Paper short abstract:

This study examines the gender inequality in access to digital devices (mobile, smartphone, TV) and internet among households in rural India, and how it is associated with the growing gender gaps in the learning outcome.

Paper long abstract:

Gender inequality in digital divide and remote learning has emerged as an important social and policy concern worldwide, particularly during COVID-19 pandemic. A recent report by World Bank (2021) observes that girls often have reduced access to digital devices and internet at home, more so in developing countries and rural areas. Also, in households where both boys and girls have equal access to digital devices, its use is likely to be higher among boys. Girls are often engaged more in household chores (specifically in rural areas) that impede their ability to access and benefit from remote learning effectively. What’s the story in a patriarchal society such as India, which also experienced the longest school closure in the world amid pandemic? This study examines the gender inequality in access to digital devices (mobile, smartphone, TV) and internet among households in rural India, and how it is associated with the growing gender gaps in the learning outcome. Two key questions raised in this study are: (a) What is the extent of inter- and intra-household gender inequality in access and its uses to digital devices and internet in rural India, and what are the major determinants of such inequalities? (b) How does the gender inequality in remote learning at the household level result differential student learning outcome in math, reading and English between boys and girls? We use Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) 2022 data, a nationwide rural household survey covering 697,561 children (between 3 to 16 age) in in 19,108 villages across 600 districts in India. We restrict our sample to elementary school-going children (grades 1 to 8) in this study where the evidence of digital divide is greater, and these schools were closed for longer days during pandemic. Results show that female children are six percentage points and 22 percentage points less likely to get access to smartphones and internet respectively, and this gap widens among poor, lower caste and less educated households. While we find a positive and statistically significant association between access to remote learning (smartphone and internet) and children’s learning outcome in reading, math and English, it differs considerably between boys and girls. For example, boys in grade 5 accessing internet are 26.6 percentage points more likely to read a story than girls, and more or less similar gaps exist in math and English. This supports the argument that technology’s problems and successes are rarely due to technology alone — they are more often associated with user's social and cultural settings (Burns 2021). The study contributes novel insights to a nascent body of research in India on gender inequality in remote learning, as well as to a wider literature concerning technology and education.