How digital empower: The impact of internet use on the gender wage gap

How digital empower: The impact of internet use on the gender wage gap | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article How digital empower: The impact of internet use on the gender wage gap Chao Zhou, Shirui Li, Shenwei Wan This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-6680537/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Revision Version 1 posted 19 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract As the process of informatization deepens, the widespread adoption of the internet has increasingly enabled women to challenge gender discrimination in the labor market, thereby narrowing the wage gap with men. This study utilizes data from the 2018 China Family Panel Studies (CFPS) to examine the impact of internet use on gender wage gap, further exploring the heterogeneity and underlying mechanisms of this effect. The findings reveal the following: First, internet use effectively reduces the gender wage gap. Second, it achieves this reduction through three key pathways—mitigating industry segregation, occupational segregation and positional segregation. Third, the effect of internet use in narrowing gender wage gap is particularly pronounced in the central and western regions, rural areas, among younger individuals, those with medium-to-low education levels, and low-income labor groups. Accordingly, this study suggests accelerating the popularize of digital technologies, enhancing women’s digital skills training, promoting flexible employment and remote work opportunities, and advocating for salary transparency as measures to ensure gender wage equality. Business and commerce/Economics Social science/Anthropology Social science/Business and management Social science/Development studies Social science/Economics Social science/Education Social science/Sociology Internet use Gender wage Income gap Gender discrimination China Family Panel Studies Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Revision Version 1 posted Editorial decision: Revision requested 16 Sep, 2025 Reviews received at journal 18 Aug, 2025 Reviews received at journal 17 Aug, 2025 Reviews received at journal 14 Aug, 2025 Reviews received at journal 12 Aug, 2025 Reviews received at journal 06 Aug, 2025 Reviews received at journal 31 Jul, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 17 Jul, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 15 Jul, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 15 Jul, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 15 Jul, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 09 Jul, 2025 Reviews received at journal 07 Jul, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 16 Jun, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 10 Jun, 2025 Reviewers invited by journal 10 Jun, 2025 Editor assigned by journal 31 May, 2025 Submission checks completed at journal 31 May, 2025 First submitted to journal 16 May, 2025 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-6680537","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":469451211,"identity":"c2035850-b7de-4a57-88eb-ff7d670ebd59","order_by":0,"name":"Chao Zhou","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Shangqiu Normal University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Chao","middleName":"","lastName":"Zhou","suffix":""},{"id":469451212,"identity":"12ccf4f5-2942-4a51-908f-fa711ecf29fa","order_by":1,"name":"Shirui Li","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAAxElEQVRIiWNgGAWjYBACPmYGNoYEBgYefgifmbAWNpgWyQaitYAREBgcIFoLO/uzBw/3HJYxvn3G8ANDhXViA/vZAwQcxmNukPDsMI/ZuRxjCYYz6YkNPHkJhLSwSSQcAGo5w2PGwNh2OLFBgseAgBb2Z2Atxj0gLf+I0sJgBtZiwAPS0kCUFh6QlnQeiTNsxRIJx9KN23hy8Gvh5z/+TPLHAWt7/h7mjR8+1FjL9rOfwa8FFSQwwKJpFIyCUTAKRgFFAABsqDbgiWPSFAAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==","orcid":"","institution":"Renmin University of China","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Shirui","middleName":"","lastName":"Li","suffix":""},{"id":469451213,"identity":"2b3909e7-f448-4855-bde4-42e2ed7b8a70","order_by":2,"name":"Shenwei Wan","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Renmin University of China","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Shenwei","middleName":"","lastName":"Wan","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2025-05-16 11:53:23","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-6680537/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-6680537/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":84504942,"identity":"aff29279-42f8-4c46-84f6-6e3d3f280453","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-06-12 18:20:01","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":483299,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"NonPaperNX.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-6680537/v1_covered_02997503-e5be-464e-9902-fede968de142.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"How digital empower: The impact of internet use on the gender wage gap","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":false,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"humanities-and-social-sciences-communications","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"palcomms","sideBox":"Learn more about [Humanities \u0026 Social Sciences Communications](http://www.nature.com/palcomms/)","snPcode":"41599","submissionUrl":"https://submission.springernature.com/new-submission/41599/3","title":"Humanities and Social Sciences Communications","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"stoa","reportingPortfolio":"Nature AJ","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":false},"keywords":"Internet use, Gender wage, Income gap, Gender discrimination, China Family Panel Studies","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-6680537/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-6680537/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"As the process of informatization deepens, the widespread adoption of the internet has increasingly enabled women to challenge gender discrimination in the labor market, thereby narrowing the wage gap with men. 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