Today, the relationship between gender and information and communications technologies (ICTs) is a very important element in achieving sustainable development, since ICTs play a key role in attaining gender equality and empowering women by allowing access to important information and involving them as actors in social, economic and environmental development. This participation is closely linked to the degree of education, training and employability, and so women bring added value to the technology sector and not only to it, but also to all sectors associated with it, through their contribution to R&D and Innovation. The 17 goals adopted in Agenda 21 constitute a roadmap that aims to involve all actors and impose gender equality in each one of these goals. In this study, we compare the innovation and gender index of four Mediterranean countries (France, Spain, Morocco, and Algeria) and analyze how some indexes related with “the gender digital divide” affect the achievement of these sustainable development goals. It has been observed that Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) 2, 3, 4, 5, 8, 9 and 10 are the most influenced by ICT and the gender digital divide, and that none of the countries in our study have achieved them, although France and Spain present a moderate trend towards their achievement by 2030, and to support this statement, a multiple linear regression has been performed at a global level for the countries that have all of the indicators’ data available. The empirical results show that the gender digital divide has a negative effect on this accomplishment and that the technology disposition has a positive effect on them.

In today’s world, new and advanced forms of technology are increasingly providing great changes in universities, thus generating new possibilities and impacting pedagogy and learning methodology. Unfortunately, not all students can use these tools in the same way and with the same ability. Not only are there digital gender gaps that limit women from enjoying these learning opportunities, but there are also digital gaps between foreign and natives’ students who have been trained in these technologies in their countries of origin, which impedes the achievement of the sustainable development goals planned for 2030. This study addresses theoretical foundations on the digital gender gap in university studies and provides an econometric analysis, through a simple linear regression, on the existence of a correlation between this digital gender gap and the university study gap by gender. A more specific analysis is also presented on the digital gender gap in the case of foreign students from four groups of countries, according to their income. The results show, on one hand, that differences in the access and use of technologies represent one of the factors that affects the percentage of graduates in higher education by gender; on the other, that there is a highly visible digital divide between countries with high income, compared to low- and lower-middle-income countries.

The presentation of this doctoral thesis is carried out under the modality of "Compendium of Publications", in accordance with the provisions of article 20 of the regulation of Official Doctoral Studies of the Polytechnic University of Cartagena of March 24, 2021. The works have been Published with the express authorization of the director and coordinator of this thesis. These works were prepared and published after the start of the doctoral studies and their references are listed below:

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La globalización, la innovación tecnológica y la velocidad del cambio hacen necesario adaptarse a las nuevas necesidades de cada país. Esto está condicionado por el dominio de las Tecnologías de la Información y la Comunicación (TIC), que permiten traspasar fronteras y posibilitar la interacción entre países. En la actualidad, el fenómeno migratorio en España se ha vuelto cotidiano, y lograr la integración de estos migrantes es un desafío que condiciona el desarrollo socioeconómico, por eso comparamos en este estudio la diferencia entre la brecha digital y especialmente la brecha de género entre España y Argelia y analicemos el impacto que esta brecha digital tiene en la integración de la inmigración argelina en España, y propongamos medidas que puedan mejorar la inclusión de estas personas. Globalization, technological innovation and speed changes make the adaption to the new needs of each country necessary. This is conditioned by the mastery of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), which makes it possible to push borders back and to interact between countries. Currently, migration in Spain has become a daily phenomenon and achieving the integration of those migrants is a challenge that conditions socio-economic development. This is the reason why, in this study, we are establishing the difference in the digital divide, precisely the gender gap, between Spain and Algeria, analyzing the impact that has this digital divide on the integration of Algerian immigrants in Spain and proposing measures that can improve the inclusion of these people.

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Technology represents a benchmark ally for today’s rural world and is a sine qua non-condition for achieving sustainable development. Indeed, today the arrival of digitization and information and communication tools makes life easier for the inhabitants of the rural world in general and for those who work in agriculture. However, not everyone has and knows how to use these technologies. There are very visible differences between the rural world and the urban one in the accessibility and use of technology, especially among vulnerable people (unemployed, elderly, women, etc.), causing a digital divide that reflects the great discrimination suffered by the rural world, full of stereotypes and very traditional role assignments. The objective of this study is to evaluate the differences in terms of access and use of technology. For this reason, the results of a survey carried out on the Spanish rural population have been analyzed with the structural equations tool “PLS-SEM”. They show digital gaps, as well as a disturbance between the different gaps and the socioeconomic situation of users, which imposes the need to take immediate measures to reduce and fight against this type of inequality.

Digital transformation is a reality that is having a greater impact on the lives of each person. However, its achievement depends on the accessibility and use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs), regardless of gender, age, race, geographical area, or disability. People with disabilities and especially women are faced with digital gaps that harm them in their daily lives. The objective of this work is to investigate, through a survey, the perception of this community about their availability and technological skills and to evaluate the contribution of technologies at a personal, professional, educational, and social level. The results of this study show that there is a very visible digital gender gap, especially in terms of the use of technology, which affects the improvement of the lives of people with disabilities. Finally, measures are proposed that allow a change in the current situation to avoid the limitations suffered by these people.