Gendering Technologies: Women In Cameroons Pink-Collar ICT Work

Abstract

This paper examines the rise of low-skilled, low-paying, female dominated jobs in Cameroons information and communication technology (ICT) sector. It seeks to understand why and how women (mostly between the ages of 18 and 35) seem to be naturally drawn to these jobs, described in the literature as pink-collar jobs. Through interviews with ICT workers and observations at ICT training centers and call centers in Buea, a major city in the Southwest Region of Cameroon, the paper explores the factors that hinder womens entry into more technical ICT jobs in Cameroon. It concludes that some of these factors, such as the prior income level of female ICT workers and the absence of female instructors at ICT training centers, further reinforce gender-based job classifications and the rise of ghettoization in Cameroons ICT sector.