New communications development

Many new communication tools appeared in France during the last five years: broadband (in 2008, ARCEP announced that 16,225 million homes and small businesses are equipped with broadband), Wi-Fi (users of devices like laptops and mobiles now have access to the Internet in Paris buses or in Mac Donald’s), access to multimedia content on mobile phones, Smartphones which are such a success that more and more operating systems like Blackberry, iPhone, Palm Os can be used on them (600,000 Smartphones were sold in 2007, 131% more than in 2006). Now, it is also possible to have phone conversations through the Internet, with Skype for instance. Social networks such as Facebook, and Myspace are expanding and webcasting is a growing. Another noticeable trend is the increasing miniaturization of the devices.

8.3% of French people aged 15 or more who use a mobile phone or a Smartphone connect to websites through the Mobile Internet.

New communication tools will obviously appear in the coming years or their use will become easier through the development of new technologies such as ultra high speed broadband access through a fiber optic connection (less than 5% of users in France today). Likewise, more and more people will have access to video conference technology and mobile phones will be increasingly used for payments.

In addition, the miniaturization of communication devices will increase. According to current trends, people are asking for devices with combined functionalities that will enable them to combine a computer, a phone, and a multimedia tool into a single device with high-speed Wi-Fi Internet access.

Using these communication tools often remains a challenge for women

First of all, it is important to notice that today French women have the same access to communication tools than men (See Appendix).

Moreover, according to a survey led by Accenture in March 2008, the majority of women managers in India (68%), South Africa (63%), China (61%) and Brazil (52%) said they were likely to succeed in the global economy by the year 2011 contrary to German (32%), English (26%) and France (25%) executives. The survey asked respondents to consider their “degree of ability” through the following six areas: agility, corporate responsibility, global expertise, technology, inclusion and diversity, industrial relations. The “degree of ability” measures the importance, as perceived by the interested parties, of each specific competence for their success in 2011, as well as their level of preparation in this area. It is interesting to note that women (75%) and men (73%) put technology at the top of the skills they must master. It is also the case in France. However French women (68%) are more convinced than men (64%) of the importance for their careers of mastering technology.

As a consequence, women seem to embrace the use of such technological tools. More than 8 women out of 10 (83% of the entire panel and 82% in France) want to learn and use new technologies, like blogs or social networks, to give themselves the means of a successful future. In France, when interviewing women in the field of the biggest changes by 2011, they bet on new technology as a key vehicle for relationships.

However, women who use communication tools are not as comfortable as men when using them. As a matter of fact, women are a minority in the use of new communication technologies. This point is particularly striking when one considers the creation of content over networks. According to Table 3: Computer and Internet Skills of surfers, 28% of men against 19% of women were able to create an internet website in 2005 and 84% of men against 59% of women knew how to install a new hardware,… and the same difference can be observed in the ability of compressing a file or creating a program. Indeed, a large majority of bloggers are men (more than 60%). In addition, on an international prospective, men outnumber women to invoke the technical skills as a contributing factor to their career development (respectively 59% of men against 47% of women); same trend in France with 61% men against 47% of women. A recent French study (2003) commissioned by the Ministry for research and new technologies on “Women and the Internet” pointed out the existence of mental barriers to Internet use among women. For instance, 19% of women against 14% of men find that the main obstacle to the Internet use is that it’s too complicated (Source : Credoc, survey “Way of life and aspirations of the French people”, June 2007). The lack of time is also related as one of the causes of non-investment of women in IT.

Tools to do what?

In France, the Internet is a new medium mainly used to search for increasing amounts of information and communicate almost instantaneously. Half of Internet users have already asked for administrative information and 39% of them manage their bank accounts online. In contrast, only one third buys or orders goods and services on the Internet. According to a Credoc survey, the search for medical information on the Net, for oneself or a relative, is one of the most popular activities: 26% of the total population (and 41% of Internet users) have made such a step. For this very special area, women are more users than men (35% for women against 21% for men in 2005, see Table 2: Games and music for men, health information for women).

Precisely, women use the Internet because it’s a very useful and easy communication tool. In fact, communication tools help women promote their rights; they enable them to have better, faster access to information, and to create communities of shared experiences. Women like to communicate and can now do so more easily, in a more relaxed and direct manner than in real life.

As a consequence, the impact on their relationships with their families and friends is positive. New communication tools help then spend more time with their families to take care of them, and with their friends. They also enable them to work from home; Telework can make it easier to combine work and family life. It seems that women find it easier today to balance work and personal lives, and their relationships with others appears to have benefited from the use of these new communication tools.

However, a much better use could be done of these tools by women in France today, but French people have to be ready to face a change of mentality regarding women’s place in technology as for instance, professional positions related to IT are still in a huge majority held by men.

APPENDIX

Table 1: Access and use of the Internet

(click Here)

Table 2: Games and music for men, health information for women

(click here)

Table 3: Computer and Internet skills of surfers

(click here)

 Table 4: Miscellaneous Information about the use of communication by women

 (click here)