toward a gender-inclusive innovation pattern in ict: the case of vietnam

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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

[email protected]

Bo Göransson

Research Policy Institute

Lund University, Sweden

[email protected]

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.

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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).

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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

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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

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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's participation in IT sector will grow in coming

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's lack of opportunity to gain benefits from the new technology.

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.

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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's carrier in the IT sector is reinforced by a gender prejudice

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's in software or hardware.

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's opportunities to work in ICT related sector in particular, and in

natural science and technology in general. Limited options of specialisation likewise

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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's role in planning, policy making or management of ICT sector at

all levels is not clear compared with men's. Little attention has so far been paid on

women's empowerment in this sector. Moreover, a number of human resource

development and management policies tend to work towards limiting women's

representation in decision making level. Women's retirement age is set by 5 years

earlier than men's and this policy excludes many women from promotion

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's representation in leadership of all agencies is low compared with their

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's domination in

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's status, there remains insufficient gender awareness and sensitivity of

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

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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

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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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��

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.

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��

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.

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� � ��

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

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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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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

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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

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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 softw

are

Developing hardw

are

Improving

services

Developing

services

Improving softw

are

Improving

hardware

Productdesign

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.

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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).

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��

��

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.

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#�� #�� $$�� !�� !��

��

Product for women

Product for both No result

Product for men

Products for women

Products for women

Product for both

Product for bothProduct for men

Product for men

No result

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.

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�� !�� !��

�� $$��

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.

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% �� % �� $$��&��&��

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.

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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.

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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.

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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

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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

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new opportunities promiss to bring benefits for firms. This will, however, will require

some support from overall society as well as the policy framework

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