=Paper=
{{Paper
|id=Vol-3691/paper19
|storemode=property
|title=Evaluation of the Impact of Mentoring on the Development of Technological Tools of Women in the Textile Sector in High Andean Regions
|pdfUrl=https://ceur-ws.org/Vol-3691/paper19.pdf
|volume=Vol-3691
|authors=Jol Milton Chirinos-Castillo,Flor Aleida Vilches-Velázquez,Lorena Micaela Sanz-Sanz,Angela Quispe-Huillca,Edwards Nina-Castro,David Rondon,Miguel A. Ortiz-Esparza
|dblpUrl=https://dblp.org/rec/conf/cisetc/Chirinos-Castillo23
}}
==Evaluation of the Impact of Mentoring on the Development of Technological Tools of Women in the Textile Sector in High Andean Regions==
https://ceur-ws.org/Vol-3691/paper19.pdf
Evaluation of the Impact of Mentoring on the
Development of Technological Tools of Women in the
Textile Sector in High Andean Regions.
Jol Milton Chirinos-Castillo1, Flor Aleida Vilches-Velázquez1, Lorena Micaela Sanz-Sanz1,
Angela Quispe-Huillca1, Edwards Nina-Castro1, David Rondon2 and Miguel A. Ortiz-
Esparza3*
1 Universidad Católica de Santa María, San José S/N, Arequipa, Perú
2 Universidad Continental, Arequipa, Perú
3 Center for Research in Mathematics, Quantum Knowledge City, Zacatecas, Mexico
Abstract
This study focuses on evaluating the influence of mentoring in technological tools on women operating
in the textile sector in the high Andean areas of Cusco, Puno, Tacna, Moquegua and Arequipa in southern
Peru. To measure this impact, surveys were conducted before and after the virtual mentorships,
focusing on the acquisition of basic level technology skills, such as Google search, use of Canva and social
media management. The results indicate that the mentorships have influenced the development of
technology skills among the participants. Pre-mentoring surveys revealed a generalized lack in most of
these skills, with limited knowledge in the use of tools such as search engines and graphic design
platforms. However, post- mentoring surveys showed improvements in these areas. This study
highlights the importance of mentoring in the development of basic technological skills, empowering
women in the textile sector in the high Andean regions. These results suggest that mentoring can play a
key role in closing technology gaps and improving the active participation of this demographic group in
the digital economy and society in general.
Keywords
Mentoring, technologies tools, High Andean Regions.1
1. Introduction
Peru is one of the countries with the world's highest concentration of domestic camelids such as
alpacas, llamas, and vicuñas located in the high Andean zones (3800 to 4700 m.a.s.l.), where fiber
production and activities derived from them in the textile sector are of great importance.
According to ComexPerú, Peru is the leading producer of camelid fiber textile products at the
large, medium, small, and microenterprise levels, which in many cases are identified by
associations led by women of different ages. The National Institute of Statistics and Informatics
(INEI) reported that in the first quarter of 2020 a total of 20,697 companies were led by women
(53.7%), within this it is considered that 22.5% correspond to women who report higher rates of
entrepreneurship in micro and small enterprises than men (21.9%), according to this the Fintech
brings together startups dedicated to financial services based on new technologies where women
lead 44% of these companies.
CISETC 2023: International Congress on Education and Technology in Sciences, December 04–06, 2023, Zacatecas,
Mexico
*Corresponding autor
jchirinosc@ucsm.edu.pe (J. M. Chirinos-Castillo); fvilches@ucsm.edu.pe (F. A. Vilches-Velázquez);
lsanz@ucsm.edu.pe (L. M. Sanz-Sanz); 73955433@ucsm.edu.pe (A. Quispe-Huillca); 70255002@ucsm.edu.pe (E.
Nina-Castro); drondon@continental.edu.pe (D. Rondon); miguel.ortiz@cimat.mx (M. Ortiz-Esparza);
0000-0002-2823-7830 (J. M. Chirinos-Castillo); 0000-0002-7143-8515 (F. A. Vilches-Velázquez); 0000-0002-
9233-0079 (L. M. Sanz-Sanz); 0009-0005-4886-8284 (A. Quispe-Huillca); 0009-0004-6936-2410 (E. Nina-Castro);
0000-0003-3506-5309 (D. Rondon); 0000-0001-8762-5780 (M. Ortiz-Esparza)
© 2023 Copyright for this paper by its authors.
Use permitted under Creative Commons License Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0).
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Entrepreneurship, traditionally associated with men globally. (Astorga, 2019) has
experienced a notable increase in the participation of women, especially in Latin America, where
both men and women have high rates of entrepreneurship (Segarrra et al., 2020). This
phenomenon is attributed, among other reasons, to the limited accessibility of job opportunities
for women compared to men. In other Latin American countries, entrepreneurship arises out of
necessity rather than opportunity, given the limited employment options for women in the
conventional labor market (Estrada et al., 2020). (Estrada et al., 2020; Uzcategui Sánchez et al.,
2017). In Peru, 63 % of women entrepreneurs have completed technical studies, 44 % take risks,
68 % are willing to learn from their mistakes, 65 % have other stable income, 82 % are willing to
learn, 50 % consider that age is a relevant factor for entrepreneurship and that it is easier for
young women to undertake entrepreneurship (Vasquez Lopez, 2018). According to the above, a
scenario was experienced due to the COVID-19 pandemic which has had an adverse impact on
various economic sectors, being tourism and the textile sector especially affected due to
restrictions on the export of products for large companies and limitations in the tourism field
affecting small and micro enterprises. In this context, before the pandemic, 45 % of the
enterprises were led by women; after the pandemic, this percentage increased to 68 %. Necessity
entrepreneurship has a higher rate than opportunity entrepreneurship. For 38% of women
entrepreneurs, entrepreneurship is the main source of income, while for 22% it is a temporary
source and for 33% it is an important source of income. (DATUM, 2020)
As a result of the health, economic and social crisis generated by the pandemic, we found the
need to strengthen women's entrepreneurship, focusing especially on the rural areas of the
country. These areas harbor significant potential among young women who are willing to start
textile enterprises. In this context, the present research aims to evaluate the impact of mentoring
in the high Andean regions that have experienced negative repercussions due to the COVID-19
pandemic. This study will focus specifically on the regions of Puno, Moquegua, Tacna, Cusco and
Arequipa, benefiting predominantly young women, as well as those of adult age, who are engaged
in textile activities.
2. Materials and methods
2.1. Population and Study area
The study area was delimited in southern Peru; the selected regions were Arequipa, Cusco,
Puno, Moquegua and Tacna. The selection criteria were determined due to the establishment of
textile associations with a traditional focus on women in these regions, in addition, this activity
is mostly associated with work in the high Andean zones (Aliaga Saenz, 2023). (Aliaga Saenz,
2023). The selected association in Arequipa is located in the district of Tisco, in the province of
Caylloma, where 24 women belonging to this association were evaluated; however, due to the
fact that the places where textile associations are present are remote, the majority of these 24
women belonged to other associations, thus becoming a large network of people in this high
Andean textile sector. In the Puno region, the location of the selected textile association was
Chucuito, 19.4 km from the city, and it is located at 3875 meters above sea level. This association
is made up of 13 women and presents the same situation as the association evaluated in Tisco, so
the artisanal textile networks in these study areas are much larger. Next, the city of Cusco, one of
the areas with an outstanding cultural belonging, was established in the district of Chincheros at
3754 meters above sea level with an association of 20 women with the same characteristics as
the previous regions. On the other hand, the regions of Moquegua and Tacna present a similarity,
the artisan textile associations are disarticulated, some are inactive, and others disappeared, so
no evaluation was conducted in these locations, however, it was possible to rescue information
on the critical state of the textile associations in these locations. These populations had access to
internet, some areas with limitations, however, most of them had mobile equipment, which made
our study population good candidates to apply mentoring in technological tools. By having an
approach to physical/digital tools, the selected population presented aptitudes to obtain the most
knowledge in technological tools, however, the knowledge of those tools was very limited. The
remote locations and the geography of the Peruvian altiplano prevented all associations from
having telephone and internet services (Auladell et al. (Auladell et al., 2020). For this reason,
information on the use of useful tools is scarce in this type of study area. Finally, the age of the
participants was established in a range of 18 to 40 years. The cultures belonging to the Peruvian
highlands have been responsible for different activities, among them the elaboration of textiles
(Vargas, 2019). For this reason, in 2022 the new Law No. 29073 and the Regulation of the National
Registry of Artisans and the National Council for the Promotion of Artisan D.S. 001-2008-
MINCETUR and development of artisan activity were established with the aim of recognizing and
valuing the artisan as a way of cultural, identity and traditional construction of the country. The
Ministry of Tourism is the entity that proposes, coordinates, regulates and evaluates policies for
artisans, including textile artisans. Thanks to this type of policies, they allow the revaluation of
this group of people and can have a scope for investment in addition to expanding the activity in
an economic and innovative way. (Tian et al., 2018). When selecting the study groups, it was taken
into consideration that the textile craftswomen produce textiles with cultural belonging, since
this quality of artisan textiles needs greater visibility.
2.2. Theoretical background of technological tools in high Andean areas
The COVID-19 pandemic has generated a global crisis that has impacted several sectors, with
tourism being one of the most affected (Gabriel-Campos et al., 2021; Higgins-Desbiolles, 2020).
(Gabriel-Campos et al., 2021; Higgins-Desbiolles, 2020).. This impact is of great importance given
that tourism is one of the driving sectors that drive the country's economy, which has a direct
effect on the textile sector and in particular on the high Andean regions. In these regions, the
economic livelihood depends largely on tourists who visit and purchase products, both
handicrafts and textile fabrics characteristic of each high Andean zone, which exacerbated the
economic challenges for artisans and small textile entrepreneurs in these regions. In addition,
dependence on the informal economy and lack of access to financial resources hindered the
resilience of this sector. In the aftermath of the pandemic, the Peruvian government and other
entities have initiated efforts to reactivate the textile sector, adapting to the digital era by using
technological tools such as social networks to promote their products. In this context, the
importance of training and updating the affected populations through mentoring, both face-to-
face and virtual, has been recognized. These mentorships are presented as a key strategy to
enhance the adaptation of the sector to the new technological dynamics and promote its
economic recovery.
Accordingly, several authors have conducted studies on the use of mentoring, as follows
Oyarzún-Cristi & Sanhueza-Martínez, (2021) carried out a mentoring work with indigenous
beneficiaries during 2020 in the framework of the UN Women's Indigenous Women Program,
showing as a result 36 women benefited from this initiative, of which 33% managed to raise non-
reimbursable funding to implement their plans and businesses. Likewise, Buendía-Martínez &
Carrasco (2013) in their study analyzed the relationships between female empowerment,
entrepreneurial activity and rural development in Latin America using a Structural Equation
Model, with the Partial Least Squares technique, showing results that confirm the dependency
relationships between female empowerment and rural development through entrepreneurial
activity and development. (Castillo et al., 2020) conducted a systematic literature review on
female empowerment in rural entrepreneurship under a search methodology of bibliographic
references contextualized in issues of female empowerment, entrepreneurship, gender,
participation and female leadership, resulting in several studies focused on analyzing rural and
indigenous female entrepreneurship, public policy with a gender perspective, female
empowerment in organizations and rural development of communities; the evidence invites to
reflect on gender policies and conditions of rights of rural women, to reduce discrimination by
society and state.
On the other hand, Headlam-Wells et al. (2005) highlights the relevance and transformative
potential of e- mentoring for professional women, as evidenced in the Empathy-Edge program in
the United Kingdom. With 122 participants matched through psychological profiling, the study
revealed the benefits and challenges, advocating e- mentoring as a key tool for career
development and overcoming the "glass ceiling". It also highlights the strategic importance of
psychological profiling in matching. This novel approach, integrating mentoring, gender in
management and computer-mediated communication, brought originality to the field,
underlining the need to explore e-mentoring from a European perspective. Similarly Crawford &
Smith (2005) conducted a study addressing the importance of mentoring in African American
women's selection of higher education as a career choice and in their development as
professionals in that career. The research provided recommendations on how African American
women administrators in higher education can further advance their career choices and
development. Mentoring has been identified as a factor leading to upward mobility in
employment, success in education, and personal development.
A recent study by Tinoco-Giraldo et al.(2020)shows the design of a mobile application called
e-mentoring to improve communication and matching in university mentoring processes. A
diagnosis of existing applications is made, requirements for the mobile design are identified and
a model that addresses social, graphic, technological and legal factors is proposed. The
application seeks to be a meeting point for students and mentors, strengthening academic links.
The design is based on previous models, highlighting its usefulness in streamlining educational
processes and generating community. The initiative promises to contribute significantly to the
quality and efficiency of educational services.
Based on the above, various methodologies have been identified to implement mentoring,
which has an important impact on the sector under study. This highlights the importance of
conducting mentoring either face-to-face or virtually, as effectiveness depends on adaptability,
effective communication and personalized approach to achieve specific objectives. This approach
is crucial for the target group, fostering leadership, personal development and overcoming
challenges, thus promoting equity and prosperity in the Andean communities of the study.
Likewise, mentoring women in high Andean regions strengthens female entrepreneurship by
considering a methodological model that allows them to be effective in their efforts to generate
improvements. In this sense, mentoring is a model that has been shown to be effective in fostering
entrepreneurship (Portuguez-Castro & Gómez- Zermeño, 2002). (Portuguez-Castro & Gómez-
Zermeño, 2020).
2.3. Measuring instrument
Two tools were considered for this study, surveys and personal interviews. The surveys had
two parts as part of an evaluation, pre and post mentoring, this to know the current state of our
study population talking about technological tools. This tool was applied in the regions with a
significant number of people per association. On the other hand, the regions that presented
disintegrated or disjointed associations were personally interviewed to determine the reasons
for this occurrence. After obtaining the information from the associations, a plan of virtual
workshops was implemented, which were made up of platforms such as Google forms, Canva,
Google search and social networks. These digital tools were considered as they are basic for the
development of necessary capacities and important skills in the textile commercial area within
the reach of the associations in southern Peru. The cross- cutting competencies survey was
reviewed by a group of experts and statistically analyzed for reliability and validity (Agarwal,
2011)
2.4. Mentoring development
The mentoring program in technological tools which is called as "PROMETEC MUJER" starts
with the creation of a web page of free access for the application of face-to-face and virtual
mentoring for a long-term projection with the associations where you can find all the didactic
material, experiences and the database of the information collected according to previous
segments of this research in the high Andean regions of southern Peru such as Cusco, Puno,
Arequipa, Moquegua and Tacna, Puno, Arequipa, Moquegua and Tacna, with the vision of
contributing to the development of necessary capacities and important skills in the commercial
textile area within the reach of the associations of southern Peru, economic and social
empowerment of its participants so that they assume leadership in their community in each
region. Therefore, the method used was Flangant's critical incident technique (Agarwal, 2011;
Ser Ser Ser, 2011). (Agarwal, 2011; Serrat, 2017) which consists of data collection, deciphering
the goals of the results sought and data interpretation.
2.5. Statistical analysis
Descriptive statistics analyses (mean, standard deviation, coefficient of variation and
normality) were performed, in addition to inferential analyses using the paired samples t-test to
evaluate the effect of the mentoring program. In addition, an ANOVA was used to evaluate the
differences between the Pre-test and Post-test. A 95% confidence level was assumed in all
analyses. Analyses were performed using OriginLab Pro statistical software.
3. Results and discussion
3.1. Mentoring development
The workshops focused on technological tools were applied to the associations in the different
regions. At the beginning, prior to the application of the workshops, a pre-test was applied in
person to determine which competencies were present and which were not. As detailed in Table
1, the competencies applied in the workshops, such as Internet search, which were initially
complicated, Google forms and social networks were the easiest workshops for the study
population to understand. One of the most relevant issues was the time of each workshop, since
the attention in each participant decreased greatly through the exposure time.
The technological tools applied had a logical order in order to reach an optimal learning of the
basics of each workshop. The internet search internalized in the study population the importance
of keywords and quality content necessary for their search objective, in addition, information
from reliable web sources was provided. The following course served mostly to complement logic
and coherence as well as questionnaire management. In addition, it served for the creation of the
post-test as a test template and to speed up data processing in the post-test evaluation. The next
tool was developed to increase creativity and critical thinking in the context of textile garments,
since the area of focus was textile craftswomen. Finally, the last item of the workshops were the
social networks, which served primarily with the objective of expanding their contacts in an
assertive way and the basics of business accounts for dissemination of their ventures.
Table 1
Mentoring Development Summary
1st mentoring 2nd mentoring 3rd mentoring 4th mentoring
14/8/2023 11/9/2023 18/9/2023 11/10/2023
Internet search Google forms Canva Social networks
This workshop lasted This workshop lasted This workshop lasted 3 hours This workshop
2 hours, the main 2 hours, and the main and the main aspects lasted 2 hours, the
aspects discussed aspects covered were covered were: access to the main aspects
were keywords in web platform entry, web platform, registration exposed were the
Google, search for form creation, on the web platform, basics of using
information from question editing, creation of new documents, Instagram,
reliable sources, question sorting, creation of documents Facebook and
account setup and/or form saving and form through templates, text WhatsApp business
email creation. submission via link. editing, the "insert" accounts.
function, image editing,
insertion of graphic
elements,
and the use of the "insert"
function.
3.2. Statistical analysis
In the context of social research in the high Andean regions of Cusco, Arequipa and Puno, a
statistical analysis was carried out that addressed normality tests and descriptive analysis of the
data obtained in pre-test and post-test. The results of the normality test, expressed in p-values,
reveal that the data of the population under study are within a normal distribution. As for the
descriptive analysis of the data, fundamental metrics such as the coefficient of variation, deviation
and standard error were evaluated. The coefficient of variation, which does not exceed 30% in all
regions, indicates a certain uniformity in the variability of the data; this pattern suggests stability
in the measurements. The standard deviation, varying between 3 and 8 for all regions, indicates
the dispersion of the data with respect to the mean. The observed variability can be attributed to
the inherent heterogeneity in the samples analyzed, highlighting the importance of addressing
diversity in future analyses. The standard error, ranging from 0 to 2 for all regions, indicates an
accurate and consistent estimate based on the samples. This low level of error provides
confidence in the precision of the measurements, despite deviations from normality. These
results underscore the need for caution and the importance of considering sample heterogeneity
in study design and analysis.
Table 2
Normality test
Statistician p-value Decision at 5%.
Pre test 0.95853 0.40967 Does not reject normality
TISCO
Post test 0.9473 0.2366 Does not reject normality
Pre test 0.9534 0.65065 Does not reject normality
CHUCHUITO
Post test 0.88348 0.07951 Does not reject normality
Pre test 0.9169 0.08636 Does not reject normality
CHINCHEROS
Post test 0.90471 0.05059 Does not reject normality
Table 3
Normality test
Desv SE of Coef of
Mean Std Variance Min Avg Max
var var
Pre test 11.91667 8.0645 1.64616 65.03623 0.27674 0 12 32
TISCO
Post test 22.54167 6.72425 1.37258 45.21558 0.2983 10 20 33
CHUCHUITO Pre test 17.69231 7.59808 2.10733 57.73077 0.22946 0 18 29
Post test 27 3.85141 1.06819 14.83333 0.14264 18 27 32
Pre test 18.3 4.46153 0.99763 19.90526 0.2438 11 16 28
CHINCHEROS
Post test 29.4 3.69067 0.82526 13.62105 0.12553 19 29 33
Figure 1 shows the comparison between the Pre-test and Post-test applied to women's
associations in the Alto Andean textile area, offering a valuable perspective on the effectiveness
of mentoring and its impact on skills related to specific technological tools. The differences and
positive results between both moments are significant indicators of the benefits obtained. In the
pre-test, women's initial skills and knowledge of technological tools are assessed, providing a
baseline for understanding their level of competence prior to receiving mentoring. At this point,
it is possible to identify areas of opportunity and determine specific training needs. On the other
hand, the post-test is applied after the mentoring, serving as a post-evaluation to measure the
impact of the mentoring sessions on the development of technological skills.
Differences between pre-test and post-test scores reflect the progress and improvements
achieved throughout the mentoring. A positive change in scores indicates an increase in
technological skills and knowledge acquired during the mentoring period. In this case, the results
indicate substantial improvements in the management of specific technological tools, such as
Google, internet search, Canva, Google Forms and integration of social networks such as
Instagram and WhatsApp. The improvement in these technological capabilities suggests that the
mentorships have had a positive impact and have achieved their objectives of strengthening the
digital skills of women in the Alto Andean textile area. This result is particularly encouraging as
it demonstrates the effectiveness of mentoring
nterventions in the specific context of women's associations in this sector. These findings also
support the idea that mentoring can be an effective strategy to close technology skills gaps and
train women in digital tools relevant to their textile activities. Furthermore, this positive
experience could inspire the implementation of similar programs in other communities, thus
contributing to the strengthening of technological skills and empowerment of women in similar
contexts.
Figure 1: Comparison between the results of the Pre-test (left bar) and Post-test (right bar)
carried out in the Regions of Arequipa - Tisco, Puno - Chucuito and Cusco - Chincheros.
Google, internet search, Canva, Google Forms and integration of social networks such as
Instagram and WhatsApp. The improvement in these technological capabilities suggests that the
mentorships have had a positive impact and have achieved their objectives of strengthening the
digital skills of women in the Alto Andean textile area. This result is particularly encouraging as
it demonstrates the effectiveness of mentoring
Figure 2 shows the construction of a dendrogram using Jaccard's similarity test between the
study populations in the regions of Arequipa, Puno and Cusco providing a graphical
representation of the similarity relationships between these geographical areas. In the
dendrogram, distances between populations are calculated using Jaccard's index, which
measures the similarity between sets, being particularly useful when working with binary data,
such as the presence or absence of certain elements.
Notably, the result reveals that the regions of Puno and Cusco are the most similar to each
other. This finding may have significant implications, especially when considering women's
textile associations and the results of a pre-test on technological tools. The similarity between
Puno and Cusco could indicate that they share similar socioeconomic, cultural or geographic
contexts, factors that could influence the creation and sustainability of women-led textile
associations in both regions. It could suggest that successful strategies implemented in one region
could be transferable or adapted to the other, promoting an exchange of good practices. In
relation to the pre-test on technological tools, the similarity between Puno and Cusco could
indicate common patterns of access, use and perception of technologies among the study
populations. This knowledge may be valuable when designing interventions or programs
involving the use of technological tools, since effective strategies implemented in one region may
be applicable and effective in the other.
Figure 2: Jaccard's test of similarity between the pre-test scores evaluated in the regions.
On the other hand, regarding the current situation in the Moquegua region, an exhaustive
review and search of textile associations led by women revealed a lack of organization among the
different associations. This situation is attributed to various factors, one of which is the
predominant temperate climate on the coast of Moquegua, characterized by its uniformity
throughout the year, with variations in the average temperature between 14°C (in August) and
25°C (in February). In the coastal area, close to the mountain range, there is a dry desert climate
that extends to the Andean region. This condition has led to non-textile handicrafts having greater
acceptance in the region than textile garments, since these are more attractive in colder climates
such as the Puno Region, Cusco and Arequipa.
According to the above, an interview was conducted with the president of the representative
association who pointed out that Moquegua lacks adequate promotion to attract tourists to the
area because they did not have an establishment for the marketing of their products, also
indicated that at present it does not have a Center for productive innovation and technology
transfer also called CITE TEXTIL, which is essential for the economic development of enterprises
in the sector. Accordingly, the Management of Economic and Social Development plans to
promote strategies for financing in the textile sector, seeking to market not only the region's own
non-textile handicrafts, but also textile garments. This approach seeks to avoid the disintegration
of existing associations, promoting instead a proactive reactivation in line with the region's
tourism promotion initiatives.
Similarly, the situation in the Tacna Region presents similarities in terms of the fundamental
elements to promote the development of the textile sector. Some of the characteristics of the
variables in the Tacna region are the lack of interest on the part of the authorities, despite the
existence of the Artisans Law, which was established in favor of artisans to promote the
development of artisans and crafts in their various forms, integrating them into the country's
economic development; facilitate artisans' access to private financing; and improve their
productivity, competitiveness, profitability and market management conditions. It should also be
noted that the objective of the Regional Directorates of Foreign Trade and Tourism (DIRCETUR)
is to plan, execute, direct, supervise and evaluate development actions in the foreign trade,
tourism and handicrafts sectors. This approach seeks to promote both domestic and foreign
tourism in the region (TACNA: Economic Activity Synthesis, 2022). However, the availability of
specific locations for the commercialization of handcrafted textile products is even scarcer, given
that the Regional Government persists in denying the allocation of permanent establishments for
the promotion and sale of textile handicrafts in Tacna. In this regard, during an interview with
one of the active members, it was pointed out that despite government recognition as artisans,
they are unable to obtain the necessary relevance. This lack of recognition has a direct impact on
the stagnation of the associations' development, leading to possible future disintegration and
relegating the entire handicraft sector to the background.
On the other hand, one of the activities with the greatest potential in the Tacna region could
be tourism, since the border country Chile has a great interest in this type of products with
cultural themes, likewise, there is a radical change as the regions move away from climatic
variables, since in areas such as Tisco, Chincheros and Chucuito the use of handicrafts with
cultural styles of the country is highlighted, while Moquegua and Tacna tend to have updated
garments, textiles with camelid material, but without the characteristic cultural identity. This may
be due to the target public in the commercialization of garments, since it varies in each region,
while the regions located in Cusco, Puno or Arequipa receive a large number of tourists, the Tacna
and Moquegua regions do not, which is why the change in the type of textile is necessary to reach
other groups interested in textile products.
4. Conclusions
This study focused on evaluating the impact of mentoring in technological tools among women
in the textile sector in the high Andean regions of southern Peru. Surveys were conducted before
and after the virtual mentorships, focusing on basic technology skills such as Google search, Canva
use and social media management. Initial surveys revealed a generalized lack of these skills.
However, subsequent surveys indicated significant improvements, highlighting the positive
impact of mentoring on technology skills development. This study underscores the relevance of
mentoring in closing specific technology gaps in the high Andean regions. Observable progress in
essential skills, such as the use of search engines and design platforms, suggests that mentorships
play a crucial role in equipping and empowering women in the textile sector. The importance of
focusing on core skills highlights the need to adapt to today's digital age. These results not only
have technological, but also economic and social implications. Improving technology skills can
increase active participation and inclusion in the digital economy, contributing to greater
diversity in society. In summary, this study highlights the effectiveness of mentoring in bridging
technology gaps, empowering women in the textile sector and promoting more active
participation in the digital economy and society.
Acknowledgements
This work was subsidized by CONCYTEC through the PROCIENCIA program in the framework
of the "Proyectos de Investigación Aplicada en Ciencias Sociales" contest, according to contract
[PE50107878465-2022-PROCIENCIA]. Besides, we are grateful with the Universidad Católica de
Santa María, the Vicerrectorado de Investigación of Arequipa-Perú and the Instituto de
Investigación e Innovación en Energías Renovables y Medio Ambiente-INNOVERGY for the
backing and participation in this research.
We are grateful to PhD Hugo Jiménez Pacheco for the collaboration, continuous research,
advice, and support provided. Furthermore, this research is grateful with the Mg. Naysha Meza
Elguera and the Bgo. Abdel Alejandro Portocarrero Banda for its efforts and compromising with
the develop of the project.
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