Mixed Methods for Study of Gender Issues in Access, Application, and Attitudes Toward ICT in Higher Education Institutions in Papua New Guinea

Abstract

For more than a century, there has been an ongoing paradigm debate between qualitative and quantitative methodological communities that has led to a growing interest in the mixed methods approach. This article seeks to contribute to this ongoing discussion by presenting results of a mixed methods study employed to explore gender issues in the access, application, and attitudes toward information communication technology (ICT) in higher education institutions in Papua New Guinea (PNG). The data presented here involved more than 900 students and faculty members. In each of the studied aspects of staffs’ and students’ interactions with ICT, mixed methods methodology provided a platform for deeper exploration of gender issues that otherwise would not have been discovered. Although quantitative data showed little statistically significant differences in the access to and application of ICT, qualitative data revealed deep inequalities rooted in a PNG male-dominated culture. In terms of participants’ attitudes toward ICT, qualitative analyses not only reaffirmed the statistical results but also enriched understanding of demonstrated attitudes by providing a platform for an in-depth discussion about the positive, negative, and ambivalent perceptions and beliefs held by the staff and students in tertiary institutions.