In this study, by considering household, societal, and institutional contextual factors, we attempt to theorize the relationship between gender and digital divide with the help of social learning theory (SLT) and the literature on computer self-efficacy (CSE). Then, using a large-scale national representative sample data from India, we empirically evaluate these relationships. Our empirical analysis corroborates anecdotal evidence that gender-based digital divide exists and is severe. Caste, household size, marriage, and presence of digitally literate women in the family are found to be influencers of women’s CSE, which, in turn, impact gender-level digital divide.

在这项研究中，通过考虑家庭，社会和机构的背景因素，我们尝试借助社会学习理论（SLT）和有关计算机自我效能感（CSE）的文献对性别与数字鸿沟之间的关系进行理论化。然后，我们使用来自印度的大规模国家代表性样本数据，对这些关系进行了经验评估。我们的经验分析证实了基于性别的数字鸿沟存在且严重的传闻证据。种姓，家庭规模，婚姻以及具有数字素养的妇女在家庭中的存在被发现是女性自定义搜索引擎的影响因素，这反过来又影响了性别层面的数字鸿沟。