Digital gender gaps in Students’ knowledge, attitudes and skills: an integrative data analysis across 32 Countries

Abstract

The digital gender divide is one of the most critical issues in education today. Digital gender gaps can exist in students’ access to and use of ICT, attitudes toward technology, and digital knowledge and skills. However, previous research has primarily examined these divides in isolation and largely ignored their interdependencies. Using student data from the 2013 and 2018 International Computer and Information Literacy Study (ICILS), this study examines how these gaps are related. Specifically, we synthesize evidence on gender gaps in digital knowledge and skills, controlling for differences in ICT access and technology attitudes. In addition, we examine the role that technology attitudes play in the gender gap in digital knowledge and skills. Our findings suggest that (a) girls outperform boys in digital knowledge and skills (upbeta = -0.11 to -0.29); (b) gender differences in attitudes toward technology partially explain gender differences in digital knowledge and skills; (c) the variability within and between countries in the gender gap in students' digital skills is partly explained by the type of digital skill and the country's socio-economic development and gender inequality. Overall, this research shows a relationship between the gender gaps in students’ digital knowledge and skills and the gender gaps in students’ attitudes toward technology. We conclude that the first- and second-level gender digital divides are connected.