Gender differences in internet usage intentions for learning in higher education: An empirical study

Abstract

The processes of globalization present opportunities and challenges for higher education learners. This process increasingly depends upon information and communication technologies (ICTs) such as the internet. Despite the fact that there have been frequently observed male/female differences in ICT usage, this has not received adequate explanations especially in higher education internet usage. Consequently this paper presents the findings of an empirical study that adds insight and understanding into the causes of this difference. The study proposes a Technology acceptance model (TAM) to investigate the effect of gender differences in internet usage intentions in higher education. Four exogenous constructs namely, perceived relevance, perceived enjoyment, computer self-efficacy, computer anxiety, voluntariness, and two belief factors namely perceived ease of using the Internet, and perceived usefulness were modeled to influence behavioral intention in the TAM. A questionnaire survey (N=1092) was administered and data were collected from university students in a selected sample of public and private universities in Kenya. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to examine the model. There exist significant gender differences in the influence of perceived ease of use and computer anxiety, influence on internet usage intentions for males and females. The influences of perceived ease of use, relevance to studies, and perceived enjoyment had significant influence on intentions for both males and females had a higher anxiety than males in using the internet. However, they had greater usage of the internet for their studies. Having a greater understanding of how males and females view internet usage for learning in their universities will contribute to deploying gender specific interventions in the usage of internet as a learning tool in and outside the classroom.