InGenio Journal
Revista de Ciencias de la Ingeniería de la Universidad Técnica Estatal de Quevedo
https://revistas.uteq.edu.ec/index.php/ingenio
e-ISSN: 2697-3642 CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
Volumen 6 | Número 1 | Pp. 44–59 | Enero 2023 Recibido (Received): 2022/10/06
DOI: https://doi.org/10.18779/ingenio.v6i1.562 Aceptado (Accepted): 2022/11/24
Digital Inaccessibility of Women Entrepreneurs in
Marginal Communities of Guayaquil- Ecuador
(Inaccesibilidad digital de mujeres emprendedoras en comunidades
marginales de Guayaquil-Ecuador)
Luz-Elvira Vásquez-Luna , Fernando Proaño Sánchez, Nelly Reina Villón Pérez, Ingrid
Dayana Zamora Ruiz
Universidad de Guayaquil, Guayaquil, Ecuador
luz.vasquezlu@ug.edu.ec, fernando.proanosa@ug.edu.ec, nelly.villonp@ug.edu.ec,
ingrid.zamorar@ug.edu.ec
Abstract: Female entrepreneurship in marginal communities presents many obstacles to its
growth, one of them is the digital divide due to lack of internet access and digital illiteracy.
This study presents the testimony of a group of women entrepreneurs from a marginal
community in Guayaquil - Ecuador, who start businesses to cover their basic needs. The
methodology used was mixed, qualitative through the use of structured and in-depth
interviews using the NVivo software, and quantitative trough a survey applying logistic
regression in SPSS. The findings of this study demonstrate the digital illiteracy of women
entrepreneurs from marginal communities, who require technological training to avoid
difficulties when surfing the net, even more so in the current times when, due to the pandemic,
most businesses apply digital strategies to stay in the market.
Key words: Digital Illiteracy, Digital Divide, Marginal Communities, Female
Entrepreneurship
Resumen: El emprendimiento femenino en comunidades marginales presenta muchos
obstáculos para su crecimiento, uno de ellos es la brecha digital por la falta de acceso a
internet y el analfabetismo digital En este estudio se expone el testimonio de un grupo de
mujeres emprendedoras de una comunidad marginal de Guayaquil en Ecuador, quienes
emprenden negocios para cubrir sus necesidades básicas. La metodología utilizada fue de
carácter mixta, cualitativa mediante el uso de entrevistas estructuradas y en profundidad
utilizando el software NVivo y cuantitativa a través de una encuesta aplicando una regresión
logística en SPSS. Los hallazgos de este estudio demuestran el analfabetismo digital de las
mujeres emprendedoras de comunidades marginales, quienes requieren de capacitación
tecnológica para evitar dificultades a la hora de navegar por la red más aún en los actuales
momentos en que debido a la pandemia la mayoría de los negocios aplican estrategias
digitales para mantenerse en el mercado.
Palabras Clave: Analfabetismo Digital, Brecha Digital, Comunidades Marginales,
Emprendimiento Femenino
1. INTRODUCTION
The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals call for inclusive development and the
empowerment of marginalized communities [1]. Goal five (SDG5) promotes gender equality and
goal eight (SDG8) promotes decent work and economic growth to eradicate poverty. According
to the study by [2] in the set of middle-income economies in which Ecuador is located, the average
rate of early entrepreneurial activity (TEA) is 14.9%, and Ecuador has the highest rate of
InGenio Journal, 6(1), 44–59
| 45
entrepreneurship at 36.3%, however the scarcity of a job is the main motivation to undertake with
82.71% in addition this same study indicates that 46.5% of those who undertake are women whose
objective is to train and progress to support their families [3]. Taking into account the SDGs 5 and
8 of the United Nations, investigating how the digital illiteracy of women entrepreneurs from
marginal areas in developing countries limits their possibilities of generating resources is very
interesting.
During the COVID-19 pandemic and due to the confinement, the internet became the essential
element of communication for all the inhabitants of the world, to be able to keep in touch with
the family, work activities, study among the most important, but in the case of families from
marginal and rural communities there were many people who were left without access to their
jobs and studies because they did not have this resource [4] thus exacerbating their poverty levels.
According to a poverty study by the [5] in December 2021 it was recorded that 27.7% of
Ecuadorians were submerged in poverty, mostly hitting households with more than six members
(INEC) and according to another study conducted by the [6] by disaggregating poverty by sex,
women represent 33% and men 31.4%.
Poverty among Ecuadorian women is a result of the gender gap, precisely because of the lack
of authority and the delimitation that they have to make use of certain economic, social and
cultural resources on an equal basis with men, especially in marginalized areas where women are
responsible for most of the unpaid work in the home, such as the care of the house, your family,
your children, the kitchen, among others [7], which deepens the discrimination of women when
undertaking because they must overcome a series of difficulties due to their responsibilities at
home, but also lack knowledge about digital technologies that allow them to increase their sales,
being isolated from the benefits they could obtain [8]. However, they have demonstrated their
intelligence and ability to overcome multiple difficulties [9]. In Guayaquil, for example, one of
the most important cities in Ecuador for its dynamism in the economy, there are many women
owners of their own businesses who combine their professional and family responsibilities despite
the many obstacles and barriers imposed by society [10].
On the other hand, digital technologies known as those that use computer equipment, smart
cell phones to navigate websites [11], [12] have grown exponentially, according to the United
Nations in just two decades technological development has reached 50% of the population of the
developing world and is considered an opportunity to reduce gender gaps, however, many women
are not connected and are isolated from the benefits that this field offers them, accentuating the
digital divide between the sexes and further delaying female entrepreneurship in developing
countries [8]. According to the multipurpose survey of [13], digital illiteracy in Ecuador is around
11.4% of its inhabitants, who are between 15 and 49 years of age, that is, who do not have a
mobile phone with an Internet connection, have not used a computer and have not had access to
the Internet during the last year and it is recorded that the female group has less access compared
to the male group [13].
According to the theory of human capital, the more knowledge, skills and abilities an
individual acquires, the greater their chances to achieve better performance, in the case of women
entrepreneurship is an alternative for the development of the family economy, but facing the
complexities of an enterprise with the challenge of acquiring knowledge about technologies,
represents a serious obstacle to the development of their businesses, especially in marginal
communities with very low family incomes, undertaking under such a situation confronts them
with an accumulation of problems that women must deal with on a daily basis to get ahead [8].
Academics have recognized the potential benefit of digital technology and that its access
implies the creation of value [14]. Orser et al., pointed out the importance of incorporating ICTs
in education and training for entrepreneurship focused on women in order to expand their
opportunities in the labor field, increase their accessibility to business training and therefore their
InGenio Journal, 6(1), 44–59
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economic empowerment to improve their living conditions, hence the training of ICTs in women
would allow progress in the Sustainable Development Goals 2030 to create value in marginalized
sectors and groups [15].
2. METHODS
A mixed methodology (qualitative and quantitative) was used because it allows a better
understanding of research problems than either approach alone; quantitative research discovers
problems, how they are related and quantifies them, while qualitative research delves into their
causes, their functioning and enriches possible changes that may occur; combining these
approaches broadens the research and further understands the phenomenon of study [16]. Face-
to-face interviews were conducted to eliminate barriers that could arise due to the poverty in which
they live, with open questions we tried to establish better communication to expand the
understanding of the subject, listen to their reflections and incorporate details that the surveys do
not reflect, which was very enriching.
Table 1. Characteristics of the study participants.
For qualitative research, the structured and semi-structured interview was used [17]. First, an
in-depth interview was conducted with the leader of the Afro-Ecuadorian Progressive Women’s
Group, which allowed us to understand in a global way the objectives and goals of the Group,
as well as the impact and importance of technology in the development of its ventures. Secondly,
a discussion group or focus group was generated with the members of the association in order to
know the importance for them of the use of certain tools, techniques such as data collection in
person were used through in-depth interviews with open questions, focused on 7 cases of women
entrepreneurs of the group in order to deepen their thoughts and know the use of certain
technological tools as an instrument to expand their business and expand their network of contacts
is important for them (see Table 1). The leader of the women's group delegated 7 zone leaders to
Woman
Entrepreneur
Level of study
Activity
Age
Marital
status
Number
of
children
Area where
they live
Case 1
Academic
Sewing and
fashion
29
single
2
north zone
Case 2
Secondary
Design and
Advertising
17
single
3
south zone
Case 3
Primary
Sale of
various
merchandise.
25
single
4
south zone
Case 4
Secondary
Pastry
30
single
4
south zone
Case 5
Academic
Sale of
cleaning
products
44
married
6
south zone
Case 6
Secondary
Pastry
55
married
5
north zone
Case 7
Primary
Beauty salon
21
single
2
north zone
InGenio Journal, 6(1), 44–59
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us, as the group has 7 points located in Guayaquil where they carry out their activities. Isla
Trinitaria, where the main building is located, being a conflictive and dangerous area due to the
existing criminal gangs, is not easy to access for an investigation, so the ease with which the leader
gave us direct access to the seven women entrepreneurs was a great help. The instrument used
for the in-depth interview can be found in Appendix A.
All the interviews were recorded for analysis and subsequent transcription in the NVivo
software, then proceeded to the transcription of the audios to text of each of the interviewees to
a Word file, each document was uploaded to the NVivo software, it was verified that the
information to avoid subsequent errors, the cases of the interviewed groups were created so that
the information collected is coded according to their answers, highlighting the most important
points of the interview, the codes were grouped with the same NVivo program, the mother
categories were created and the child categories were moved to the mother categories to generate
the corresponding reports and the case studies were created in order to monitor the processes and
carry out the analysis through graphs.
The structured survey that was applied for the quantitative methodology, aimed to analyze if
there was a relationship between the economic performance of their businesses with any factor
related to the knowledge and use of ICT, through the binary logistic regression method
(Appendix A). The performance of the businesses of women entrepreneurs was considered as a
dependent variable with two dimensions: monthly sales and whether the profits are enough to
cover household expenses and as independent variables were considered dichotomous variables
that indicate some knowledge or use of technology. The structured survey was applied to the 81
women members of the Association to analyze if there was a relationship between the economic
performance of their businesses with any factor related to the knowledge and use of ICT.
The binary logistic regression method was selected, which is applied when the dependent
variable is qualitative and dichotomous binary, as well as when the independent variables are
qualitative or quantitative. As the objective of this study is not to predict but to find a causal
relationship between the dependent variable and the independent ones this type of regression was
selected, all the women answered the survey therefore the sample is representative. The
instrument used for the in-depth interview can be found in Appendix B.
The people who participated in the investigation were 81 women who belong to the Afro-
Ecuadorian Progressive Women's Group from the Nigeria neighborhood of Isla Trinitaria in the
city of Guayaquil-Ecuador. This neighborhood is located to the south of the city, next to the salty
estuary, in a sector that is clearly impoverished and marginalized as it is the place of settlement
of Afro-Ecuadorians living in Guayaquil, who have historical problems of irregular land
settlements. Afro-Ecuadorian Progressive Women's Group is a women's organization that, with
more than 21 years of experience, seeks to improve life opportunities for themselves and their
families through self-education and the creation of community savings and credit accounts
whose. The objective is to support low-income women entrepreneurs who are exposed to some
obstacles to their growth, such as racial discrimination, gender inequality, lack of financing and
family support, to this is added the lack of technological knowledge, which it is an important
factor for the development of their enterprises [19].
This population was selected due to the promotion that the leader of the group, Sonnia España
[20], disseminates in the media, , and as a group of women entrepreneurs very well organized in
impoverished sectors, is unique in Guayaquil. The total sample corresponds to that of Progressive
Women from the Nigeria neighborhood of Isla Trinitaria in the city of Guayaquil-Ecuador, made
up of 81 women, of which 48.1% (39) are of Ecuadorian nationality and 51.9% (42) of venezuelan
nationality, who were previously provided with a brief 45-minute training on digital marketing.
For ethical reasons, the names of the participants are not disclosed.
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3. RESULTS
3.1. Qualitative Results
To analyze the interviews, the NVivo program was used as a tool for exploration and analysis of
information [18]. A classification of primary and secondary categories extracted from the
interviews with women entrepreneurs was carried out, to better understand their discourses and
draw conclusions (see Table 2).
Table 2. Categories obtained from interviews.
Table 3. Hierarchical code map.
Desire to expand their business
Digital divide in women
entrepreneurs
Motivation
Entrepreneurial skills
Increase the
number of
customers
Lack of
knowledge of
new
technological
tools
Conflicts that
arise in the use
of technology
Example of
advertising
from other
businesses
Content
marketing
Be more
competitive
Promote your
products on social
networks
Advice
offered by
entrepreneurs
Have
business
knowledge
Manage
business
finance
Customer
access
channels
Makes it difficult to navigate on
the web
The importance of technology for
entrepreneurship
Reduce the Digital Divide
Barriers in the
digital
environment
Causes that cause the
digital divide
Sharing
information
through
social
networks
Implementing
technology in
your business
Receive free technology training
Educating for the
proper use of
technology
Absence of
technological content
The risks of ICTs
Sell on the
internet
Access to inappropriate
content
Primary categories
Secondary categories
• Barriers in the digital
environment.
• Educate yourself for the proper
use of technology.
• Digital divide in women
entrepreneurs.
• Lack of knowledge of new
technological tools.
• Causes that cause the digital
divide.
• Difficulty browsing the web.
• Desires to expand your
business.
• Absence of technological
content.
• Motivation.
• Increase the number of customers.
• Reduce the digital divide.
• Customer access channels.
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In addition, a comparative map of the categories and subcategories generated by NVivo was
made (see Table 3) where the desire to expand their businesses, the importance of technology and
the desire to reduce the digital divide through training, among others, stand out.
Primary Categories
Barriers in the digital environment: The main barriers faced by women entrepreneurs in
the digital environment is the lack of technological training, in which they emphasize that not
being educated in these technological issues represents an obstacle to their entrepreneurship, so
they pointed out it is important that the entrepreneur is instructed so that she has the ability to
take advantage of technological resources and thus generate good digital advertising and achieve
the success in their business.
Digital divide in women entrepreneurs: It was found that women entrepreneurs have a large
digital divide that has a negative impact on the development of their entrepreneurship. In general,
it highlights the ignorance of new technological tools in the face of the conflicts that arise in the
use of technology and the difficulty of navigating the web, since they find this digital system
complicated and at the same time difficult to use.
Causes that cause the digital divide: One of the causes that causes the digital divide is the
lack of access to technological information, so they lose the opportunity to properly merge technology
and business. They pointed out that the lack of information affects them to a great extent, since they
do not have the necessary knowledge to take advantage of these resources and would cause them
conflicts when they want to implement the technology.
Desire to expand their business: Women entrepreneurs indicated that they want to expand
their businesses, since one of the characteristics that a woman entrepreneur maintains is the
illusion of reaching many people, promoting their brand and achieving business success in order
to achieve the stability of their customers and provide a quality service.
Motivation: What drives them to be entrepreneurs, among the topics analyzed are the advice
of entrepreneurs and examples of advertising from other businesses. For entrepreneurs it is very
important to know how other entrepreneurs have achieved success in their businesses, since they
take them guidance.
Reduce the Digital Divide: They express their interest in copying the new trends in
technology, to carry out the same e-commerce actions that other entrepreneurs implement.
Secondary Categories
Educate themselves for the proper use of technology: For them, a good training in
technology is very necessary, since today technology is widely used to boost business, in which
they can increase the number of customers with the passing of the days. In addition to creating
good advertising so that your products have a better reception and thus improve your economy.
Lack of knowledge of new technological tools: Regarding the subcategory lack of
knowledge of new technological tools, several interviewees indicated that if they do not know
how to use these technologies, how do they communicate their business? How do they make
themselves known? This is a disadvantage for female entrepreneurs. When a useful tool or
application comes out, which you have to take advantage of, it is very important that you know
how to merge it with your business.
Difficulty navigating the web: In this topic they state that what they find more difficult on
the internet, is to navigate in the different pages How to upload a publication?, if they do not know
How can they sell on the internet? ... or when a new tool comes out, and they don't know how it
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works, what is it for? How can these tools contribute either personally or by applying it to your
business?
Absence of technological content: This subcategory arises from the need of entrepreneurs
to acquire technological content, since it is essential that they provide talks, tutorials, explanatory
videos, didactic material that serves a lot.
Increase the number of customers: One of the ways to promote your products is through
social networks, in addition to personal use they also use it for the topic of businesses and ventures
that are just beginning to gain strength in social networks. Some of the interviewees indicated that
they use the social network Instagram to publicize their ventures, since many people use it and
are familiar with this social network.
Customer access channels: As for this subcategory, many of them affirm that it is essential
for their businesses to grow, and that their customers can reach them in a simpler way, so that
they have easy access, it is important to offer them comfort and thus maintain solid
communication and retain customers.
Advice provided by entrepreneurs: They indicate their desires to attend virtual talks they
also have the option of following other business pages which sometimes make live workshops,
conferences, simply connect to the live and can attend the class, solve at that time the doubts that
arise. In addition to taking the opportunity to attend a conference with professionals, why not do
it if it is for the good of your business, so you can have new ideas to apply in your business.
Examples of advertising from other businesses: Another of their motivations is to see the
web pages of other entrepreneurs to follow these businesses and see how they are managed, what
their strategies are, how they advertise these pages, this catches their attention, since this way they
attract more customers and make themselves known.
Receive free training in technology: Because they do not have money to pay for training
courses in digital marketing, they request that the trainings they receive be free. They express
their desire to educate themselves, but because of the little they earn from their ventures, they
cannot afford a paid course.
3.2 Quantitative results
In view of the fact that the 81 women surveyed do not have records that demonstrate their sales
or financial gains, it was defined as a dependent variable whether or not the venture allows to cover
household expenses to better understand the benefits obtained in their businesses. As independent
variables, the dichotomous variables that indicate some knowledge or use of technology were
considered, however, of this group of variables, those that presented responses with frequencies
were not considered (see Table 4).
The use of WhatsApp has 100%, therefore, it really stops being a variable to be a constant.
Other variables such as the use of email, if you have a mobile phone, the use of social networks,
use of tablets and possession of printers, were not considered because they do not have these
resources.
In order to determine the level of precision of the applied model, the Hosmer and Lemeshow
test was performed, that shows the p-value of 0,24 which according to the theory being greater
than 0.05, indicates that the statistical model fits well, which means that the expected values with
the model are similar to those observed (see Table 5).
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Table 4. Categorical independent variable encodings.
Frequency
Parameter
coding
• Do you use Word, Excel, Power Point?
Yes
36
1,000
No
39
.000
• Do you use the Internet on a daily basis?
Yes
70
1,000
No
5
,000
• Do you have a phone with internet?
Yes
52
1,000
No
23
,000
• Do you have a computer at home?
Yes
22
1,000
No
53
,000
• Do you have paid +Internet at home?
Yes
54
1,000
No
21
,000
• Do you use the Municipality's Internet in
your work area?
Yes
10
1,000
No
65
,000
• Do you use USB devices (Flash drive)
Yes
31
1,000
No
44
,000
• Do you do video conference? (For
example, with Zoom)
Yes
48
1,000
No
27
,000
• Do you know about Commerce through
the Internet?
Yes
41
1,000
No
34
,000
Table 5. Hosmer and Lemeshow test
Hosmer and Lemeshow test
Step
Chi-
Square
Gl
Sig.
1
9,173
7
,240
Contingency table for the Hosmer and Lemeshow test.
Entrepreneurship is
enough to cover Family
Expenses=No
Entrepreneurship is
enough to cover Family
Expenses =Yes
Observed
Expected
Observed
Expected
Total
Step
1
7
7,779
1
,203
8
2
6
7,079
2
,921
8
3
6
5,877
2
2,123
8
4
7
6,032
2
2,968
9
5
7
4,899
1
3,101
8
6
5
4,550
3
3,450
8
7
3
3,537
5
4,463
8
8
2
1,930
5
5,070
7
9
0
1,299
11
9,701
11
Another test called global percentage is applied which shows that the model is correct in
78.7% of cases (see Table 6). The theory indicates that a value greater than 50% fits the model
well.
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Table 6: Testing the overall percentage of binary logistic regression.
Predicted
Entrepreneurship is
enough to cover
Family Expenses
Observed
No
Yes
Correct
percentage
Step 1
Entrepreneurship is
enough to cover
Family Expenses
No
Yes
38
11
5
21
88,4
66,5
Overall Percentage
78,7
a. The cut value is ,500
The table 7 presents the level of relationship that exists between the selected independent
variables (9) and the variable dependent on whether the profits of the business cover their
household expenses. It can be observed that the level of significance of the relationship between
the variables, there are two independent variables that meet this criterion and that are: question
15 Do you know about commerce through the Internet?, and question 28 Do you have paid
Internet at home? In question 15 it can be seen that the level of significance is 0.025 and question
28 is 0.053. In question 15 the significance level is less than 0.05 and question 28 coincides with
0.05.
Table 7. Regression coefficients and their statistical significance
B
Standard Error
Wald
Gl
Sig.
Expo
(B)
15.Do you know about
Internet Commerce?(1)
-1.438
0.643
5.003
1
0.025
0.237
22. Do you use the
internet(1)
1.078
1.316
0.671
1
0.413
2.938
25. Do you have a
telephone with
Internet?(1)
0.633
0.600
1.110
1
0.292
1.882
Do you have a computer
at home?(1)
-0.375
0.646
0.337
1
0.561
0.687
28. Do you have
paid Internet at home?(1)
1.501
0.775
3.756
1
0.053
4.488
29.Do you use the
Internet in your
Municipality in your
work area?(1)
-0.578
0.832
0.482
1
0.487
0.561
32.Do you do video
(For example, with
Zoom?(1)
0.475
0.576
0.680
1
0.410
1.608
33. You use devices
USB(Pendrive)(1)
0.347
0.569
0.372
1
0.542
1.414
35. Do you use Word,
Excel, Power Point? (1)
0.756
0.591
1.638
1
0.201
2.131
Constant
-2.717
1.387
3.838
1
0.050
0.066
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Being less than 0.05, the independent variable of question 15 contributes significantly to the
dependent variable at a level of 95%. On the other hand, the independent variable of question 28
being between 0.05 and 0.10 contributes significantly to the dependent variable at a level of 90%.
The coefficient of regression and statistical significance was also applied (see Table 7).
In the table it can be seen that the rest of the questions other than 15 and 28 have a level of
significance higher than 0.05 so their independent variables are not considered significant for the
dependent variable. It can be deduced from question 28 that investing a monthly payment on the
internet at home has a positive impact on the performance of their ventures, measured based on
whether the profits reach them to cover their expenses at home. As for question 15 on internet
commerce and performance, the beta regression coefficient (B) is -1.438, once the reverse
transformation is carried out it can be concluded that there is a 0.237 possibility of generating
profits or benefits in the business to know of electronic commerce. All results can be taken into
account with caution since the sample size (81) is relatively small for the number of independent
variables.
4. DISCUSSION
This study confirms what [10] pointed out that the gender difference limits the use of
women’s economic resources and deepens discrimination against women when it comes to
entrepreneurship, especially in marginal communities with very low family incomes, where
women must overcome a series of obstacles and difficulties including their responsibilities in the
home in charge of their family, their children, food among others.
Access to digital technology involves the creation of value [14], however the role imposed by
society on women, limits the time they can devote to their business and to obtain knowledge about
digital technologies, which prevents them from improving their sales volume and the growth of
their businesses, being isolated from the benefits that this knowledge entails [8], and undertaking
under these schemes represents for women an accumulation of problems with which they must
deal daily to get ahead, however, there are many women entrepreneurs who manage to get ahead
[10].
The study revealed similarities in the analyzed cases of the women entrepreneurs of the Afro-
Ecuadorian Association Progressive Women of Trinitaria Island in the city of Guayaquil, given
that most of the women interviewed were not familiar with the digital system.
As for the main motivations for women to become entrepreneurs in the context of poverty in
Guayaquil, it was found that most of them are motivated by the advice they can receive from
other entrepreneurs, since, as the interviewees themselves reported, they consider it very
important to know the practices they must follow to establish themselves as entrepreneurs and
how to create a good marketing plan. While in the rest of the cases they are motivated to see how
other businesses advertise their products through digital media to be more competitive.
In the same way, it was possible to determine that for them technology is very important in
their businesses, since they consider that by using it they will have the possibility of sharing
information and promoting their products on social networks, given that currently most people are
familiar with these technological tools, it is easier for them to know and be interested in their brand
and get to sell on the internet in order to have economic independence.
It is important to note that a group of women said that it is only handled with the free internet
offered by the municipality of Guayaquil in their jobs. Although at the level of the middle and
upper class in Guayaquil it could be considered common, however, in marginalized sectors such
as in the Nigeria neighborhood of Isla Trinitaria where the study was carried out, it does represent
a very representative investment of their family budgets. What could be argued is that there is a
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strong relationship between such investment in the internet and the good performance of their
ventures.
This research addresses a topic that has not been previously studied in the marginal sectors
of the city of Guayaquil, so it is expected to complement with more quantitative studies in the
future for a better understanding of the reality of women who undertake in these conditions, these
results can be taken as a reference for future research, but without providing conclusive results.
5. CONCLUSIONS
It is important to note that women entrepreneurs present difficulties when undertaking such
as lack of access to credit, abandonment by their partners, living in marginal areas, in addition to
racial discrimination for being Afro-Ecuadorian women, to this is added the lack of technological
knowledge.
The results of the interview highlighted that one of the barriers to access to the use of digital
marketing presented by women entrepreneurs is the lack of technological training to which they
are exposed, since by not being educated about these new technologies they will not be able to
make adequate use of ICT and would be losing the opportunity to take advantage of these
technological resources. In addition, the lack of knowledge of new technological tools brings
with it conflicts in the use of these and affects them to a large extent, since they have difficulties
navigating the web, which translates into the interruption of the progress of their venture.
For them, the issue of technology is closely related to their desire to expand their businesses,
because its use will allow them to increase the number of their customers, in addition to providing
them with access channels to have better communication to address them and vice versa.
It is essential that they have the opportunity to receive free technological training, since their
income is insufficient to enroll in specialized courses offered by different institutions in exchange
for economic value.
REFERENCES
[1] Organización de las Naciones Unidas, “Informe de los Objetivos de Desarrollo Sostenible
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91, pp. 1221–1233, 2020.
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Desempleo y Subempleo 2021,” 2021.
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de 2021,” 2021.
[7] Consejo Nacional para la Igualdad de Género, “Lineamientos del Consejo Nacional para la
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[8] M. Karyotaki, L. Bakola, A. Drigas, and C. Skianis, “Women’s Leadership via Digital
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798, p. 1015, 2020.
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en la zona urbana de la ciudad de Guayaquil,” Universidad de Guayaquil Facultad de
Ciencias Administración, 2019.
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47–69, 2018.
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of resource orchestration and entrepreneurial orientation,” Manag. Decis., 2018.
[15] B. Orser, A. Riding, and Y. Li, “Technology adoption and gender-inclusive
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[16] C. Teddlie and A. Tashakkori, “Overview of contemporary issues in mixed methods
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herramienta de utilidad en el mundo de la comunicación,” 2013.
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APPENDIX
A. SURVEY
1. What is your First and Last Name?
2. What is your Gender?
Male Female Other
3. Level of studies?
No studies Secondary education
Primary education University Studies
4. What is your Entrepreneurship?
5. How many people make up your Entrepreneurship?
6. How much money do you make in a sales day with your
Entrepreneurship?
7. What you earn from your Entrepreneurship is enough to cover family expenses?
Yes and no more Yes and money left over for other things
No
8. Do you help with Extra Income in your home? (For example, the salary of your Spouse,
or the salary of a son)
Yes No
9. What is your age?
10. Where do you live? (Do not specify your address, only the Area where you live)
11. Where do you have your entrepreneurship?
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12. Do you have your business at home?
Yes No
13. What is your nationality?
14. How do you find out about news, advertisements, or business opportunities?
TV Radio Internet
15. Do you know about trading through the internet?
Yes No
16. Do you have email?
Yes No
17. Do you use email?
Yes No
18. Since when have you used Email?
19. Do you have a mobile phone?
Yes No
20. For what purpose do you mostly use the phone?
Leisure Work
21. Do you know or know how to use the Internet?
Yes No
22. Do you use the internet every day?
Yes No
23. How often do you use the internet?
Between 1 and 4 hours Between 5 to 8 hours
Between 10 and 12 hours All day
24. For what purposes do you usually use the Internet?
To use email
Chat
Use social networks (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram)
Watch video or photos
Videoconferencing via Skype
Download music
25. Do you have a phone with internet?
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Yes No
26. Do you have a computer at home?
Yes No
27. If you have a computer at home, who taught you how to use it?
28. Do you have paid Internet at home?
Yes No
29. Do you use the municipality's internet in your work area?
Yes No
30. Do you use the municipality's internet at home?
Yes No
31. Do y o u h av e a p e rs o na l a c co u n t on th e s o ci a l n e t w o rk ? (Facebook,
Instagram, Twitter)
Yes No
32. Do you do video conferencing? (For example, with Zoom)
Yes No
33. Do you use USB devices (pen drive)?
Yes No
34. Do you use tablets?
Yes No
35. You use Word, Excel, PowerPoint?
Yes No
36. Do you use WhatsApp?
Yes No
37. Do you have a printer?
Yes No
38. Please write down your phone number (it is to contact you later to know the benefits of
the training we will give you):
B. INTERVIEW
1. Have you previously received Technology trainings?
2. If yes, on what issues specifically?
3. If that is affirmative, who trained them?
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4. How valuable have you found the technology training provided by us?
5. Do you dare to use Instagram from now on?
6. Are they afraid or doubtful of its use?
7. What other technology tools would you like to learn?
8. Would you like us to contact you 3-4 months later to ask how you did with the use of
Instagram?
9. What do you find most difficult to understand about the Internet?
10. What proposals would you give so that they could access the Internet more easily?
11. Which pages do you visit most frequently on the Internet?
12. Why do you visit those pages and not others?
13. What do you like about the page you visit the most?
14. When you get some important information do you share it with your friends or
family?
