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Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment Through Digital Platforms in Bangladesh

Students & Supervisors

Student Authors
Ahnaf Hasan
Bachelor of Science in Computer Science & Engineering, FST
Rahima Akter Rima
Bachelor of Science in Computer Science & Engineering, FST
Mohaimenur Rahman Mahin
Bachelor of Science in Computer Science & Engineering, FST
Kazi Tasnim Hena
Bachelor of Science in Computer Science & Engineering, FST
Farah Azam Mirdha Toshy
Bachelor of Science in Computer Science & Engineering, FST
Supervisors
Md. Mortuza Ahmmed
Associate Professor, Faculty, FST

Abstract

Digital platforms have been crucial in the global gender equality processes over the last decades. Although there is better internet penetration in Bangladesh, women experience inequality in digital participation, skills and socio-economic roles and activities. The study explores the influence of digital engagement in women empowerment in Bangladesh and evaluates links amongst online participation, online skills training, training programs and gender parity. The research deploys a secondary data of twenty years with Women Online Users Count, Digital Empowerment Index, Gender Parity Score and Training Programs Count. The data were analyzed on the basis of descriptive statistics to analyze the trends. Trends and testing of variables relationship was determined by longitudinal analysis which shows that there is a complex and non-linear curve of digital empowerment. Digital Empowerment Index finished with a net increase of 63.4 in 2004 and 99.8 in 2024. This however was a volatile ride with a major low of 5.7 in 2013 prior to a strong recovery. Women Online Users Count was variable with a net change of 68.2 to 46.7 showing that there is no direct relationship between number of users and deep sense of empowerment. It was identified that no important statistical relationship existed between number of training programs and the results, the real causes of empowerment should be external factors such as quality of training programs and infrastructure. To conclude, this paper shows that the journey towards digital gender equality in Bangladesh is not straightforward because empowerment gains were made even in the face of fluctuating number of users and training courses. The results bring out the fact that the initiatives are inadequate. Securing sustainable gender parity requires policy change of scaling access to higher training quality, infrastructure and socio-economic ecosystem as a whole.

Keywords

Gender parity Women empowerment Digital platforms Digital Engagement Socio-Economic Ecosystem "

Publication Details

  • Type of Publication:
  • Conference Name: Gazipur Agricultural University International Conference (GAUIC 2025)
  • Date of Conference: 12/12/2025 - 12/12/2025
  • Venue: Gazipur Agriculture University, Salna, Gazipur-1706, Bangladesh
  • Organizer: Gazipur Agriculture University
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