This article presents a quantitative study on gender differences in attitudes toward the usage of Information
Technology (IT) related tools and applications. The study was conducted at Universiti Putra Malaysia, Malaysia,
with 73 female and 29 male student teachers involved as participants. They were each presented with a
questionnaire to relate their attitudes toward IT before and after undergoing a discrete IT course for the duration
of one semester (14 weeks). The attitudes of the respondents were measured in terms of three dimensions,
namely, usefulness, confidence and aversion. There were no significant differences between female and male
student teachers when the pre- and post-test mean scores were compared. Both genders exhibited the same
levels of attitudes before and after undergoing the comprehensive IT course. This suggests that the exposure to
IT did not contribute to any significant gender disparity. The paired sample t-test results showed improved
attitudes toward IT usage in both females and males after the exposure to IT. The biggest improvement for both
females and males was in the aversion dimension which showed that their initial strong dislike toward IT was
greatly reduced at the end of the course. In terms of confidence, female participants exhibited an enhanced
confidence level after the course as opposed to the male participants. The results support the view that computer
experience is gender-based as the increase in IT confidence over time assumed different patterns for females and
males.
Technology (IT) related tools and applications. The study was conducted at Universiti Putra Malaysia, Malaysia,
with 73 female and 29 male student teachers involved as participants. They were each presented with a
questionnaire to relate their attitudes toward IT before and after undergoing a discrete IT course for the duration
of one semester (14 weeks). The attitudes of the respondents were measured in terms of three dimensions,
namely, usefulness, confidence and aversion. There were no significant differences between female and male
student teachers when the pre- and post-test mean scores were compared. Both genders exhibited the same
levels of attitudes before and after undergoing the comprehensive IT course. This suggests that the exposure to
IT did not contribute to any significant gender disparity. The paired sample t-test results showed improved
attitudes toward IT usage in both females and males after the exposure to IT. The biggest improvement for both
females and males was in the aversion dimension which showed that their initial strong dislike toward IT was
greatly reduced at the end of the course. In terms of confidence, female participants exhibited an enhanced
confidence level after the course as opposed to the male participants. The results support the view that computer
experience is gender-based as the increase in IT confidence over time assumed different patterns for females and
males.
