Bridging the digital divide with gender equity in the digital world: empirical insights from OECD countries

Purpose This paper highlights an important question of equal access for women, particularly those in rural and economically weaker sections, to digital infrastructure. It flags how high internet connectivity costs and expensive digital devices act as major bottlenecks that impede the participation of women in the digital economy and deny them new frontiers of e-commerce and remote employment opportunities. Design/methodology/approach A woman-centred analytical framework is adopted by this study for the relationship investigation between digitalization and participation by women in Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries' employment force between the years 2010 and 2023. It uses proxies measurable in mobile cellular subscriptions and using the internet that can show either the short- or long-run technological progress effect on women’s employment. Findings The findings underline the continuing risks associated with digital inequality, especially among women in marginalized communities. While digital technologies provide immense opportunities in the form of remote work and flexible employment arrangements, digital exclusion remains a barrier that prevents women from accessing these tools and thus being able to participate economically. Originality/value This research is singularly contributing to offering a gendered perspective on how digitalization impacts labour market dynamics, deviating from existing literature that mainly narrows down to broader economic effects. It provides actionable policy recommendations to enhance digital inclusion and gender equity in labour markets, including the promotion of flexible work arrangements, strengthening legal protections against digital discrimination and increasing inclusive digital literacy initiatives.