The Lisbon strategy and guidelines on employment must be implemented in order to avoid a perpetuation of the gender divide in the labour market.

Special attention must be given to multimedia content, so as to promote positive images for girls. Steps must be taken to ensure that advertising companies do not present the new technologies as an area reserved for men. Strenuous efforts must also be made in planning IT tools for girls. Finally, men must take their share of parental leave and assure their share of child care and domestic duties.

SCIENCE AND RESEARCH

Women are significantly under-represented at European level and they are only present in some scientific fields and completely absent in others. They are also very unevenly represented at all levels of the scientific hierarchy and have less chance of obtaining funding for research. Of the 500 000 researchers in Europe working in industry, only 50 000 are women. In the public sector (universities and research centres) the percentage fluctuates between a quarter and a third, while at the higher levels of responsibility, the figure is less than 12%. In industrial research the situation is even worse, and the new technology sector is the worst of all.

In its resolution of 3 February 2000, the European Parliament stated that statistics should be analysed by gender and that a 40% target should be set for the minimum participation of women at all levels of implementation and management of research programmes. Parliament also called for the adoption of appropriate measures to allow women scientists to combine professional and private life and for aid to be granted to the candidate countries to encourage the promotion of scientific and technical skills among women.

THE INTERNET

Research has demonstrated differences in the way in which women and men use the Internet: men are far more interested in news, information of a sexual content and surfing. In general, women use the Internet as a tool for specific activities (to maintain contact with friends and relatives, to log into chatrooms and for information and shopping), instead of treating the Internet as a technology which they must master. Only in very few cases do women who use the Internet have any technical background or exercise authority.

The right to communications must be recognised as a basic right without which women will be unable to play their due role in shaping society.

There are some alarming data about the small percentage of women who use the Internet in the candidate countries, but these should be viewed against the background of the very low percentage of overall users. The figures for men and women, respectively, are: in Estonia 38% and 14%, in Poland 18.7% and 5.4%, in the Czech Republic 12% and 6.8% and in Lithuania 10% and 2.9%. The percentage of the overall population with access to the Internet is low and even insignificant, and women Internet users are chiefly drawn from the educated urban elite and are not representative of women in their respective countries.

The increased privatisation both of the traditional media and the new technologies restricts access to those who can pay and this makes the Internet increasingly commercialised and controlled, which severely jeopardises any initiatives to overcome inequality between men and women and reduces the scope for using new technologies as a medium for the emancipation of women. The development of the future content and functions of the new technology must be a collective process in which women must not participate only as users, but also as planners and creators of the new technologies.

PROPOSALS - POLICY MEASURES

National and international policies in respect of the new technologies must always be evaluated on the basis of their impact on equality between men and women. Priority must be given to the development of programmes by and for women in the new technologies.

There is a need for the systematic compilation of data on structural differences in the IT domain (level and type of education, type of work, promotion). Improving the access of women to the Internet and the new technologies requires the creation of an extended infrastructure and technological equipment in rural and semi-urban regions which are today not sufficiently well served for, especially the poorer regions and the candidate countries. In order to combat social exclusion, priority must be given to vulnerable groups of girls and women - immigrants, women with disabilities, the poor, single mothers and women farmers.