Toward a gender-inclusive innovation pattern in ICT: the case of Vietnam

1. Toward a gender-inclusive innovation pattern in ICT:
the case of Vietnam1
(paper to be submitted to the 9th Globelics International Conference on “Creativity,
Innovation and Economic Development”. Buenos Aires, 2011).
Tran Ngoc Ca
National Council for S&T Policy
Vietnam
tranngocca@gmail.com
Bo Göransson
Research Policy Institute
Lund University, Sweden
Bo.Goransson@fpi.lu.se
Abstract
The paper explores the opportunities for ICT entrepreneurs in
Vietnam to develop ICT products and services in response to
demand by women users. More specifically, the papert investigates
gender differences in ICT demands in Vietnam and identifies major
obstacles to gender-specific technological development - all in
order to explore the viability of business models aimed at women
end-users. It is our contention that the capacity for technological
1
The study was made possible with the collaboration of several other researchers, in
particular Le Thi Quy, the Research Center for Gender and Development, University
of Social Sciences and Humanities, and Mr. Hoang Manh Cuong, NISTPASS.
1

2. development in a national system of innovation is not fully utilized
if the quantitative as well as qualitative innovation potential
represented by women researchers is not tapped.
Introduction and background
In developed as well as developing countries, women are poorly represented in
scientific research and particularly in the fields of engineering and natural sciences.
Moreover, the male perspective is frequently the norm in technological R&D and the
articulation of demand for new products is often the prerogative of men. Gender
equality may be on the political agenda in many places in the world today but is
hardly addressed in technological R&D.
Partly due to this lack of women as developers and innovators in technologies, women
as end-users have been poorly taken into account. Their needs have mostly been
considered when the inventor has been a woman herself.
This may be surprising, given the fact that women represent a growing proportion of
customers of everyday techniques. In a global perspective, women tend to be more
educated and economically more independent than the women of previous
generations. Also in traditionally patriarchal societies, women constitute an important
and growing user-group of ICT products and services.
It is also clear that women use ICT for different purposes and have different demands
than their male counterparts. Many studies confirm that women are more likely than
men to use ICT for family-related purposes, such as health and education, as well as
for small-scale social business activities (see e.g. Gurumurthy 2008, James 2004, and
Thioune 2003). It is no coincidence that the microcredit movement, initiated by the
Nobel Peace Prize winning Muhammed Yunus, focuses its lending to women. In
February 2007, the Grameen Bank had 7 million borrowers in rural Bangladesh, 97
percent of whom are women (Grameen Bank 2007).
2

3. The Grameen Bank and its off-shoot Grameen Phone are two of few examples of
business models aimed at women in developing countries. Given the differences in
demand for ICT services, we would expect to see this demand being catered for by
ICT manufacturers and service providers.
From the perspective of national systems of innovation this would imply that the
capacity for technological development is not fully utilized and that there is a pent up
innovation potential in the innovation system. Moreover, it can be argued no country
can afford to miss out on the quantitative as well as qualitative innovation potential
represented by women researchers.
It is our contention that there exists an opportunity for ICT entrepreneurs to develop
products and services to cater for women demand for ICT products. This opportunity
could be translated into a competitive advantage for an innovating company or even
for a country as a whole. Given the differing economic and cultural situation in
developing and developed countries there appears to be plenty of scope and
opportunities for innovators in developing countries. This paper explores how
representatives of the ICT industry in Vietnam are reacting to this challenge as well as
how how gender issues are reflected in the business orientation of firms in ICT sector
of Vietnam.
The context
Compared to many other countries in the world, Vietnam has instituted many policies
to support gender agenda. These policies have been enacted in such laws as Marriage
and Family Law (1959, 1986), Citizenship Law, Code of Labor, Ordinance on
Inheritance, Penal Code, and recently Gender Equality Law (2007), Domestic
Violence Prevention Law (2008). Through laws, the Government has recognized and
affirmed men’s and women’s equal rights in both the society and the family.
In 2006, Vietnam ranked 91st of 177 countries at an index of 0.732 and was at the
position of a country with average gender-related development (UNDP, 2007 – 2008).
Nowadays, gender equality is implemented in every area from family life to the
3

4. society at large. This has changed the economic basis, patriarchal conceptions on
moral issues, customs and traditions and has especially changed women’s outlook and
status.
Specialized agencies which take care of women’s interests, such as Department of
Gender Equality, National Committee For the Advancement of Women, Women’s
Union, governmental and non-governmental organizations on research and actions
have been very active in protecting and implementing women’s rights. Especially, the
ratified Convention on Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women
(CEDAW) has been put into implementation every year with clear and specific
strategies.
Women have been more and more active in accessing the advances in sciences and
technology, and in participating actively in protecting ecological and environmental
protection. 1/3 of job trainees are women. According to statistics in 2004, women
made up for 36.64% in natural sciences, 33% in scientific techniques, 38.27% in
social sciences and humanities, 41.80% in medicine and pharmacy, and 14.9% of
them are scientific philosophy doctors (Scientific Record, 2004).
During the years after Doi-moi since the mid 1980s, industry was the key production
branch, and has become the face of Vietnam’s new economy. Since its beginning,
industry has been considered an area mainly for men. However, nowadays, women
have contributed more and more to industry not only with a high number of women
participation but also with high quality, which has helped to change prejudices in this
respect. For instance, women account for 36.69% in industry and construction.
According to several investigations by IFC, business women in Vietnam have
occupied more and more important positions in the economic development process,
and have created unique, flexible and effective business models. In 2006, Hanoi had
more than 4000 female-headed businesses, mostly small and medium-sized
businesses. According to documents by Hanoi Club for Business women the club has
now about 700 members. A majority of businesswomen taking part in the club’s
activities have a high education level. They are active in introducing new products,
widening the markets and cooperating with other businesses in the country and
abroad. For example, they are participating in a program for commercial promotion,
building business brand names, training skills and knowledge, and job skills (Nguyen
Minh Hai, 2009). According to World Bank, in 2008, female labour force in Vietnam
4

5. accounted for 48.72% of total. Interestingly, the same 48% rate is applied to rate of
femal student enrolnment in higher education organizations (World Bank, 2008).
ICT and gender equality in Vietnam
The ICT sector is mainly dominated by men, but there is some notable progress. In
1996, only 10% of all university computer graduates were female. But in 1998, 21.6%
of all students enrolled in IT faculties were female (VWU, 1999). ICT is the first
Vietnamese tertiary education sector which has set up a scholarship program for
excellent female students and professors. In 1998, the first scholarships were awarded
to 15 students and 5 university teachers (Vietnam News, 6/11/1998). Signs from the
IT tertiary sector promise that women' participation in IT sector will grow in coming
s
years. Due to the government '
computerisation program' the number of IT
,
professionals in the line ministries at the central and provincial levels tripled between
the period 1995-98, of which proportion of female IT staff increased from 12.6% to
16% (McDonald 1999).
Ideally, ICT which reduces importance of distance and location, would bring men and
women to a more level playing field, open new opportunities for empowerment of
women and mainstreaming them in national economic and social development.
However, there is limited evidence for this expectation so far. Gender gaps persist
both in getting employment opportunities offered by ICT industry and in opportunity
to generate economic benefits using ICT; in ICT education and training opportunities
and capability to master ICT facilities and network. The lower representation by
women in current decision making structures result in their voice and interests often
being ignored in ICT development policies and decision, and this, again, re-enforces
women' lack of opportunity to gain benefits from the new technology.
s
Existing gender pattern of labour division is hampering choices and capability
formation of men and women in the ICT industry.
In general, Vietnamese women face specific barriers in entering the ICT professional
labour force and their opportunity to get benefits from ICT applications are much
more limited and fragile than that of men.
5

6. Overall in IT sector women work in lower skilled and lower paid positions than men.
Many IT companies do not hire women as IT professionals. A survey of 30 top
private IT companies in Vietnam conducted in 1998 found that 1/3 of them have only
male professional staff. Among female IT professionals, 85% work as programmers
and only 15% are software designers. Fewer women work as hardware specialists
(about 1% of all hardware specialists) (McDonald 1999). Encouragingly, these
statistics have improved significantly since then as the survey presented in the
following will show.
The barrier for women' carrier in the IT sector is reinforced by a gender prejudice
s
which is quite strong in Vietnamese society that men are technically more competent
than women. Women are often hired for sale, marketing and administrative positions
even when they bear same degrees as men' in software or hardware.
s
Women have fewer opportunities in ICT due to lower attainment than men's at all
levels of education and training system.
The educational gap between men and women in Vietnam is rapidly being reduced. In
some academic fields, such as social sciences and the humanities, women are in a
clear majority of the enrolled students. However, the divide remains large in technical
training and between rural and urban areas, leading to different potential capabilities
in ICT application.
The share of women in the total number of people having certification of technical or
professional skills of various levels has increased, however, remains lower than men'
s.
Gender stereotypes in education programs re-enforce labour division by gender
The selection of specialisation in Vietnamese universities and technical schools is
strongly influenced by gender. Women are concentrated mostly in social disciplines,
such as pedagogy and social science, and account for about 70 percent of all students
in these fields. Men are concentrated mostly in technical and technological
disciplines, such as engineering and electric technicians, and account for over 70
percent of all students in these fields. Existing specialisation of students by gender
reduces women' opportunities to work in ICT related sector in particular, and in
s
natural science and technology in general. Limited options of specialisation likewise
6

7. reduce the human development potential of men as they are equally capable in social
science as women.
Low representation of women in decision making throughout the ICT sector
In general, women' role in planning, policy making or management of ICT sector at
s
all levels is not clear compared with men' Little attention has so far been paid on
s.
women' empowerment in this sector. Moreover, a number of human resource
s
development and management policies tend to work towards limiting women'
s
representation in decision making level. Women' retirement age is set by 5 years
s
earlier than men' and this policy excludes many women from promotion
s
opportunities, especially when chief management position of an agency is considered.
As a result, men often dominate decision making processes at all management levels
in the ICT sector and ICT related development areas.
Women' representation in leadership of all agencies is low compared with their
s
contribution in the labour force. Moreover, most female representatives often hold
vice rather than chief management position, therefore their voice among decision
makers is very weak.
At the provincial and the program/project management level, men' domination in
s
decision making is even more serious. For example, in all 61 provincial Department
for Science, Technology and Environment (DOSTE) of the country, there are only 25
female out of 195 directors and deputy directors (about 12%).
The lack of female leadership often creates an organisational culture which is more
favourable to men.
Lack of gender awareness and sensitivity in ICT development
Although progress has been achieved in fostering gender equality and improving
women' status, there remains insufficient gender awareness and sensitivity of
s
decision makers, public service providers and professionals in the country in general
and those responsible for technology development in particular. This may cause
gender discrimination to be ignored or efforts for gender equality be difficult.
As far as social attitudes regarding gender roles, gender equality and labour division
in Vietnam remain to be biased by traditional values and gender stereotypes, women
7

8. face more challenges than men in sharing the opportunities and benefits brought about
by ICT.
A survey of ICT companies on gender perspective
Methodology
After the above general discussion of the situation for women as producers and users
of ICT goods and services, we will present data from a survey on gender perspectives
in ICT companies in Vietnam. The aim of the survey was to provide a base for a
quantitative analysis of the participation of women in the development of ICT.
Moreover, the survey explored the opportunities for ICT entrepreneurs in Vietnam to
develop products and services in response to demand by women for ICT services and
products and examined whether or not this opportunity could be translated into a
competitive advantage for an innovating company.
For that purpose a questionnaire was developed, targeting as many ICT companies in
Vietnam as possible. Moreover, the questionnaire was designed to be compatible with
similar studies in other countries, in particular the WOSISTER project examining
gender-specific technological development in China, Poland and Sweden (Göransson
2011). The questionnaire was tested in pilot interviews in December 2009. Based on
the results of these interviews, the questionnaires for the survey as well as for the case
studies were revised. The pilot interviews indicated that some questions related to size
and turnover were considered very sensitive by the companies. Accordingly, these
questions were reformulated and made voluntary to respond to. On the whole, the
questionnaire worked quite well; the respondents understood the questions and
responded to most of the questions. This indicated that the questions were relevant.
The full-scale survey started during Spring 2010 with companies in Hanoi and
continued with companies in the Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) area.
The method for the survey included considerable work on identifying the relevant
companies to include in the survey. No complete list of ICT companies exists in
Vietnam. The work started with identifying relevant sources for the construction of a
8

9. complete list of ICT companies with a main product line in software, hardware or ICT
services. List of company names were retrieved from the Vietnamese Association for
Information Processing (VAIP), Vietnam Information Development Company
(VIDC) and the Quang Trung Software City in HCMC. In addition, business
directories as well as previous studies allowed the researchers to construct a list of
possible companies to be included in the survey. In total, over 500 companies were on
this first list. However, closer examination revealed a number of overlaps, companies
that had gone out of business, that were un-contactable (no website or telephone),
were branch offices or was wrongly classified as ICT companies.
After weeding out non-relevant listings, 100 companies remained in the Hanoi area
and 107 in HCMC, all in all 207. All these companies were contacted by telephone
and asked to participate. Some refused to participate already at this stage and some
companies agreed to be interviewed but never completed the questionnaire even after
several reminders. In total, 117 personal interviews were carried out successfully at he
company sites, giving a response rate of over 56%. This must be considered quite
good for this kind of survey. The research team is also conducting an analysis of the
non-respondents to make sure there is no bias in the responses.
The gender balance in the sample was fairly equal with 52% of the respondents males
and 48% women. In Hanoi, the majority of respondents were women (57%) whereas
they constituted a lower share in the HCMC sample (45%).
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10. The position of the respondents were distributed as follows: directors 16%, general
staff 75%, researchers 4%, ICT users, 9%.
Survey results
Most of enterprises were established 5-10 years ago (Hanoi: 40% ; HCMC: 64%).
The number of enterprises that was established over 10 years ago is smaller – for
Hanoi 24% and for HCMC 27%. The number of enterprises that was established less
than 5 years in Hanoi is higher than in HCMC - for Hanoi 35% and for HCMC 9%.
This is perhaps surprising, given HCMC’s general reputation as being a more
entrepreneurial and dynamic region than Hanoi. Overall, 26 % of the companies were
older than 10 years, 51% were 5-10 years old and the remaining 23% were established
less than 5 years ago.
10

11. Note: Nam = Year
In terms of ownership, most of the ICT survey enterprises are private joint stock
companies (84%) while the rate of State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) (5%), joint-
venture (6%) or transnational companies (3%) are lower. This obviously does not
reflect the general industrial structure in Vietnam, but points to the fact that the ICT
sector in Vietnam is market driven and attracting private capital to a higher degree
than the economy in general.
11

12. Note: Cong ty co phan tu nhan = private shareholding companies
Doanh nghiep Nha nuoc = State owned enterprises
Cong ty lien doanh = Joint venture
Cong ty xuyen quoc gia = MNC
The survey results on the size of the companies should be interpreted with some
caution. Because of tax reasons, most companies hesitate of divulge data on their
turnover. In the survey, we found that most companies in the ICT sector are SMEs
with a turnover between USD 50 000 to USD 500 000 (1 billion to 10 billion dong).
Companies with less than USD 50 000 turnover are few in the sample (1%), while the
12

13. larger companies with a turnover of over USD 500 000 constituted 10% of the
sample.
Note: The three kategories are
Less than 1 bln. VND (equivalent to USD 50 000)
1-10 bln. VND (USD 50 000 to 500 000)
More than 10 bln. VND (USD 500 000
In terms of products, the ICT enterprises are mostly working on software production
and outsourcing activities followed by communication, services and website design…
Distribution of main products:
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14. Hanoi HCMC Overall
Website designer 23% 20% 21%
Management software 27% 33% 30%
Communication, services 18% 27% 22%
Other 52% 71% 61%
(Other: software; computer software; outsourcing; hardware provision, network;
Value added products; software solutions).
Note: The four categories are
Website
Phan mem quan ly = Management software
Truyen thong va dich vu = communicaiton and services
Khac = Others
14

15. Turning to women participation in ICT, the survey shows that the overall share of
women in ICT is 32% of the workforce. This figure is a bit higher in Hochiminh City
than in Hanoi (37% vs. 31%). Moreover, it is interesting to note that if we look at
what work they perform, they account for 40% of personnel working with different
aspects of developing technical solutions in R&D departments. This share is lower in
management where 26% of personnel are women.
! "
Note:
Tham gia ICT = overall participation in ICT activities
Quan ly = of which management works
15

16. Trien khai = of which development works
ICT enterprises in Vietnam predominantly focus on developing and improving
software as well as services; 82% of the companies reported that they engage in
improving software while 78% of them worked with improving ICT-related services.
Few companies endeavour to develop or improve any kind of hardware; only 11% of
the companies engage in some kind of hardware development. Most of these are
connected to the telecommunications equipment industry.
!
Developing hardware
Developing services
Improving hardware
Developing software
Improving services
Improving software
Product design
If we apply a gender perspective on these development activities, we find that the
share of women engaged in product research and development broadly defined is 21%
of the personnel. We can also notice that the share of women engaged as managers of
the development activities somewhat lower, 18%. Still, it means that almost one fifth
of managers of developmental activities in the ICT sector in Vietnam are women.
16

17. Turning to the question of if, and in that case how, companies deal with gender in
their interaction with end-users, it is clear that most companies gather general
information on their customers and on their interests and preferences. 73% of the
companies report that they actively conduct different types of customer interaction.
These activities range from processing customer comments on products and services
provided to actively seeking the opinion of the users by holding events and
workshops, sending surveys through e-mail to old customers and potential customers
and conducting in-house customers’ research.
It is interesting to note, however, that most enterprises do not differentiate between
genders in their interaction with users. The reason for this is that, in their perception,
the products and services they are offering are gender neutral and equally demanded
by the genders. Some enterprises, due to the specific characteristics of their services,
acknowledge differing demand patterns and do indeed distinguish between their
customer’s preferences although, the number of those enterprises is rather low. This
is not particular to Vietnam; indeed a comparative study of ICT and agricultural
implements in China, Poland and Sweden concludes that “(i)n the interaction between
product developer and end-user, gender is generally not regarded as an important
issue. This is particularly true in the telecom sector where gender is generally not
considered a factor and technology is regarded as generic or gender-neutral
(Göransson 2010, p. 256).
17

18. Note: Co= Yes
Khong = No
In the cases where companies did distinguish between gender in their interaction with
users, 25% of them reported clear differences in end-user preferences with respect to
gender, i.e. they got significantly different results from men and women. However,
these differences do not appear to influencing the product development work or to be
translated into gender-specific products. On the contrary, 75% of the companies
reporting significant differences in end-user preferences did not attempt to develop
products aimed at a specific gender. 23% of the respondents reported the developed
products specifically for men and only 3% engaged in any product development
aimed at women.
18

19. # $ !
Product for women Product for men
Product for both No result
Products for women
Product for men
Product for both
No result
Products for women Product for men
Product for both No result
Of the total number of companies surveyed, only 9 % stated that they had ever
engaged in gender-specific R&D. Most of these companies can be found in the Hanoi
area where 15% reported such activities and only 2% in HCMC. Of the companies
that so far had not engaged in gender-specific product development, an additional 9 %
of the companies responded that they had at one time or another considered such
activities, but decided against it. The main stated reason for not venturing into this
area for these companies was the perception that demand for specialized products
aimed at one gender is not sufficiently developed to warrant investing in such
activities. Clearly, the general perception is that gender-specific projects are either a
waste of time or having uncertain financial outcomes or both.
19

20. !
$
Yes
For 18% of the companies engaging in gender-specific development of products or
services, this has been a one-time activity whereas 46% of the companies have
pursued between two and five projects, and as many as 36% have worked on more
than 5 such projects. Moreover, the projects have been aimed at both women and men
as end-users, but with slightly more projects geared towards women customers.
20

21. % $ &
Box 1 : The Case of IFI Solution JSC
IFI JSC was set up in 2003, having offices in Hà N i and à
N ng. The company has 10 years of experiences in software
outsourcing services. Main products and services include
embedded and industrial software, development of management
software, testing and certification of software under
international standard and consultancy services for technical
solutions and assistance. It is ranked 10th in production for
European market in Vietnam (rate of success is more than 100
projects) and is the number one company in serving embeded
software for French market. 88% of clients of IFI are
international, coming from France, Itlay, Denmark, US, Korea.
The remaining 12% are Vietnamese clients. The company
adopted the quality control system under ISO 9001:2000 in 2008
and got certificate from TÜV NORD (Germany). For period
2004-2010, the company grew from having 18 members up to 95
staff, of which with university degrees: 77%; Masters: 20% and
3% are Doctors. The company also trained in teams, and
contracts they conduct are in teams, independent from each
others. IFI set up R&D unit in 2008, but business activities of IFI
mainly conducted under request of clients, or subcontrated by
foreign customers. As such, products and services in particular,
and general development trend in software production of the
company totally depend on the buyers, the company cannot be
independent in selection of services and products to be
developed. As a result, the company has no products with gender
specific features or orientation. The company did not consider
any gender issues in its activities. Software products of the
company are serving both male and female customers.
21

22. When we look at the rate of success for gender-specific development projects – where
success was defined as the project having resulted in a marketable product – we can
note that surprisingly many of the projects have been successful. Around 60% of
gender-specific projects aimed at women and 69% of project aimed at men were
classified as successful by the respondents. This indicates that the few companies that
indeed venture into gender-specific product development, may have a potentially
large market niche to exploit.
22

23. Box 2: The Case of Vietsoftware
VietSoftware, Inc. was established in March 2000 as a software company
with business in international outsourcing for foreign companies as well as
software development for Vietnam market. Since 2004, the company has
been re-structured as a group of companies in information technology with
250 employees, operating in most dynamic fields of information
technology, with location in Hanoi and HoChiMinh City. After that, the
company is referred to as VSI Corporation with the following member
companies: Vietsoftware; Viesoftware International, Alliant, MobizCom,
Viettech and Cyber Vietnam: VietSoftware in software development and
service, VietSoftware international in software outsourcing and BPO,
Alliant in software and IT training, Viettech in CAD/CAM/CAE,
CyberVietnam in Internet business and e-commerce, and MobizCom in
online payment technology. The company has its unique features such as
long term Vision: to become the leading information technology company
in Vietnam with business expanding beyond borders of the country. The
Mission of company is to serve enterprises and consumer markets with best
quality, innovative software and IT products and services in the most
dynamic technology fields for maximum returns of value for customers,
employees and shareholders. With the aim to inspire Vietsoftware
employees to meet corporate goals, the company set up many culture and
corporate values in various format to distribute to staff. The company sees
itself as the company with culture to help each other, strong teamwork and
cooperation. To make it easier to understand, CEO and other managers
for human resources have talked, explained and advocated directly to staff
about this culture. The company organized various company common days
(such as football sport, dancing, hobbies like flower arrangement,
camping, etc.) for all staff to make sure culture is embedded in their mind
and spirits. Again, managers responsible for human resources take care of
these common company activities with many slogans, stories and
competition among staff. In this context, the issue of gender specific
orientation is well thought by key managers, many of them are women. A
female human resource manager agrees that gender should be high on the
agenda for the company planning and business performance. There were
even some attempts to make it more explicit to incorporate gender
consideration into business planning and implementation. However, this
deliberation tends to be on the human resources side, rather than on
product development. Even the focus on gender aspect of company sticks
to the equality in using and training female working staff rather than
producing and offering products and services that incorporate the
perspective of potential female users.
23

24. Concluding remarks
The survey of the Vietnamese ICT industry shows that the level of women
participation in the ICT field in Vietnam is still low, but also that it is growing.
Particularly in the Hanoi area, the number of women in corporate R&D and
management is substantial with women accounting for 37% of the work force in the
industry. Perhaps surprisingly, the percentage of women in R&D is higher than at
management level; with women constituting 40% of the product development
personnel, Vietnam would appear to have higher than average participation in the
product development process in the ICT sector compared to most other countries. The
total size of the companies surveyed in terms of number of employees was almost
thirty thousand, with a small number of large enterprises dominating the sector and
with a mean size of around 25 employees per company.
The ownership structure of the ICT companies is dominated by private joint stock
companies. Apart from the few large scale companies, they are tend to be small sized
enterprises with a turnover of USD50,000 – USD 500,000 per annum. The main
products are development of software and services, and improvement of existing
software. The production and development base for hardware is still quite weak.
Most of the companies are incorporating a user perspective in general in their work
but the number of companies concerned with development of gender-specific
products is low. The information derived from different kinds of user-interaction
indicating differing gender preferences, apparently has not translated into gender-
specific product development activities other than in exceptional cases. Consequently,
the share of companies developing products for a particular gender is as low as 9%.
The reasons given by companies for not engaging in development projects aimed at a
specific gender differ but are all concerned with doubt on either the risk of the
projects or doubts if a market for such product exists. The perception is that it is
difficult to determine a clear aim, goal or benefit from such projects since the demand
for the products and services for a particular gender is uncertain. Gender has never
24

25. been considered to be a major factor in demand for ICT products and companies are
slow to move into new fields. Moreover, many companies function as subcontractors
and produce what they are contracted for without being concerned with gender-
specific demand. Finally, technology is traditionally regarded as gender-neutral in the
sense that preferences for it do not differ between genders.
However, some enterprises have welcomed specific project for particular gender
because, as one responded stated, “as society grows, demand is expanding and
diversifying day by day and daily-life activities are more and more individual. All
persons want to be able to express their own special personalities”. The success rate of
such gender-specific projects appears to be quite high, indicating that these companies
are early adopters of a business model based on tapping the potential of women as
product developer and as users of technology. Some of the companies that already are
actively pursuing such projects do not have a detailed business plan, although they
have the human resources and instruments needed for further exploring this field.
Overall, Vietnam is seen as a quite pro gender development and equality. The issue of
increasing female participation in job positions, in S&T activities as well as business
is well on the agenda for many policy makers. In fact, there are many existing
documents and legal frameworks in place aiming at promoting this cause. However,
in reality, things depend on many other factors.
Participation of female workers, managers in business activities of firms sometimes
can exert influences on the orientation of firms’ activities.
Market factor is one of the most important in deciding the firms’ decision on
development of gender specific products and services. However, there is no
systematic market survey aiming at this niche area. Hence, it is difficult to know if
there are any market opportunities for this or not.
In addition, dependence on the customers and markets can make firms less ready to
take on any initiative for gender specific activities, either design or production of
gender specific products and services. However, there are early signs that companies
are beginning to look into this issue and tapping into gender specific activities. as
25

26. new opportunities promiss to bring benefits for firms. This will, however, will require
some support from overall society as well as the policy framework
References
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