Brazil

Education differentials

Available figures indicate that Brazil has attained a high female literacy rate, and that 52 percent of the total tertiary school enrollments are girls. As in many other developing countries, the presence of female students is reduced to 34 percent in the natural sciences which include engineering and computer sciences, the disciplines for pursuing a career in ICTs. Some Brazilian schools have begun offering computer classes at primary and secondary levels.

â–º 85.4 % of adult females are literate.
â–º 67 % of students enrolled in secondary schools are female.
►  52 % of tertiary students are female.
â–º 34 % of tertiary students in natural sciences* are female.
â–º 38 % of the teaching staff at tertiary level is female.
â–º 37 % of administrative and managerial positions are held by women.
â–º 43.3 % of Brazil's total Internet users are women.

(*Includes computer science, engineering, mathematics, architecture, town planning, transportation and communications)
Sources: UNESCO 1999 Statistical Yearbook

Internet usage

Although women constitute more than 43 percent of total Internet users, Brazil lacks the resources and skills to provide similar opportunities for poor women especially in rural areas. At the same time, growing competition among the Internet service providers has brought down accessibility costs to US$18 a month-the lowest in Latin America.

Labor market participation of women

In the last 15 years the share of Brazilian women in the labor market has significantly increased, a trend that is evident in a majority of Latin American countries. In 1997, women accounted for 40 percent of the workforce in Brazil. Most of them are employed in the service sector. As no data are available, it is hard to say how many of the 37 percent of administrative and management positions held by women are in ICT-related jobs. Despite a national policy that guarantees a gender-equal environment in the workplace, women face discrimination in Brazil. Reports on female participation in the labor market in Brazil have concluded that there is less scope for promotion for women. Furthermore, they risk losing their jobs during pregnancy.

Labor market participation of women in the ICT sector

In the entire Brazilian ICT sector, women account for about 20 percent of software industry workers, and fewer are involved in the hardware industry. According to ILO's World Employment Report 2001, firms involved in manufacturing ICT goods slashed their workforce size in the 1990s. In previous years, Brazil's ICT sector had seen a jump from 43,000 jobs in 1984 to 74,000 jobs in 1989. Over 35,700 jobs were cut between 1989 and 1999, accounting for a 48.1 percent reduction in the total number of jobs within the sector. The country was left with just 38,400 jobs in the sector in 1999, which is lower than the number in 1984. In the fifty largest manufacturers of ICT goods in Brazil, women accounted for 27.9 percent of the wage-labor jobs in 1989 and 27.7 percent in 1999. The reduction in jobs during the decade had a similar effect on men and women workers. About 25,700 male workers and 10,000 female workers lost their jobs in the ICT sector-- a reduction of 48 percent in the male work force and 48.5 percent in the female work force.

Wage differentials

A 1994 Brazilian government report suggests that even when they had the same qualifications as their male colleagues, women got only 54 percent of what men received as wages. In a 2000 report on gender in Brazil, the World Bank found that Brazil has "one of the widest gender wage gaps in Latin America." Interviews with Cisco Networking Academy instructors in Brazil also indicated that this was quite standard. Maternity leave policies are considered to be one of the reasons behind employers' reluctance to hire women on a pay scale on par with men.[1]

Government policy on ICTs

In the past several decades, the Brazilian ICT policy has focused on the growth of the domestic ICT sector. In 1999 the government launched an "information society program." The program focuses on universal access, business competitiveness, and e-government. Through the universal access plan, post offices in two large cities provide free Internet access to the communities. Thousands of community access centers are also being opened. There is, however, no special emphasis on gender.

Government policy on gender

The Brazilian government has approved a policy framework that guarantees gender equality in the workplace. For example, the constitution of Brazil "prohibits differentiation in salary levels on the basis of sex, establishes incentives for encouraging the participation of women in the workforce, and provides paid maternity leave of 120 days and paternity leave for five days." Research indicates that these policies are commonly not enforced and that women are denied equal treatment (Hafkin and Taggart 2001).[2]

Sociocultural factors

Socially, women are not considered suitable for ICT-related jobs. This, in turn, influences women's interests and goals, and they do not always seek jobs in the ICT sector.

Conclusions

The ICT policy does not address gender concerns, and thus the shrinking of the ICT-related labor market has affected women more adversely than it has affected men. There is a marked wage differential between men and women.[3] Although the constitution prohibits such discrimination, as in most developing countries, the realities in the workplace, including in the ICT-related sector, are not women-friendly.[4]

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