Women as Innovators, Decision-Makers and Co-Designers of Technology: From Representation to Recognition, Influence and Inclusive Development: An SDG-9 Focused Study with Exploratory Survey Evidence from Peshawar, Pakistan

Abstract

Access to technology, work, and education are often mentioned as barriers to women's involvement in innovation. However, it takes more than just being there to lead, create a product, earn attention for an idea, or make a difference. The article reimagines women's inclusion as a path to agency, including access to technological opportunities and resources, involvement in innovation, influence over organizational decisions, acknowledgment and ownership of contributions, and the creation of technologies that cater to the needs of all social groups. According to the poll results, 83.9% of participants believed that women could make good decisions, 67.7% believed that women were underrepresented in senior decision-making positions, 80.6% agreed that the trend was changing, and 64.5% said that women's efforts were not always acknowledged. These results are only descriptive perceptions of a small geographic sample of the province and are not intended to be representative of perceptions throughout Pakistan. Recent data from throughout the globe further supports the question's continued significance: While the GSMA has identified a narrowing but continuing gender imbalance in Pakistani mobile-internet leadership, UNESCO has documented significant gender discrepancies in scientific research and STEM leadership. An integrated framework of "Access – Agency – Authority – Attribution – Impact," which links digital inclusion with decision-making authority, acknowledgment, and results of inclusive innovation, is the proposed addition to the article. The framework offers a foundation for future empirical research and institutional action in line with Sustainable Development Goal 9, which emphasizes equitable technology development and innovative capacity.