Empowerment of the Members of Rural Women's Cooperatives: The Impact of ICTs in Rural Districts of Urmia County, Iran

This survey study investigates the contribution of information and communication technologies (ICT) to empowering the members of rural women's cooperatives. The population of interest consisted of all members of rural women's cooperatives of Urmia County, Iran. Using Krejcie and Morgan's table and following a simple random sampling method, 152 individuals were selected as the research sample. A questionnaire was the main tool for data gathering, structured on the readiness, action, and impact (RAI) communication model. The validity of the questionnaire was verified by a panel of experts. To assess its reliability, Cronbach's alpha coefficient was calculated for the main scales of the questionnaire (a = 0.76 to 0.90). Interview was also used as a complementary instrument to collect data. Results showed that rural women had no favorable view toward readiness, related activities, and the impacts of ICT on their empowerment. Apparently, members of the rural women's cooperatives are stuck at the readiness level. Consequently, they lose many opportunities that make cooperatives more fruitful over time. If they could get better access to ICT instruments, one can hope that positive steps would be taken to other levels i.e., activity and impact. Moreover, four variables, readiness, activity, work experience, and level of education, were recognized as significant predictors of ICT-induced empowerment.