Gendered Digital Trajectories in Changing Societies: Social Dynamics of Women Technology Adoption in Ghana and Russia

This study examines the social dynamics of women's adoption and use of digital technologies in the contrasting infrastructural and sociopolitical contexts of Ghana and Russia. It focuses on the processes of digital adaptation, the formation of digital subjectivity, and confidence in using technology in the context of accelerated digitalization. The author analyzes the influence of infrastructure, organizational culture, public policy, and gender norms on digital adoption trajectories. Particular attention is paid to how digital access is, or is not, transformed into women's social and professional agency. The study is based on a comparative analysis of two fundamentally different sociotechnical systems, revealing both universal and context-specific mechanisms for the reproduction of gender inequality. The work is based on an understanding of digital technologies as socially embedded tools shaped by power structures, culture, and social expectations. The study utilizes a comparative cross-sectional design. The empirical base includes an online survey of 517 respondents, conducted in 2024–2025. Descriptive statistics, the χ² test, independent-samples t-tests, and two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) were used. The study's novelty lies in its identification of a robust gender gap in digital confidence that persists regardless of the level of infrastructural development and political regime. Based on comparable empirical data, it is shown that women in Ghana and Russia face sociodynamic constraints on digital agency that differ in form but have similar consequences. In Ghana, digital adoption is primarily mobile and survival-based, while in Russia, it occurs under institutional and geopolitical constraints, despite a high level of technical literacy. Statistical results confirm significant differences in infrastructure and social drivers of digital behavior; however, the lack of interaction between country and gender indicates the universality of the gender "confidence gap." It is concluded that digitalization expands access but does not eliminate structural gender inequalities, requiring a shift from inclusion policies to the development of women's digital agency and their participation in technology creation and decision-making.

Gendered Digital Trajectories, Women Technology Adoption, Sociodynamics, Digital Divide, Changing Societies, ICT Adoption, Comparative Study, Gender Inequality, Ghana, Russia