Digital Divide for Women Persists At Work, According to Nielsen//NetRatings.

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 13, 2002

Nielsen//NetRatings, a leading Internet audience measurement service, reports that in January 2002, nearly half of all male Web surfers, or 12.2 million men, were employed in professional, executive or managerial roles, versus just one third of all female surfers at-work, or 5.5 million.

During the same time period, a disproportionate share of clerical or administrative workers who were online were women, accounting for 27 percent of all female Web surfers at-work, or nearly 4.5 million women. By comparison, just 3.5 percent of all male surfers, or 862,000 men, occupied clerical or administrative positions.

"Socio-cultural factors contribute to the gendered division of labor at work, with women clustered in clerical or administrative fields, while men dominate professional, executive or managerial positions," said Dawn McCaffrey Brozek, senior Internet analyst, NetRatings.

Table 1. Occupation of Web Surfers According to Gender, Ranked by
Female Composition Percent (U.S., Work)

                      Composition      Unique   Composition     Unique
Occupation                Percent    Audience       Percent   Audience
                          Females       (000)         Males      (000)

Professional                19.5%       3,225         24.8%      6,059
Executive or Managerial     13.5%       2,228         25.0%      6,123
Clerical or Administrative  27.2%       4,499          3.5%        862

Source: Nielsen//NetRatings, January 2002

Although females account for 51 percent of the at-home online population, they still trail behind their male counterparts at work with a 40/60 split. Additionally, Web usage by females at work lags behind usage by males in every metric, with men using the Internet more aggressively. Female office workers initiated 11 percent fewer surfing sessions in January, spent 18 percent less time online and viewed 13 percent fewer Web pages as compared to male surfers (see Table 2).

"The occupational stratification by gender among surfers demonstrates that males may be heavier consumers of the Web in the workplace because of the type of jobs they perform," continued Brozek. "Even though both men and women have computer and Internet access at work, women trail in their use of Internet technology in the workplace and a digital divide between men and women still exists."

Table 2. Internet Usage Metrics of Males versus Females (U.S., Work)

Metric                                 Males    Females   U.S. Average

Sessions per Month                        52         47             50
Average Time Spent (hh:mm:ss)       29:41:26   25:09:19       27:51:25
Pages Viewed                           1,894      1,677          1,806

Source: Nielsen//NetRatings, January 2002

About Nielsen//NetRatings

Through strategic partnerships between NetRatings (Nasdaq:NTRT), Nielsen Media Research and ACNielsen, the Nielsen//NetRatings Internet audience measurement service collects real-time data from individuals with access to the Internet around the world. Nielsen//NetRatings uses unique technology capable of measuring both Internet use and advertising to provide the most timely, accurate and comprehensive Internet usage data and advertising information in the global marketplace. For more information, please visit www.nielsen-netratings.com.

Editor's Note: Please source all data to Nielsen//NetRatings.