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Abstract — In this paper, we examine gender differences of

Internet adoption and usage in Saudi Arabian higher education institutions as reported by faculty members. The context is unique because of the gender-segregated higher education systems and the relatively new advent of Internet in the region. We gathered information from 504 faculty members in four Saudi Arabian higher education institutions regarding Internet usage for academic purposes. The focus of this paper is self-reported practices and beliefs. We report a gender difference in some self-reported practices of Internet usage among females and males. However, we did not see a significant gender difference in the overall Internet usage. We examine some possible explanations for our observations and discuss possible avenues of future research.

Keywords — Internet usage, Higher education, Faculty, Internet adoption

I. INTRODUCTION

ender differences have been established in studies of Human-Computer Interaction [1]. Considering a population of approx 24 million in Saudi Arabia, the

density of Internet users is considered low (19.5%) compared to the average percentage of world Internet users (32.44%) [2]. In higher education, adoption rates of the Internet is increasing to meet the demands of academic teaching and research. Although studies have emerged that examine Internet adoption and usage patterns of faculty in Saudi higher education, many investigations have excluded female faculty or included them in relatively small numbers. Convenience and traditions may explain this trend in methodologies [3]. Understanding gender differences in interacting with Internet technologies is essential for the design and development of information systems, and broadening user groups, and increasing the acceptance of the technology. The purpose of this study is to examine gender differences in Internet usage in the gender-segregated higher education faculty population in Saudi Arabia.

This study sought to answer the following questions: • Do female faculty lag behind male faculty with

respect to using the Internet? • Are there any differences in Internet usage patterns

and attitudes between genders?

This paper is organized as follows. Section II reviews the literature on Internet adoption in the Arab region, and Saudi Arabia in particular. Following that, we describe the survey study that we conducted in 2007 and present key findings that are relevant to gender differences in Internet usage. We finally conclude with implications and possible future directions of research.

II. RELATED WORK

This study focuses on faculty members who adopt and use Internet technologies in traditional classrooms. Recent surveys of faculty at higher education institutions recognize the Internet as an essential source for instruction and research [4]- [8] .

In terms of Internet usage for teaching, there are well-established gender differences among faculty. Research has suggested that female faculty are less likely to adopt the Internet than their male counter-parts [9].These findings are of general nature and not specific to Saudi Arabia. Studies have shown that this applies to the use of the Internet in teaching and class material preparation [7], [10]. In a study by Al-Jindi of various groups of faculty members in Saudi Higher education institutions in Riyadh, the author reported that male faculty members tend to use the Internet more than female faculty members in their teaching [10]. In 2003, Sait et al. conducted a survey of faculty members’ Internet use throughout Saudi Arabia. Male faculty members reported higher levels of Internet use for collecting updated material for their teaching. In addition, it was found that the percentage of male faculty members who reported the Internet has helped them in becoming more knowledgeable in their teaching and research areas is higher than that of female faculty [8].

Gendered trends have also been observed in the use of the Internet for conducting research. Male faculty members have been reported to utilize the Internet more for their research compared with females [8]. Similarly, Al-Najjar reported significant differences between male and female faculty use of the Internet for research activities. The study was conducted in King Faisal University and found that male faculty tend to use the Internet more for their research [11]. As for Internet usage for communication purposes, studies have suggested that females perceived the benefits of the Internet as a communication medium

Gender Differences in Internet Usage among Faculty Members: The Case of Saudi Arabia

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

G

Zainab Alshankity , King Fahad Medical City,

and Amany Alshawi

Prince Sultan University,

† ‡†‡ Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

zalshankity@kfmc.med.sa, karr95@gmail.com

1-4244-1543-8/08/$25.00 ©2008 IEEE

more than their male counterparts [12], [13]. It was suggested by Tubaishat that the use of email technology might be more important in some Arab countries as it improves communication between the two genders [14].

At the present time, the decision for faculty to adopt and use the Internet in Saudi Arabia remains a personal one [4], [6]. Hence, our unit of analysis is faculty member and not the higher education institution, as it is not common in the local context for entire institutions to be involved as a whole.

We conducted a study investigating predictors of faculty

Internet usage and gender was among the factors under investigation. Despite observing differences in usage patterns, the general computer and Internet usage of faculty was not found to be affected by gender [15]. Levels of computer and Internet usage scales did not demonstrate significant differences between genders at the p < .05 level. With this backdrop, this investigation looked at the gender factor in Internet adoption and usage by faculty in-depth.

III. METHODS

Five hundred and four participants completed a self-administered survey as part of a larger study described in [15]. The survey assessed levels of computer and Internet usage, self-perceptions of familiarity with Internet technologies and available university resources, and attitudes towards Internet and email usage. Table 1 shows respondents of our sample listed by institution.

TABLE 1: FACULTY RESPONDENTS

Faculty respondents included 56 professors (47 male, 9

female), 69 associate professors (46 male, 23 female), 167 assistant professors (97 male, 70 female), and 202 lecturers (76 male, 126 female).

IV. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

A. Computer Usage

Independent sample t test indicated no significance at the p>.05 level (t = 0.14) in the number of hours female and male faculty members spend on the computer. The mean for female faculty usage is M=2.52 and SD=0.92 while for male faculty members it is M=2.54 and SD=0.89.

0102030405060708090

100

Count

Less thanan hour

1-2 3-5 More than5

Average Computer Daily use

Male Female

Fig. 1. Average computer daily use Figure 1 shows the average daily computer use for male

and female faculty. Female and male rated themselves in a similar computer proficiency level (Mean=3.42). There was no significant differences with general computer proficiency between male and female respondents (t =-0.19, p>.05).

Table II presents the computer proficiency levels of respondents for both genders. Most respondents (84.5%) reported moderate, moderate to high, or high levels of computer proficiency.

TABLE II: COMPUTER PROFICIENCY LEVELS FOR BOTH GENDERS

Mean comparison was used to examine possible

differences in familiarity with computer applications among female and male faculty members. Table III shows respondents’ familiarity with computer applications.

TABLE III: FAMILIARITY WITH COMPUTER APPLICATIONS

Male Female Total N % N %

King Saud Univ. 145 57.3 108 42.7 253

Imam Univ. 78 61.4 49 38.6 127

Prince Sultan Univ. 47 38.8 71 60.2 118

Al-Yamamah Coll. 1 16.7 5 83.3 6

Male Female Total N % N % High 41 52.6 37 47.4 78

Moderate to high 79 56.4 61 43.6 140

Moderate 104 51.7 97 48.3 208

Low to moderate 33 50.8 32 49.2 65

Low 10 76.9 3 23.1 13

Female Male

N % N %

Web development 19 35.8 34 64.2

Office applications 220 47.4 242 52.6

Programming 20 33.3 40 66.7

Software specific to academic discipline

93 46 109 54

831

TABLE IV: SPEARMAN CORRELATIONS BETWEEN GENDER AND

FAMILIARITY WITH COMPUTER APPLICATIONS

As can be seen from Table IV, significant correlations

were found between male and female faculty in their familiarity with Office applications and computer programming applications. The proportion of female faculty reported using Office applications was significantly smaller than male faculty members. Furthermore, the correlation of gender and the familiarity with computer programming was significant (p<.5). However the correlation is weak r= 0.09. No significant correlations were found between gender and web development software or gender and software applications.

B. Internet Usage

Male faculty members reported significantly (p< 0.05) higher levels of Internet usage measured in the time spent online on an average working day (see Figure 2). However this difference is small M= 2.6 for female, M= 2.8 for male.

Fem

aleM

ale

3+1 - 3 hoursHalf - 1 HourLess than half anhour

25.0%

20.0%

15.0%

10.0%

5.0%

0.0%

Per

cen

t

25.0%

20.0%

15.0%

10.0%

5.0%

0.0%

Per

cen

t

Fig. 2. Average Internet Usage

Female and male faculty members rated themselves with

the same proficiency level with Internet technologies and application. The independent sample t test revealed no significant differences. Both male and female faculty had the same mean of 3.64 on a scale of 1 to 5, with 1 = ‘low proficiency’ and 5=’high proficiency’. This finding suggests that the gap in the perceived Internet proficiency levels is diminishing, as earlier studies indicated higher satisfaction with skills by male faculty [8] .

A Pearson Correlation Coefficient was used to assess the relationship between Computer proficiency and Internet proficiency. The results were significant for both male and

female faculty at p <.005 and r= 0.74 for male and r=0.70 for female. Faculty with higher internet proficiency have higher computer proficiency. However there was no correlation between gender and computer experience or gender and Internet experience.

C. Attitudes toward Internet utilization

In examining the attitude towards Internet usage, responses to the items of perceived information seeking skills ‘I know how to search for accurate information on the internet’ and perceived ease of use ‘Overall, I think the Internet is easy to use’ were compared. Table 4 shows the mean comparison on a scale of 1 to 4, in which 1 indicates ‘strongly agree’ and 4 indicates ‘strongly disagree’. Independent sample t tests were performed and found to be significant for perceived ease of use and gender at p <.05 and t= 2,28. Female faculty members perceive the Internet as easier to use when compared to male faculty. However, there was no significance between gender and perceived information-seeking skills.

TABLE V: PERCEIVED SKILLS AND EASE-OF-USE

*Significant at p<.05

When respondents were asked to what extent the Internet helps in academic work, faculty respondents significantly differed in their perceived usefulness of the Internet p<.05 level. Female faculty members reporting a mean of 1.26 and SD of 0.48, and male faculty respondents reported a mean of 1.48 and SD of 0.78. In terms of experience in using the Internet, no significant differences in the time of adoption was found between genders (t=-0.32, p>.05). Female faculty reported a mean of 1.74 (S.D. = 0.74) and male faculty members reported a slightly earlier adoption rate with mean of 1.72 (S.D.=0.82). Table VI shows the differences in email usage by genders. The number sent/replied to emails were significantly different between male and female faculty at p<.1 and t=-2.09 where male faculty reported slightly higher mean of 3.35 (S.D.=0.82) while female had a mean of 3.28 (S.D.=0.84).

TABLE VI: EMAIL USAGE

Female Male

t M S.D. M S.D.

Emails received 3.28 0.84 3.20 0.94 -0.95 Email sent/ replied 3.49 0.69 3.35 0.82 -2.09*

Significant at *p<.1; **p<.05; ***p<.01 Table VII shows self-reported beliefs by faculty toward email usage. It is interesting to note that significant differences were found in the preference of personal contact over email. Female faculty significantly agreed less with this statement (t=-3.37, p<.05) as the opportunities for interaction are less in gender-segregated environments and

Spearman Value

Std. Error Sig.

Web development 0.071 .043 .113

Office applications -0.089 .042 .045

Programming 0.094 .043 .034

Software specific to academic discipline

0.001 .45 .975

Female Male

t M S.D. M S.D.

Information-seeking skills

1.42 0.67 1.49

0.83 0.34

Ease-of-use 1.48 0.55 1.6 0.69 2.28*

832

the Internet affords a communication medium that is more acceptable in this context.

TABLE VII: ATTITUDE TOWARD USING EMAIL

Female Male

t M S.D. M S.D.

I encourage students to use email to communicate with me

1.66 0.67 1.69 0.76 0.52

Email has improved my professional communication

1.50 0.65 1.50 0.65 -0.005

I prefer personal contact over email

1.93 0.73 1.70 0.81 -3.37**

Significant at *p<0.1; **p<0.05

D. Difficulties in using the Internet

Gender differences in the perceived problems were examined in-depth in [16]. Respondents reported higher levels of problems with slow connections to the Internet (M=1.57, SD=0.726). This was followed by concerns with intellectual property rights when publishing online (M=2.00, SD=0.876). Loss of privacy when disclosing information was ranked third (M=2.04, SD=0.789). Respondents cited inadequate skills to efficiently find information due the vast amount of information available online (M=2.42, SD=0.873), and the ability of assessing the credibility of online information as other problems in their usage of the Internet (M=2.43, SD=0.762). However, no significant differences were found in the self-reported ratings of the problems between genders in our sample. This finding indicates that male and female faculty members do not differ in their experiences of problems in Internet usage.

V. CONCLUSION

Gender plays a minor role in the attitude towards Internet use and computer usage between faculty members. Our data suggests that for certain issues related to Internet technologies, such as ease of Internet use, number of emails sent daily, the perceived preference for personal contact over email, and the average time spent on the Internet; the Internet gender gap may be narrowing but it is still statistically significant. Findings also indicate that male and female faculty are becoming more similar in self-perceptions of familiarity with Internet technologies. Empirical research on gender differences in Internet usage in teaching, research and communication is needed to explore methods for promoting wider acceptance. The sample in this investigation was representative of public and private universities both small and large in faculty population sizes. We believe that these results can be generalized to universities in the region that are structured similarly (or implement a similar gender-segregated environment for staff and students).

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

This study is supported by grant 60-27-100 from King

Abdulaziz City of Science and Technology, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

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