# The Moderating Effect of Gender on Adopting Digital Government Innovations in Ethiopia

**Authors:** Debas Senshaw, Hossana Twinomurinzi  
**arXiv:** [2108.09960](https://arxiv.org/abs/2108.09960)  
**Date:** 2021-08-23  
**Summary page:** https://www.summarizepaper.com/en/paper/2108.09960v1/

## Key points

- Research study aimed to explore the moderating effect of gender on adoption of digital government innovation in Ethiopia
- Used Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) model and structural equation modeling (SEM)
- Gender only moderated relationship between facilitating conditions and usage behavior, inconsistent with previous findings
- Women identified they would still use digital government innovation despite perceiving it as not easy to use due to social influence from peers and bosses
- Women who receive external support more likely to adopt digital government innovations compared to men
- Recommends implementing policies that encourage women's participation in digital government initiatives in low-income countries like Ethiopia
- Questionnaire used 5-point Likert scale and included demographic questions
- Initially administered 400 questionnaires, obtained 270 complete responses within a 25-day period
- Statistical tools SPSS 26 and Amos 26 used for data analysis
- Skewness and kurtosis values of most items fell within acceptable range, indicating satisfactory validity
- Fewer female participants in survey, but numbers sufficient for analysis purposes
- Theoretical background section provides overview of digital government and its role in improving governance through use of digital technologies
- Emphasizes importance of user acceptance and adoption for achieving benefits of digital government initiatives
- Discusses how culture can influence adoption of digital government, particularly among women
- Study contributes to understanding gender differences in adopting digital government innovation in low-income countries like Ethiopia
- Highlights need for appropriate policies promoting women's involvement in digital government initiatives for equitable access across genders.

## Summary

This research study aimed to explore the moderating effect of gender on the adoption of digital government innovation in Ethiopia. The study used the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) model and structural equation modeling (SEM) to analyze data from 270 government employees. The results showed that gender only moderated the relationship between facilitating conditions and usage behavior, which was inconsistent with previous findings. Interestingly, women identified that they would still use the digital government innovation despite perceiving it as not easy to use, due to social influence from peers and bosses. This suggests that women who receive external support are more likely to adopt digital government innovations compared to men who may not use them even with facilitation. The paper recommends that low-income countries like Ethiopia should implement policies that encourage women's participation in digital government initiatives. The questionnaire used a 5-point Likert scale and included demographic questions. Initially, 400 questionnaires were administered, but only 270 complete responses were obtained within a 25-day period. Statistical tools such as SPSS 26 and Amos 26 were used for data analysis. The skewness and kurtosis values of most items fell within an acceptable range, indicating satisfactory validity. Although there were fewer female participants in the survey, their numbers were sufficient enough for analysis purposes. The theoretical background section provides an overview of digital government and its role in improving governance through the use of digital technologies. It emphasizes the importance of user acceptance and adoption for achieving the benefits of digital government initiatives. Additionally, it discusses how culture can influence the adoption of digital government, particularly among women. Overall, this study contributes to understanding gender differences in adopting digital government innovation in low-income countries like Ethiopia. It highlights the need for appropriate policies that promote women's involvement in digital government initiatives so as to ensure equitable access to these services across genders.