Gender and Computer in Education

Williams, Ogletree, Woodburn, and Raffeld (1993) reported that male college students, compared with females, experienced more computer involvement in their daily lives and perceived themselves as more competent with computers. However, some studies did not reveal significant gender differences. For example, Zhang (2005) found that gender was not a significant factor in terms of college students’ receptivity for distance learning. Davis and Davis (2007) reported that no statistically significant difference was found on overall perception of computer competence based on gender

Studies on the use of computers by males and females in workplace and household settings have told a similar story. Earlier studies revealed that, in general, women seem to have less experience with computers and tend to be less skilled in the use of computers (Harrison & Rainer, 1992). In addition, women seem to suffer greater levels of computer anxiety (Igbaria &Chakrabarti, 1990). The more recent studies claim that
these gender differences have shrunk. For example, Morris, Venkatesh, and Ackerman (2005) studied over a half year the reactions and use behaviors among 342 workers being introduced to a new computer application. They found that gender effects in individual adoption and use of technology differed based on age. Specifically, gender difference in technology perceptions became more pronounced among older worker, but a unisex pattern of results emerged among younger workers. Ono and Zavodny (2005) conducted a comparative study between USA and Japan. They found that there were significant gender differences in computer and internet usage in both countries during the middle 1990s. By 2001, these gender differences had disappeared in the US but persisted in Japan. However, controversy exists in regard to the recently reported smaller gender differences. Some recent studies still document fairly visible gender differences. Schumacher and Morahan- Martin (2001) found that in general, men tend to have more favorable attitudes toward computers. Ong and Lai (2006) surveyed 156 employees from six international companies in Taiwan and found that men’s rating of computer self-efficacy, perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, and behavioural intention to use e-learning are all higher than that of women.