Race, Gender, and Information Technology Use: The New Digital Divide

Abstract

This research examined race and gender differences in the intensity and nature of IT use and whether IT use predicted academic performance. A sample of 515 children (172 African Americans and 343 Caucasian Americans), average age 12 years old, completed surveys as part of their participation in the Children and Technology Project. Findings indicated race and gender differences in the intensity of IT use; African American males were the least intense users of computers and the Internet, and African American females were the most intense users of the Internet. Males, regardless of race, were the most intense videogame players, and females, regardless of race, were the most intense cell phone users. IT use predicted children's academic performance. Length of time using computers and the Internet was a positive predictor of academic performance, whereas amount of time spent playing videogames was a negative predictor. Implications of the findings for bringing IT to African American males and bringing African American males to IT are discussed. 437

Analysis of Gender Differences in Internet Use of Children: Evidence from Turkey

“…In a study carried out on Korean children, it was found that possibility of playing online game among male children was higher than female children (Lee & Chae, 2007). Similar results were found in another study (Jackson, 2008). Frequency of watching TV is not effective in Internet use of male children.…”

“…Jackson, Ervin, Gardner and Schmitt (2001) predicted and found that females used e-mail more than did males, males used the Web more than did females, and females reported more computer anxiety, less computer self-efficacy, and less favorable and less stereotypic computer attitudes. Jackson et al (2008) Vol. 8, No.…”

“…Online social media, such as social networking sites (e.g., Facebook, MySpace), blogs, status updating sites (e.g., Twitter) and chat rooms, have become integral parts of childrens' and young adults' lives (Pujazon-Zazik & Park, 2010). Internet use influence sleeping behavior ( Van den Bulck, 2004), health and social life (Koyuncu, Unsal, & Arslantas, 2014), familial communication and time spent with family (Lee & Chae, 2007), academic performance (Jackson et al, 2008;Kim & So, 2012) of children. Numerous surveys have attempted to measure how frequently children use the Internet at home.…”

Does Screen Size Matter for Smartphones? Utilitarian and Hedonic Effects of Screen Size on Smartphone Adoption

“…For example, males are more likely to use digital media as tools for information and entertainment, whereas females tend to use them as tools for communication. 62 Controlling for gender, therefore, might have enhanced the validity of the study findings by verifying that the experimental results were solely due to the variation in screen size.…”

Internet skills

“…Although recent data regarding Internet access and types of Internet use is available (e.g., Jackson et al, 2008), to our knowledge, there is no academic research concerning Internet skills and their division over different races among populations at large.…”