Gender Differences & Information Resources

1. Gender Differences&Information Resources Presented by Kathy Beck IM 552

2. Outline of Presentation: • Questions to Consider • What do we look for? • Preferences & Interests • Women Websites • Men Websites • Definitions • Variables • History and Access • Women’s Views and Attitudes • Frequency and Scope of Use • Statistics found by Fallows • What does the Future hold?

3. Questions to Consider: • Is the Internet male-dominated? Has it or will it change? • What variables affect frequency and scope of use between men and women? • What do men and women prefer? Are their interests similar or different? • How do women feel about the Internet? • How can we help both men and women to be skillful information-seeking individuals?

4. Other than for work or school, What do you access the Internet for? Online Banking Email Health Information News Job Opportunities Entertainment Government Issues Pay Bills Online Stores Find an Answer Reservations Downloads

5. Personal ties Emails (personal) Relationship-building Religious Information Maps & Directions Discussion groups Relational issues Educational assistance -Refer to (Fallows,2005) Part 4. Activities and trends, for a chart of differences between men and women’s activities online. What do women prefer?

6. What do men prefer? Gaming Do-it-yourself sites Purchasing Wide Variety Pictures and links Entertainment Downloads News Travel -Refer to (Fallows,2005) Part 4. Activities and trends, for a chart of differences between men and women’s activities online.

7. Websites for Women www.ivillage.com www.womensforum.com www.oxygen.com www.bellaonline.com www.i-women.net

8. Websites for Men www.mensfitness.com www.fathermag.com www.menstuff.org www.askmen.com www.menshealthnetwork.org

9. Definitions Skill = “Ability to locate content online effectively and efficiently” (Hargittai, 2006) Self-Efficacy Scores: an individual’s personal judgment of his/her own ability to succeed in reaching a specific goal Frequency: Amount of time an individual uses the web for social and/or professional activity Scope: the variety of websites used by an individual

10. Variables that may affect Internet Use and Access: Education Socioeconomic status Geography Ethnicity Age Gender: studies have found “little significant variation in access by gender” (Wasserman, 2005) *Gender may affect Frequency and Scope of use!

11. History & Access to the Internet -”Internet frequently has been characterized as male-dominated” (Weiser, 2000) -In 1994 only 5% were female users -Now the Gender Gap is rapidly diminishing!! -Roughly 58% of new users are women -Research indicates the possibility of women surpassing men in Internet use

12. Women’s Views & Attitudes:(Since the 1990’s) -Early 1990’s: Women saw men as being better at understanding the Internet -Scored lower on Self-Efficacy tests -Higher level of anxiety, less confident -Because of the growth of Internet usage: the gap has almost disappeared -Increase experience = Increase skill

13. Statistics from Pew Internet Project Survey (Fallows, 2005): -Younger women online more than younger men -Older women lagging behind (over the age of 65) 21% compared to 34% of men over 65 -68% of men, 66% of women are online -44% of men are online several times per day compared to 39% of women -94% of women send and receive email, compared to 88% of men

14. Part 2. Demographics Percentage of men and women who go online: Race White 70* 67 Hispanic 67 66 Black 50 60* Other 72 66 Annual household income < $30,000 49 48 $30,000 – $50,000 66 76* $50,000 – $75,000 84 87 > $75,000 90 95* Marital status Married 72 75 Not married 62* 56 Parental status Parent (of child under 18) 81 80 Non-parent (of child under 18) 61* 57 Source: Pew Internet & American Life Project, for all surveys for 2005. N=6,403. Margin of error±2%. * Represents statistically significant difference % Men % Women Online overall 68 66 Age in years 18 – 29 80 86* 30 – 49 76 79 50 – 64 63 66 65 and older 34* 21 Education No h.s. diploma 32 27 High school 58 56 Some College 79 79 College grad or graduate degree 89 89

15. Frequency & Scope Question: Why do men spend more time online and view more sites and resources? Answer: 1.)Socioeconomic Differences: higher income and educational levels lead to more time online & 2.)Gender-Specific Differences: men have historically had more experience with technology, leading to higher skill level (Wasserman, 2005)

16. Socioeconomic & Gender-Specific Issues: -”Double Day” – to come home from paid jobs to dinner, dishes, cranky children, and tired husbands; to work all week and spend much of the weekend doing the laundry and cleaning the house (Ellen Israel Rosen) -In other words: No Time! -Self-Perceived Abilities vs. Actual Abilities (Hargittai,2006) *But times are a changin’….. -More women are going into Science and Math -Women are given increased office administrative activities -Women are using online resources for every day life

17. The Future: How does this affect Media Specialists? -Social Inequality: Everyone is different!! -Delve into the users information needs and skills -Our own ideas and search habits may not be the same as someone else’s -Experiences, views, skills and interests all differ from individual to individual, male to female.

18. REFERENCES Fallows, Deborah (2007). How women and men use the Internet. Pew Internet & American Life Project. Retrieved October 29, 2007 from http://www.pewinternet.org/ Hargittai, Eszter (2006). Differences in actual and perceived online skills: The role of gender. Social Sciences Quarterly. 87(2): 432-448. Retrieved October 28, 2007 from http://eszter.com/research/a17-genderskills.html Herring, Susan (1994). Gender differences in computer mediated communication : Bringing familiar baggage to the new frontier. American Library Association annual convention, Miami, June 27, 1994. Retrieved October 31, 2007 from http://www.cpsr.org/issues/womenintech/herring2 Hupfer, Maureen E. & Detlor, Brian (2006). Beyond gender differences: Self-concept orientation an drelationship-building applications on the Internet. Journal of Business Research, 60(6), 613-619. Retrieved October 25, 2007 from http://www.sciencedirect.com.libproxy.stcloudstate.edu Joiner, Richard, et al.(2005). Gender, Internet identification, and Internet anxiety: Correlates of Internet Use. Cyber Psychology & Behavior, 8(4). Retrieve from Academic Search Premier, November 1, 2007. Lorigo, Lori, et al. (2005). The influence of task and gender on search and evaluation behavior using Google. Information Processing and Management, 42(4), 1123-1131. Retrieved October 28, 2007 from http://www.sciencedirect.com Wasserman, Ira M. & Richmond-Abbott, Marie (2005). Gender and the Internet: Causes of variation in access, level, and scope of use. Social Sciences Quarterly, 86(1). Retrieved November 1, 2007 from https://199.17.24.3/im552/Unit_8 Weiser, Eric B.(2000) Gender differences in Internet use patterns and Internet application preferences: A two-sample comparison. Cyber Psychology & Behavior, 3. Retrieved from Academic Search Premier, November 1, 2007.