Who uses computers at work?

As many of our respondents noted, it was through work that many people first begin using a computer.

The 1994 Statistics Canada General Social Survey, reports that almost 48% of Canadians use computers in the workplace, up almost 15% from 1989.

At work, more women (52%) than men (44%) reported that they used computers at work. The higher use of computers by women reflects their concentration in clerical occupations.

Statistics Canada defines high computer use occupations as occupations where over 60% of the workforce reported using computers at work.

For women in high computer use occupations, the top four occupational categories were management/administration (28%); library/clerical (25%); bookkeeping/accounting (15%); teaching (14%): and other (18%).

For men in the high use category, the occupational breakdown is management/administration (48%): teaching (10%): architecture (8%); life sciences/ mathematics/systems analysis (7%): electronic data processing (6%): and other (21%).

These data are compatible with what we know about women's' occupational segregation.

Education and computer use

For both women and men computer use at work increases with educational attainment; about 70% of those with a university degree reported using computers at work.

Computer use at work is high among educators, although women educators are less likely than their male counterparts to use computers at work.

For example, 89% of male elementary and secondary teachers report computer use at work compared to 61% of female teachers in this category.

In the area of advanced computer skills, for example using computers for data analysis, 46% of male teachers and 26% of female teachers have used these skills to analyze data.

When asked about using online services at work 41% of the male teachers as compared with 15% of the female teachers, reported engaging in this activity at work.

It is likely that these figures reflect the distribution of teachers in the elementary and secondary school panels as well as the lower representation of women in school administration.

Women's access to computers

Although there has been a large increase in the use of computers, both at home and at work in the last ten years, access of women to new computer technologies still lags behind men in many important areas. Women's access to the new technologies is a product of the social forces that affect educational choices, labor force participation, occupational segregation and relatedly, income levels and family patterns.

Household access to other technologies

Access to other communication technologies is also reported in the Household and Facilities Survey. Data from the 1994 survey show 400,000 Canadian households with a fax machine and 75% of Canadian households With cable service. In 1993, Statistics Canada reported that 3% of Canadian households had a satellite dish.