Malaysian Online Journal of Instructional Technology (MOJIT) December 2005 ISSN 1823-1144
Vol. 2, No. 3, pp 62-69
Gender Differences in ICT Competencies among Academicians at Universiti Putra Malaysia Wong Su Luan, Sidek Abdul Aziz, Aida Suraya Mohd Yunus, Zakaria Sidek, Kamariah Abu Bakar, Hamidah Meseran & *Hanafi Atan Institute of Multimedia and Software, Universiti Putra Malaysia 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia
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[email protected] Abstract This paper reports on a descriptive study that was conducted to assess existing levels of information and communication technology (ICT) competencies among the academic staff of Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) according to gender. Specifically, it seeks to investigate if differences exist between females and males in terms of eight components (word processing, spreadsheets, databases, presentations, electronic mail, World Wide Web, multimedia and virtual class applications) related to ICT. A total of 109 academic staff participated in this study. The results of the study shows that there exists a gap between female and male academicians; in certain cases, the competencies of female academicians have even surpassed those possessed by males. The various possible reasons attributed to these results will be highlighted and discussed. INTRODUCTION As information and communication technology (ICT) becomes more ubiquitous in our society, educational settings are being transformed where educators and students are expected to teach and learn using this new technology (Li et al., 2001; Lee, 2003). Educational institutions around the world are beginning to recognise the potential of ICT in pedagogy (Oblinger & Rush, 1997). Many educational institutions have produced their own strategies which incorporate ICT to realise their mission of being world class universities. These steps are taken to ensure that they stay ahead of others in many ways especially in teaching and research. Sharing these aspirations is Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM), a leading university in Malaysia. In its quest to be a world class university, UPM has laid out eight strategies to spearhead the challenge of realising its mission to be a centre of excellence in teaching and learning as well as in research. One of the eight strategies is related to ICT which is considered to be one of the most important strategies to realise UPM’s mission. In fact, UPM stresses the importance of embracing new teaching and learning methods which integrate ICT as it is crucial for academicians to cope with the rapid changes in the ICT era caused by the development of a knowledge-based society. Given the mounting pressure ICT has placed on the educational community, there is a dramatic surge in the new teaching competencies expected of academicians in UPM. All academic staff are, therefore, expected to use and integrate new technologies into their instruction, communication and research. However, findings from local and international studies have suggested that gender differences exist in relation to the use of ICT and of late, this issue is beginning to gain the attention of researchers. This is evident by the amount of research carried out in recent years to investigate whether gender differences exist with ICT usage (Ong & Lai, in press; Atan et al., 2002; Houtz & Gupta, 2001). Conducted studies have mostly been based on the perceptions of target audiences towards ICT. Savery (2002) stated that “…examining the perception of a target audience is a widely used strategy based on the premise that perceptions matter and often influence behaviours…” (p. 1). For example, Cope & Ward (2002) suggested
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Gender Differences in Information and Communication Technology
that teachers’ perceptions of learning technologies are likely to be crucial in their successful integration. In other words, measuring an individual’s perception is pertinent as it is likely to influence the human behaviour. In recent years, the gender gap issue has caught many scholars’ attention and as a result, many studies have been conducted to study this gap in technology internationally. In a very recent study, Ong & Lai (in press) reported that males had more positive attitudes toward e-learning than females. They found significant gender variations where males’ ratings of perceptions towards computer self-efficacy, perceived usefulness and ease of use and behavioural intention to use e-learning were all higher than those of females. This is not surprising as Liaw’s study (2002) had earlier indicated that males had more positive perceptions toward computers and Web technologies than females. Chen & Tsai (2005) also reported that males exhibited more favourable attitudes toward Web-based learning than females. Their results suggested that males perceived the proliferation and development of the Internet to result in a better tool in reducing the digital divide and establishing a society of equity and justice. Jackson et al. (2001), however, found that while females used e-mails more than males, the latter used the Web more. Houtz & Gupta’s (2001) study found significant gender difference in the way females and males rated themselves in their ability to master technology skills. Even though both genders were positive about their technological ability, males rated themselves higher than females. Kirkpatrick & Cuban (1998), however, noted that the gender gap is narrowed when both genders are exposed to the same amounts and types of experiences on computers. Atan et al. (2002) further added that the absence of gender disparity is obvious when females and males are in a learning environment that requires the constant use of specific computer software to support their learning activities. However, activities such as handling computer hardware and performing computer maintenance are still seen as masculine in nature (Atan et al., 2002). King et al. (2002) added that measurable gender differences exist when females construe computers as “masculine”. Females view technology as less of a threat when they perceive computers as a method of communication and not as a computational tool (King et al., 2002). From the studies above, it appears that the evidence for specific gender differences in ICT competency is inconclusive although there is a widespread belief that computers and the Internet are male-dominated technologies. It would, therefore, be interesting to find out how gender affects the ICT competencies of the academic staff at UPM, especially now that ICT is seen as not only crucial for the teaching and learning process but also for professional advancement. The main objective of the survey was accordingly to determine if gender differences exist among academic staff at UPM in terms of their perceived ICT competencies. METHODOLOGY The target participants were all academic staff (approximately 1,489) in UPM. They included tutors and lecturers who are working full time in campus. A total of 109 academic staff participated in this study, 58 males and 51 females. The mean age of the female staff was 36.17 (S.D.= 7.20) while that of the male staff was 40.69 (S.D.= 9.55). Items for the instrument were developed in the Malay language to assess participants’ perceptions of their skills in terms of eight components, which were word processing, spreadsheets, databases, presentations, electronic mail (e-mail), the Internet, multimedia and virtual class applications. The items were measured in a 6-point Likert like scale ranging from “no skill” to “very skilful”. The items were pilot tested on three academic and four non-academic staff who were familiar with information technology. They found no ambiguous items. The internal consistency of the instrument for the actual study was calculated. The score of each item was summed up where the Cronbach’s Alpha was recorded at .97. This showed that the items in the instrument had good reliability. The high alpha value could also be attributed to the high number of items (a total of 44) presented in the questionnaire.
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RESULTS T-tests were conducted for each item to determine if differences existed between females and males in terms of their ICT competencies according to the eight components mentioned earlier. Table 1 presents the data between the genders in terms of their perceived skills in word processing. The t-test results showed that only two items were statistically significant. The mean values of female participants were statistically higher than those of males when it came to inserting and editing texts. This could possibly mean that female staff prefer to type and make changes to their work compared to males. The mean scores for all five items were higher than 4.0. It could be assumed that both females and males perceived themselves as skilful in using word processing applications. One probable reason is that most academic staff use this software for much of their daily job tasks such as preparing notes for lectures, writing academic papers and reports. These kinds of software are seen as pertinent and are widely used in UPM. Table 1: Competency between Genders in Terms of Word Processing Word processing 1. Insert texts 2. Edit texts 3. Change margins 4. Insert graphics 5. Create tables *significant at p
