Abstract
The purpose of the study is to examine the moderating effect of age on gender differences in teachers’ self-efficacy for using information and communication technology (ICT) in teaching as well as possible variables underlying this effect. Following Bandura’s conceptualisation of self-efficacy, we defined teachers' self-efficacy as their confidence in performing specific tasks that require the integration of ICT into the teaching practice. The study was conducted via an online questionnaire on a sample of 6613 elementary and upper secondary school teachers in Croatia. The hierarchical multiple regression analysis was applied. The findings indicate minor gender differences in self-efficacy for using ICT that are more prominent among older teachers and practically non-existent among younger teachers. These effects remain statistically significant after controlling for the type of school where the teacher works, perceived technical and professional support for using ICT in school, and frequency of use of computer programmes in teaching. The interaction effect ceases to be statistically significant after the introduction of length of computer use in teaching and/or attitudes towards computers in the model, indicating that these two variables have a role in low self-efficacy for using ICT among older female teachers. A similar level of self-efficacy for using ICT among young male and female teachers is an encouraging finding which could hopefully be followed by gender equality in other aspects of ICT use. The findings suggest that strategies for enhancing ICT self-efficacy should be particularly targeted at older female teachers. This study contributes to a better understanding of the underresearched topic of gender differences in teacher’s ICT self-efficacy.
Highlights
Today's society witnesses a fast development and implementation of information and communication technology (ICT) in all areas of societal life, including education
The findings indicate minor gender differences in self-efficacy for using ICT that are more prominent among older teachers and practically nonexistent among younger teachers
The interaction effect ceases to be statistically significant after the introduction of length of computer use in teaching and/or attitudes towards computers in the model, indicating that these two variables have a role in low self-efficacy for using ICT among older female teachers
Summary
Today's society witnesses a fast development and implementation of information and communication technology (ICT) in all areas of societal life, including education. Research indicates that teachers play a key role in the successful integration of ICT in schools In this context, teachers’ computer (ICT) self-efficacy and their self-confidence to successfully use ICT in teaching practice are important (Albion et al, 2011; Hong et al, 2014; Krause et al, 2017). Teachers’ ICT self-efficacy gained such a prominent role because it has a powerful influence on the teachers’ behaviour and achievements. It determines whether the teachers will use ICT, in what way, to what extent and how successful they will be in their use of ICT for instructional purposes. Research indicates that teachers' ICT self-efficacy depends on a number of factors, such as the teachers' age and gender (Scherer and Siddiq, 2015), technology-related attitudes and affect (Cai et al, 2017; Gudek, 2019), teachers’ computer experience (Sarfo et al, 2017) and school support (Hatlevik and Hatlevik, 2018)
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