Abstract
The study of gender differences in academic achievement has been one of the core topics in education, especially because it may uncover possible gaps and inequalities in certain domains. Whereas these differences have largely been examined in traditional domains, such as mathematics, reading, and science, the existing body of empirical studies in the domain of ICT literacy is considerably smaller, yet abounds in diverse findings. One of the persistent findings however is that boys consider their ICT literacy to be higher than that of girls. This meta-analysis tests whether the same pattern holds for students’ actual performance on ICT literacy tasks, as measured by performance-based assessments. In total, 46 effect sizes were extracted from 23 empirical studies using a random-effects model. Overall, the gender differences in ICT literacy were significant, positive, and favored girls (g = + 0.12, 95 % CI = [0.08, 0.16]). This effect varied between studies, and moderation analyses indicated that the grade level students were taught at moderated its magnitude—effect sizes were larger in primary school as compared to secondary school. In conclusion, our findings contrast those obtained from previous meta-analyses that were based on self-reported ICT literacy and suggest that the ICT gender gap may not be as severe as it had been claimed to be.
Highlights
Technological advancements and the increased availability of information and communication technology (ICT) resources have changed traditional learning environments and necessitated curricular reforms
We address the following research questions: 1. Do gender differences in performance measures of ICT literacy, as reported by empirical studies, exist, and to what extent do they vary between studies? (Overall effect size and between-study variation)
We updated the literature search that was conducted for studies between November 2014 and August 2017 by applying the same search procedures and selection criteria as they were specified in the systematic review
Summary
Technological advancements and the increased availability of information and communication technology (ICT) resources have changed traditional learning environments and necessitated curricular reforms. Educational systems around the world have responded to these developments by including skills that are needed to solve problems in technology-rich environments and to become reflective and responsible ICT users in their national curricula (Balanskat, 2009; Pellegrino & Hilton, 2012). A recently published meta-analysis on gender and attitudes toward technology partly confirms this view by revealing that there is a small but significant positive effect towards boys, suggesting that boys have higher ICT self-efficacy and hold more favorable attitudes toward technology than girls (Cai, Fan, & Du, 2017). This finding concurs with current expectations on the
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