Bridging the Gender Gap with Virtual Learning

Interaction between people has become a lot simpler in modern times because of the ever- widening interface between humans and technology, which itself is an outcome of the “Digital Revolution”. In the contemporary scenario, access to digital information has become a basic requirement for navigating through everyday life, whether in education, security, business, or other sectors. However, even with such a broad reach, there are certain sections of the society that remain untouched by the advances in technology.

 The COVID-19 pandemic and the consequent closure of educational institutions around the world left us all stranded in our homes forcing us to rely solely on a virtual environment for education, information access, and even for everyday interactions (Barrot et al., 2021). In this context, the already persistent issue of “digital gender bias and discrimination” re-emerged and got magnified, especially in poor and underdeveloped regions. Numerous studies and reports have highlighted how women were not treated equally and were not fully included in this new revolution, which allowed inequalities to linger on, and in some circumstances, even worsen.

This chapter presents a study that explores how virtual learning environments and education can enhance female entrepreneurship, leadership, and empowerment in today's world. The advent of digitalization, particularly in the context of the COVID-19 epidemic, has had a significant impact on how information can be accessed, processed, and transformed into knowledge-transforming these variables into critical components of economic creation and political power. In a rapidly digitizing world, it is crucial to develop multiple educational streams for varied talents, but it is even more important to ensure that women emerge as significant stakeholders in this new digital setup. Keeping this in mind, the chapter outlines the challenges that women have experienced and continue to confront in the digital world, as well as the recommendations for making the e-environment more egalitarian and progressive.

Keywords: Cyberspace, Digitalization, Digital gender divide, Equality, Virtuallearning