The Internet Gender Gap Among College Students: Forgotten But Not Gone?

Abstract

The Internet has been a male-dominated technology since its beginnings in the late 1960s. A number of studies have reported that the gap between the numbers of men and women online has narrowed in recent years. However, broad definitions of usage have often masked important differences in how much the technology is used in specific ways, as well as qualitative differences in men's and women's experiences in using the Internet. One area in which such differences might be particularly important is in higher education, where Internet activities are increasingly a central feature of the curriculum in a variety of departments. We investigated the Internet gender gap among college students by comparing the usage patterns and attitudes of three cohorts of students in 1997, 1998, and 1999. In addition, we examined longitudinal changes from 1997 to 1998 in a subsample of our participants. The cohort comparisons revealed gender differences in five Internet activities (E-mail, World Wide Web [WWW], Usenet, Multiuser dungeons [MUDs], and chat groups) with no significant lessening of these differences over time. Attitudes toward the technology also differed between men andwomenandthese differences also didnotchange over time. The longitudinal data showed similar patterns. In general, our investigation suggests that differences continue to exist between college men and women in how they experience Internet technology and assessments that the Internet will soon be gender neutral are perhaps premature.