Gender disparities in the use of internet among graduate students of a developing society

Abstract

PurposeIn the past two decades, the problem of gender disparities in the use of internet has attracted a remarkable interest of researchers. Several studies revealed that female internet users were the disadvantaged group than males, because they had not the same access, experience and use frequency regarding the internet use. Moreover, the negative attitude of the society towards the females’ internet use also made them disadvantaged group. Prompted by these observations, this paper aims to examine gender differences in the use of internet among graduate students of a developing society – in public sector universities of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan.Design/methodology/approachQuantitative research design using a questionnaire was used for data collection. Data were analyzed through SPSS version 20.0 by using descriptive and inferential statistics.FindingsThe findings of this study, similar to previous studies, revealed differences among men and women. Majority of men possessed PCs and were more experienced than women. In addition, they were more skilled and faced problems of computer anxiety and distance with less intensity than women. In addition, women used internet mainly for social interaction, communication, entertainment and were more satisfied with some of the educational resources than men. However, men were more satisfied than women regarding the use of most educational internet resources and spent more time on these than women.Originality/valueThis is the first study in Pakistan that deals with gender differences in the use of internet among graduate students of a developing society – in public sector universities of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan.