Digital Inclusion of Businesswomen and Women Entrepreneurs through Social Networks in the Informal Environment

With the diffusion of Web 2.0, opportunities for collaboration, participation and training in the professional environment have widened. The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of family set-up on the use of social networks by entrepreneurial women and businesswomen. Epistemologically, the study is based on the logical positivism and the hypothetical-deductive method. From a methodological point of view, this research is quantitative and presents a descriptive design. The participants in the study are woman from Extremadura and Andalucia (Spain), 477 entrepreneurs and 126 businesswomen. The forms of use of social networks by businesswomen and women entrepreneurs varies according to age-group. However, the age does not appear to have any impact on the places where social networks are used. The results lead us to believe that, in order to attain equality in the domain of digital inclusion, it is necessary to set up formal digital training to increase their digital presence and participation.

hen examining the situation of women in the context of transition studies, and in particular the move from training to the labour market, it can be observed that the way is paved with inequalities and instability from the very start of contact with the world of work. In Spain, these work-related issues become yet more serious when we compare women with their male counterparts, particularly if we take into account that women are educated to a higher level, are in the majority at nearly all levels of the education system and obtain better academic results (Gutiérrez-Esteban & Luengo-González, 2011;Martínez-Pastor, 2017).Thus, concerning the developed world, we can refer to the paradox between the academic level reached by women and the roles that they occupy in society, while we can also see that, both nationally and internationally, horizontal and vertical segregation remains unchanged throughout the majority of highereducation systems (Charles & Bradley, 2009;Tellhed, Backstrom, & Bjorklund, 2017). This phenomenon is reflected in the job market: women's entry into the working world has been a trend over the last few decades, not only due to the structure of the economy itself but also as a result of the attitudes and behaviour of social and economic agents, which are reproduced in the organisation of society and family life. Statistics show that women are offered fewer working opportunities, even at the highest levels of academic achievement; employment rates, working opportunities and the transition towards paid work all display gender-related differences in various countries (Caroleo, Ciociano, & Destefanis, 2017;Finn, 2017;Werner & Lundberg, 2018).
Furthermore, young women are generally conscious of the importance of extending education to the female community, and the effect that it has on all areas of their lives, i.e. professional, emotional and personal (Martínez-García, 2007;Thompson, 2019). So, education is seen as a tool of empowerment with the capability of transforming the established order in all facets of people's lives (Cornwall & Rivas, 2015). As well as being key to success in the job market, it may also bring with it economic independence and a sense of autonomy.
At the same time, the problems of unemployment and entrepreneurialism have increased during the period of the economic crisis with a global unemployment rate of 13.8% (15.6% for women); this is far above the EU W 10(3) 204 average of 7.8% (EUROSTAT, 2019). Andalucia and Extremadura, two South-eastern regions of Spain, traditionally centred around the primary sector, have an unemployment rate of around 20%, which for women increases to 25.1% in Andalucia and 26.9% in Extremadura (https://countryeconomy.com/unemployment). This has led to a reaction amongst women to attempt to improve their situation, so that the rate of female entrepreneurial activity has been on the increase since 2005, resulting in a slight decline in the gender imbalance over the past few years, not only on a regional but also a national (Peña-Legazkue, Guerrero, González-Pernía, & Montero, 2019) and also an international (Bosma & Kelley, 2019) level. Concerning the presence of businesswomen and women entrepreneurs from Southern Europe on social networks, we can see inequality in their online participation as they suffer from a dual digital divide. The first obstacle is the geographical divide, as experienced by the rest of the population in the areas where they are developing their professional activity (Rebollo & Vico, 2014). Furthermore, there is the digital gender divide, which in the case of businesswomen and women entrepreneurs is evident in the choice of when, where and how they use it. Data show that their behaviour is conditioned by their family set-up and that despite being businesswomen and entrepreneurs, they are affected by these digital divides (Martínez-Cantos & Castaño, 2017;Cotten, Anderson, & Tufecki, 2009;Mercier, Barron, & O'Connor, 2006;Tømte and Hatlevik, 2011) and display a lack of digital literacy (Area & Pessoa, 2012;Hatlevik, Throndsen, Loi, & Gudmundsdottir, 2018;Suwana & Lily, 2017).
To all of this is added the effect of a double working day, as the tasks and actions carried out by women are in response to all the demands that are made upon them, in the multiple roles that they fill, and these roles are consistent with what it means, in modern societies, to be a woman. Their access to, and interaction with, social networks is determined by the obligations of their role as care-givers, which limits when, where and how they use them (Rebollo, Vico, & García-Pérez, 2015;Mumporeze & Prieler, 2017).

Digital inclusion of businesswomen and women entrepreneurs
In the 1990s, women used computers less than men due, amongst other factors, to a lack of availability and opportunity, to stereotypically-defined technophobic attitudes (Plant, 1997), to horizontal segregation in the job market -where technology and technical fields were traditionally masculine environments-, to the posts that they held and to inequality in the distribution of domestic responsibilities (Dholakia, Dholakia, & Pedersen, 1994). This lack of experience has led to the erroneous social assumption that men are better equipped to deal with the Internet, (Robinson et. al., 2015) considering women as less efficient in its use and consequently prone to higher levels of anxiety than men in the face of technology (Lim & Teo, 1996;Durndell & Haag, 2002). Some of these factors have contributed to the creation of a digital gender divide which twenty years on is still the focus of much study attempting to eliminate it (Wasserman & Richmond-Abbott, 2005).
More and more women are using social networks. Their presence on them even are higher than of men, the only exception being professional social networks such as LinkedIn (Hargittai, 2015). This data reflects, once again, the difficulties that women face in the working environment (Bettio, Plantenga, & Smith, 2013;WEF, 2018). Even here, in this contradictory situation, social networks play an ever more relevant role for women in general (English & Johns, 2016) and particularly for those who work outside the home, who have training and access to information and who wish to have independence in all areas of their lives. In this sense, virtual communities are used as a tool for active job-seeking, business inspiration exchanges, offers and demands for assessment or for sharing thoughts and ideas about working experiences. These activities, linked to an increase in motivation and a rise in the use of social networks, are reinforcing the level of digital inclusion of women. Thus, it demonstrates that the sustained and advanced use of such tools favours the integration of women in the working environment (Livingston & Helper, 2007).
In addition, training for women in the use of digital tools and the internet is an important element that must be encouraged in a digital, pluralistic and diverse society, particularly if we take into account the complex relationship between women and technology, as documented in the literature (Vitores & Gil-Juárez, 2016;Rashid, 2016;Padilla-Carmona, Suárez-Ortega, & Sánchez-García, 2016;Leach & Turner, 2015). Currently, Web 2.0 and its tools are able to insist on the idea of Haraway (1985) and Spender (1995) that women can use them to interact, be informed and learn freely at the same time as they develop the necessary skills to use the tools effectively. Although access has increased exponentially, it is not possible to state that women's digital presence has been democratised (Gray, Gainous, and Wagner, 2017) as there is no equality in participation in digital learning spaces, either amongst themselves as a group, or with their male colleagues, and no digital inclusion mechanisms have been generated (Nurhaeni, Yuliarti, & Nugroho, 2017). On the contrary, there has been a widening of both the digital gap amongst women and the digital gender gap, due to current social inequalities in women's lives (Alozie & Akpan-Obong, 2017;Cai, Fan, & Du, 2017) as well as other reasons explored by Pechtelidis, Kosma, & Chronaki (2015) who found, from the range of women present online, that they are not only users of digital media, but that they are also engaged in a struggle against the established power to negotiate their position within the dominant discourse in IT, which, as previously stated, is traditionally associated with masculinity (Cheng & Huang, 2016).
All of the above describes a new scenario of work and education and training, in which women have much to say. It would therefore seem to be the right time to pose some questions on the importance of training and the role played by social networks in providing work opportunities for businesswomen and woman professionals. Thus, in this context of communications, relationships and training, the objectives of our study are the following: -to ascertain the aims, contexts and ways in which businesswomen and women entrepreneurs use the social networks, -to identify and design patterns of use related with these aims, contexts and ways, -to establish the implications of the family composition on the patterns of use of social networks.
Also, related to working opportunities and professional development, differences regarding the supply of infrastructures and resources have arisen, given that Extremadura and Andalucia are geographical areas identified as priority zones by Europe, but also regarding digital inclusion of the citizenship (Rebollo & Vico, 2014). Such is the relevance of this that the Digital Agenda for Spain (Government of Spain, 2013) states that an inclusive society model is necessary for all citizens to be able to benefit from the use and management of communication and information technologies. This means not only generalised access to the Internet and acquiring basic computer skills, but, above all, that people are sufficiently prepared and able to use technologies efficiently and apply those skills to improve their employability and work insertion.

Method
Epistemologically, the study is based on the logical positivism and the hypothetical-deductive method. From a methodological point of view, this research is quantitative and presents a descriptive design.
This study belongs to a wider research of 1340 women, of which 477 were entrepreneurs and 126 were businesswomen. A total of 113 of the businesswomen also considered themselves as entrepreneurs. Ages ranged from 20 to 70 and they had a minimum experience of using virtual social networks of 1 year.
The participants were selected via a non-probability quota sampling method, using the factors of age and socio-demographic profile in relation to their working status and geographical origin. Table 1 shows the descriptive socio-demographic data of the participants in this study. Five age groups were defined, with most of the participants falling into the intermediary categories (26 to 34 years old, 35 to 44 years old and 45 to 54 years old). The majority of women in the sample have secondary or university studies. Concerning residence, a large percentage of the sample live in urban areas (68.1%).

Instrument and Procedure
The survey applied to the sample includes the following dimensions: a) Socio-demographic characteristics and characteristics of use of technology which includes questions concerning age, region of origin, place of residence, family situation, level of education, work status and questions concerning experience of Internet use (social networks, frequency of use, devices, etc.).
b) The dimensions implemented throughout this study are: Scale of times and frequency of use of social networks, composed of 12 items linked to times and places where social networks are used; Scale of routine use and the frequency of use of social networks, consisting of 15 items related to the activities that are most frequently carried out on social networks.
To carry out the survey on the women, we worked in collaboration with AUPEX (Association of Popular Universities) in Extremadura and the Instituto Andaluz de la Mujer (Andalusian Women's Institute), as well as women's organisations in Andalucia.
The survey was designed and collected in an electronic format, using Google Form and in paper form, and included information about the reasons behind the research. Although participation was anonymous, the participants' consent was requested, and their authorization for academic exploitation of the information supplied. Confidentiality was maintained at all times for those who took part in the data-gathering.

Results
The results below are the response to the objectives and hypotheses given previously.
In relation to the objectives, the technological profile of the sample is described as follows.
In table 2, we can see that 92.4% of the sample have more than 2 years' experience of using the internet, with 84.7% using it on a daily basis. The preferred device is the mobile phone for 57.1% of the women, and although they use other equipment such as desktops, laptops or tablets, 91.2% use only a single device. Of the women surveyed, 41.6% said that they had received IT training within the previous three years. A notable 81.7% had received that training through formal channels (formal education) and regulated training programmes. Concerning the use of social networks, we can observe (Table 3) that the most frequently used is WhatsApp, with 92% of businesswomen and entrepreneurial women saying that they use it on a daily basis. This is a clear reminder of the scant influence of LinkedIn amongst the women of the sample, only 4.6% of whom said that they used it every day. The process used to make the referential analysis is as follows (Cubo, Martin, & Ramos, 2011): 1. Trends in results are displayed in graphs. The horizontal axis shows the variable studied, and the vertical axis gives the results obtained in the series of data, taking into account the theoretical minimums and maximums of distribution.
2. When the dependent variable is measured on a scale of interval or reason, the following tests are applied in order to decide whether it is necessary to use a parametrical or non-parametrical test: -Kolmogorov-Smirmov, to verify the null hypothesis that the theoretical distribution in the population is normal.
-Rachas, to verify the null hypothesis that the theoretical distribution in the population is random.
-Levene, to verify the null hypothesis related to equality of variances among the different variables analysed. 3. The necessary statistical model is applied to verify the working hypothesis.
4. An answer is given to the verification made of the null hypothesis and therefore to the working hypothesis.
For each hypothesis, a graph is first shown displaying the data trends, then the test used and the results obtained.
The general starting hypothesis is that businesswomen and women entrepreneurs use social networks more diversely in terms of forms of use and in a wider variety of contexts. This general hypothesis is more specifically defined through the following sub-hypotheses: Hypothesis 1. Businesswomen and women entrepreneurs use social networks more diversely in terms of forms of and in a wider variety of contexts depending on their age.

Figure 1
Age group and diversity of forms of use of social networks Kruskal-Wallis Test H. Null hypothesis is rejected (p<0.05). Significant statistical differences were obtained between the value groups of 25 years old or less, 26 to 35 years old and 35 to 44 years, in terms of the diversity of forms of use of social networks.

Verification with variety of contexts.
A. In relation to place of use Pearson's Chi-squared Test. We accept the null hypothesis (p>0.05), that there is no relation between age and place of use of social networks. Kruskal-Wallis Test H. Null hypothesis is rejected (p<0.05). Significant statistical differences were obtained in relation to time of use of social networks among all age groups with the exception of: • 25 years old or less and 26 to 34 years old.
• 45 to 54 years old and 55 to 64 years old. The working hypothesis therefore is partially accepted.

Hypothesis 2. Businesswomen and women entrepreneurs use social networks in a wider variety of contexts depending on their age and their family situation.
215 Gutiérrez-Esteban, Rodríguez-Miranda, Cubo-Delgado, Hernández-Rincón -Digital Inclusion  The null hypothesis is rejected for the variable Age. The null hypothesis is accepted for the variable Family set-up. There is interaction between the variables Age and Family set-up in relation to time of use of social networks. Significant statistical differences were obtained in relation to the time of use of social networks among all age groups with the exception of: • -25 years old or less and 26 to 34 years old.
• -45 to 54 years old and 55 to 64 years old. The working hypothesis is partially accepted. Hypothesis 3. Businesswomen and women entrepreneurs use social networks more diversely and in a wider variety of contexts depending on family composition.

Verification with variety of use
217 Gutiérrez-Esteban,  Family composition and diversity of use of social networks Kruskal-Wallis Test H. The null hypothesis is accepted (p>0.05), there are no significant statistical differences between family compositions and diversity of use of social networks.

Verification with variety of contexts A. In relation to place of use
Pearson's chi-squared Test. We accept the null hypothesis (p>0.05), that there is no relation between family composition and place of use of social networks.

Figure 5
Family composition and the time of use of social networks Kruskal-Wallis Test H. Null hypothesis is rejected (p<0.05), as there are significant statistical differences between family compositions and times of use of social networks. The working hypothesis is accepted for certain values of the variable Contexts of use of social networks in relation to family composition, although it is rejected for the variable Diversity of forms of use.

Hypothesis 4. Businesswomen and women entrepreneurs use social networks in a wider variety of contexts depending on family composition, level of academic achievement and marital status.
The General Linear Model used reveals these descriptive results as a result of the interaction of the analyzed variables.   Table 5 shows the results of the ANOVA performed in relation to the main effects and interaction of the variables studied. There is interaction between the variables Family composition and Marital status, as there is also between Family composition and Level of academic achievement, in relation to time of use of social networks. There is no interaction between either the variables Marital status and Level of studies, nor the variables Family composition, Marital status and Level of academic achievement concerning time of use of social networks.
In reference to the variable Marital status, some significant statistical differences between Single, Married or Cohabitation, Separated or Divorced, or Widowed, concerning time of use of social networks are noted.
With regard to Level of academic achievement, it can be seen significant statistical differences between: • No level attained and First stage of Secondary Education, Second stage of Secondary Education, Further Education, Professional training and education, University graduates at 240 credits and University graduates at more than 240 credits.
• Primary Education and Second stage of Secondary Education, Professional training and education, University graduates at 240 credits and University graduates at more than 240 credits.
• So, the working hypothesis is therefore partially accepted.

Conclusions
Businesswomen and women entrepreneurs' experiences are limited in their inclusion in the world of technology due to the digital divide, which in this case, is characterised by gender, but also by social and personal factors. The data show that the origin of this lack of inclusion is not only instrumentalaccessing and mastering digital technologies-but fundamentally social. Family composition affects the times and length of time that women connect, the fact that they have double or triple working days, as well as the fact that prioritising domestic tasks over professional tasks limits and conditions their possibilities of digital inclusion. This leads us to the conclusion that this is not a problem of lack of training and/or skill in using the various digital tools, but a deeper problem that requires political decisions to be taken concerning the promotion of equal opportunities. Additionally, the forms of use of social networks by businesswomen and women entrepreneurs varies according to age-group. The diversity of use (the reasons for which they use them) is wider among the younger age-groups, whereas this narrows for the groups 35-44 years old and 45-54 years old. From the age of 50 years old upwards this activity widens again. It is possible that these significant differences in relation to time of use of social networks, across all age-groups, with the exception of the 26-34 age-group, may be explained by family-centred tasks and responsibilities. These domestic tasks may extend to include not only children, but also older family-members, especially if we take into account that the average age of achieving motherhood in Spain in 2018 was 32.19 years old.
According to age-group, by comparing it with the data on composition of the family home, these differences in use can be confirmed. Also, concerning women whose home includes (one or more) children under the age of 16 (whether there are one, two or three adults), the use of social networks occurs during working hours, with the highest averages during the first and the last hours of the working day.
However, the age does not appear to have any impact on the places where social networks are used. This gives the impression that consulting and updating of social networks takes place on the mobile phone, and so the place in which this activity is carried out has little relevance (as it would have if it were done from a computer).
In relation to the level of academic achievement, this does not appear to be a factor that influences either diversity of forms of use, or diversity of context of use (place and time of use) of social networks by businesswomen and women entrepreneurs.
Hence, on closer examination of the impact that family composition may have on diversity of use (the reasons for using them) and a wider variety of contexts of use of social networks, it can be stated, once again, that the configuration of the family unit is significant. In particular, the time of use of social networks is considerable reduced in scope in the following family configurations: • One adult with children under and over 16 years old.
• Three or more adults with children under 16 years old.
• Two adults with children under and over 16 years old. The configuration of the family unit determines the presence and the level of participation of women on social networks, which has repercussions on both working life (promotion, stability and success) and family life (work-life balance). This highlights the fact that women are still experiencing this double working day, in which time is not entirely dedicated to the family environment, nor to the working environment, but that there is a constant switching between the two, family concerns invading professional time and vice-versa. It seems that harmonization could be one of the main factors weighing on the ability to maintain a working position when it comes to businesswomen and women entrepreneurs. Mainly, due to that this type of role often implies being available for "longer" working days, as well as geographical mobility, which means accepting both professional costs and personal costs (giving up certain things and providing extra effort), when professional activities and family responsibilities are combined. To these are added identifiable structural factors which hold women back in their efforts at enterprise: access to finance, a lack of references and visibility for women entrepreneurs and the scarcity of support networks (Crittenden, Crittenden, & Ajjan, 2019;Vial & Richomme-Huet, 2017).
Furthermore, the level of immediacy that digital culture requires is, in many cases, incompatible with the logistics of family management, in spite of the ubiquitous nature of the networks, the availability of the internet and synchronised digital tools. Living time is separate from internet time, management of the latter having different demands, in the same way that available time is perceived differently by men and women (Durán, 2010).
For these reasons, training for businesswomen and women entrepreneurs should be more specifically centred around promoting more productive and proactive habits concerning digital technology, with as a starting-point, a more detailed examination of how to manipulate digital tools, taking into account life experience, personal and business learning networks (O'Neill & O'Gorman, 2020), and previous knowledge, aiming for what is actually needed to carry out their work. For this training, it is also necessary to give support to the diversification of training contexts (Jiménez, Rebollo, & García, 2016;Rebollo, Vico, & García-Pérez, 2015;Del Moral-Espín & Pais, 2018), and to the confluence of formal and informal learning contexts, in addition to a greater use of emerging technological resources and practices. This will, without a doubt, favour the acquisition of digital skills, and increase the level of digital inclusion and the entrepreneurial success (Indrupati & Henari, 2012).
In order to achieve this, policies on digital inclusion must be updated to promote gender equality, fostering a combination of mutually supportive legislative, political and social measures, by prioritising actions aimed at responding in a very real way to the needs and demands of businesswomen and women entrepreneurs (Orser, Riding, & Li, 2019). These state strategies must also adapt to these women' situations and press to increase their presence and visibility on Web 2.0, in order to boost women's digital participation and allow their points of view and arguments to be heard in the face of the hegemonic culture dominant in technology which makes women invisible, as pointed Del Moral-Espín and Pais (2018). Since using technology, citizenship skills are developed and the foundations are laid for the appropriation of technology (Ragnedda & Muschert, 2013). Both of these are indispensable requisites for digital empowerment and digital inclusion for women as full citizens and workers in their own right.