Gender Gap in Digital Skills in Greece

ABSTRACT: Inequalities between men and women exist not only in the economy and society but also in education all over the world. Many initiatives are launched to empower women with advanced skills in many countries. This paper describes the policies and initiatives to foster gender equality in Information and Communication Technologies (ICT)-related education and employment in Greece. National and European Union (EU) statistics show that there exists a wide gender gap in ICT-related higher education participation, employment, and salaries in Greece. Various policies and initiatives aim at empowering women with digital skills. The paper suggests a framework to fight gender discrimination in ICT across four (4) dimensions (ICT education & training, digital tools & infrastructure, people networking, ICT jobs) and three (3) levels (access, use & participate, create). The resulting framework consists of twelve (12) areas. The paper gives example strategies for some of the areas. Finally, the paper presents conclusions and suggestions for future research. KEY WORDS: digital skills, digital competence, employment initiatives, equality policies, gender differences, gender gap, gender inequality, ICT skills, equality policie