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Journal of Education for Business
ISSN: 0883-2323 (Print) 1940-3356 (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/vjeb20
Gender Inequities of Self-Efficacy on Task-Specific
Computer Applications in Business
Joyce Shotick & Paul R. Stephens
To cite this article: Joyce Shotick & Paul R. Stephens (2006) Gender Inequities of Self-Efficacy on Task-Specific Computer Applications in Business, Journal of Education for Business, 81:5, 269-273, DOI: 10.3200/JOEB.81.5.269-273
To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.3200/JOEB.81.5.269-273
Published online: 07 Aug 2010.
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ABSTRACT. In this article, the authors
investigated the impact of evolving
technol-ogy on gender disparity and the
contradic-tions found in previous research relating to
the computing gender gap to determine if
certain computer software tasks are
gender-specific and if those skills represent a
gen-der gap in technology. Based on the social
cognitive theory and established
methodol-ogy of self-efficacy reporting, the authors
provide an analysis of gender differences in
computing self-efficacy over a variety of
technological skills needed in today’s
busi-ness environment.
Copyright © 2006 Heldref Publications
ot all students are treated equally. Research has shown that some learners have better access to technolo-gy and more opportunities to use soft-ware than others do (Bryson, Petrina, & Braundy, 2003; Messineo & DeOllos, 2005; Volman & van Eck, 2001; Young, 2000). These researchers have also found significant evidence of gender differences in interest, attitudes, access to computers, use of computers, and experiences in the classroom. The gap between males and females, established during adolescence, persists through higher education and beyond. Even within the information technology pro-fession, gender differences exist. Dat-tero and Galup (2004) found that women are more likely than are men to maintain COBOL legacy systems and that men were more likely to engage in Java or C++ language than are women. The authors concluded that women pre-fer using existing systems rather than engineering new ones.
The business workplace has become dependent on computer usage in every aspect of its operations. Firms expect college graduates to have a proficient level of competence and expertise in computer technology (Ferguson, 2000). New hires are assigned projects that require knowledge of a wide variety of software applications. Regardless of gen-der, race, or ethnicity, the business envi-ronment assumes that its new employees
are capable of navigating computer tech-nology (Shotick & Lumpkin, 2001). A persistent gender gap in interest in and knowledge of computer technology cre-ates inefficiency in the workplace, yet it is a problem that is avoidable.
Literature Review
Theories from psychology and soci-ology suggest that gender disparity in computer competence and use exists due to sex role typing (Mira, 1987). If society associates computers with male characteristics, then women will avoid information technology. This could potentially place new female employees at a disadvantage in the workplace. The gender schema theory suggests that sex typing occurs in children as a means of encoding and organizing information about their environments (Bem, 1987). Therefore, supporters of this theory believe that society has created an asso-ciation between computers and “male-ness” (Agosto, 2004). Under this theory, until computer use is required of all stu-dents at a very early age, men will con-tinue to be more attracted to computer use than women, thus creating a gender gap in both experience and knowledge. For the past fifteen years, there has been extensive research on gender differ-ences in computer literacy. The literature seems to appear primarily in information systems, education, and sociology
disci-Gender Inequities of Self-Efficacy on
Task-Specific Computer Applications in
Business
JOYCE SHOTICK PAUL R. STEPHENS BRADLEY UNIVERSITY PEORIA, ILLINOIS
N
plines. The information systems research on gender differences has been focused on the use of the technology (Compeau, Higgins, & Huff, 1999). Education researchers have been concerned with how to minimize the gender gap between differences in computer literacy (Chen, 1986; Sachs & Bellisimo, 1993), where-as the sociology researchers have investi-gated why the differences exist (Harri-son, Rainer, & Hochwarter, 1997; Mira, 1987). All of these aspects of gender dif-ferences in computer literacy are critical to our understanding of how to educate students in the use and development of computer technology.
Recently, Harrison et al. (1997) inves-tigated differences in computer usage by university personnel based on gender. Using both the gender model of work and the job model of work to predict gender differences in computer literacy, they found that men were less fearful of computer technology than women. Thus, educators must first become aware of the gender differences and possible biases that they present in the teaching of computer technology to diminish the gender gap in computer use.
To continue to examine gender differ-ences as well as incorporate the effects of changes in technology, Young (2000) developed a computer attitude survey that included concepts of Internet usage. Relying on previous research (Bunder-son & Christensen, 1995; Koohang, 1989; Newman, Cooper, & Ruble, 1995; Wilder, Mackie, & Cooper, 1985), Young tested gender differences in computer attitudes of middle school and high school students. His findings were consistent with the results of early researchers who found significant gen-der differences in attitudes toward com-puter technology. Male students were more confident in their computer litera-cy than females.
However, because technology has changed and become less dependent on programming skills, Sachs and Bellisi-mo (1993) hypothesized that there would be no gender difference in atti-tudes toward computers. In a limited sample of 32 middle and high school students, they found no gender differ-ence in computer use for word process-ing. If word processing, which replaced secretarial typing, is perceived as a
female-oriented activity, then these findings support the gender constancy theory. Whereas Newman et al. (1995) found that women who were attracted to female-oriented activities had a more negative attitude toward computers, Sachs and Bellisimo differentiated com-puter skills and found no gender differ-ence in a particular computing activity.
In more recent research, Atan, Azli, Rahman, and Idrus (2002) found that there were no gender differences in the usage of general computer software as well as networking software. Addition-ally, Creamer, Burger, and Meszaros (2004) found no significant differences between computer use by women and that by men.
This contradiction of the existence of a gender gap can be explained by the type of computer tasks measured. The scales used in these studies vary widely. When a scale measures only the most basic computer skills (e.g., how to turn on a computer, how to create a folder using the operating system, typing using a word processor), the gender gap appears to have dissipated. However, when a scale measures more advanced user skills and varied applications, then the gap seems to reappear. Volman and van Eck (2001) noted that gender differ-ences must be analyzed in the context of different types of computer applications.
Research Question and Hypothesis Development
As computer technology changes, students need to expand their computer knowledge and ability to meet the tech-nology needs of businesses and not-for-profit organizations. Business students in college today are expected to develop a sufficient level of computer proficien-cy so they can quickly adapt to different computer systems within the business environment. This requires that they are confident in their ability to adopt and use computer technology.
We investigated the gender constancy theory to explore the impact of evolving technology on gender disparity. As tech-nology advances to allow computers to be used for a variety of functions, will females develop more positive attitudes toward computers and increase their computer usage? Previous literature has
focused on general computing self-effi-cacy. Based on the social cognitive the-ory and established methodology of self-efficacy reporting, we will provide an analysis of gender differences in computing self-efficacy over a variety of technological skills needed in today’s business environment.
We investigated the contradictions found in the research relating to the computing gender gap and examined the various types of computing skills that are expected of students in order to perform well in the business environ-ment (Stephens & Shotick, 2002) to determine if certain computer software tasks are gender-specific and if those skills represent a gender gap in technol-ogy. The hypothesis that was tested in this research was:
H1: Male students and female students have significantly different business com-puter self-efficacy in regard to the perfor-mance of specific business-related com-puter tasks.
METHOD
The scale used for this research meets two necessary criteria: It measures user skills currently needed in business and explores both basic and advanced skills in a variety of applications used in the business world. For this research, we used the business computer self-efficacy scale, which we developed (Stephens & Shotick, 2002). Following the guide-lines established by researchers in the study of self-efficacy, the scale uses a composite measure of magnitude and strength (Bandura, 1977). These scales, which are commonly used in social sci-ence research, attempt to determine the direction (magnitude) and strength of people’s beliefs (Lodge, 1981). This form of self-efficacy scale has been shown to provide the best correlations with goals and performance in research (Cassidy & Eachus, 2002; Lee & Bobko, 1994).
We administered the scale to 137 incoming freshmen at a medium-sized private midwestern university. We asked students to assess their ability to perform a variety of specific computer tasks, including both basic and advanced skills (101 specific tasks, are included in the
scale). The BCSE is a Likert scale based on a range of 0 to 5. If students state that they have no ability to perform a specif-ic task, then the score is zero. If students state that they can perform the task, then they are asked to assess their ability to successfully complete the task on a 1 to 5 scale (1 = very little ability; 5 = very good ability). This is a standard self-effi-cacy measure that captures both magni-tude and strength. An aggregate score is created for a student for a specific soft-ware application by calculating the aver-age response for all the tasks (basic to advanced). The business-related tech-nology and software examined by the scale include those found in Table 1.
Student gender distribution was almost evenly divided (68 men, 69 women). All of the students except for one male student indicated that they had computers (sometimes multiple com-puters) at home. We asked the students to state the number of programming classes that they had taken in high school or the number of classes that they had taken that involved using com-puter technology. Nearly 80% of the male students indicated that they had used computer technology in courses in high school and approximately 55% indicated that they had taken computer
programming courses. By comparison, 75% of the women had used computer technology in high school and 46% stat-ed that they had receivstat-ed computer pro-gramming training.
RESULTS
To test the hypothesis for gender dif-ferences on specific software or techno-logical skills, we calculated the average self-efficacy scores for each task or skill for all students (see Table 2). Using a pooled variance ttest, we estimated sig-nificant gender differences in students’ perceptions of their ability to use a par-ticular software package or technology. There were 13 specific software or technology skills in which male students rated their level of confidence signifi-cantly higher than female students. These were: (a) using spreadsheets; (b) using PowerPoint; (c) using groupware; (d) attaching files to e-mail; (e) creating PDFs; (f) using a Web browser; (g) using FTP; (h) calculating statistics; (i) zip-ping files; (j) subscribing to news groups; (k) using bulletin boards; (l) conducting file manipulation; and (m) performing optical character recogni-tion. The similarity of these tasks is that they are more technical and more
math-ematical in nature than the remaining tasks. These results support Mira’s (1987) claim that women are less profi-cient than men at performing those tasks that society associates with male charac-teristics (e.g., technical, mathematical). Although we found no significant gender differences among the remain-ing eight computer tasks, male students did have higher average levels of confi-dence in their ability to perform them than did the female students. These tasks included: (a) word processing; (b) using e-mail; (c) working with a data-base; (d) scanning pictures; (e) con-ducting research on the Internet; (f) viewing full-text articles online; (g) photo editing; and (h) navigating a chat room. A common theme of these tasks is that they consist primarily of com-munication functions. As computer technology becomes less technical and more practical in terms of sending and retrieving information, the gender dis-parity will dissolve. Shotick and Lump-kin (2001) found that the vast majority (as high as 90%) of students indicated that they learned specific computer
TABLE 1. Computer Technology and Software From Which Tasks Were Developed
Abbreviation Computer technology or software
WP Word Processing
SS SpreadSheets
PP PowerPoint Presentation Software
Brow Web Browser
Email E-mail
Group Using Groupware
Attach Attaching Files to E-mail
PDF Using Adobe PDF Maker
FTP Using File Transfer Protocol
DB Databases
Stat Statistical Analysis Software
Zip Compressing Files
ScPic Scanning Pictures
OCR Optical Character Recognition
PicEd Photo Editing Software
Exp File Manipulation Software
WebRe Conducting Research on the Web FulTxt Using Online Full-Text Periodicals
NewsGr Using Internet NewsGroups
BulBrd Using Online Bulletin Boards Chat Using Interactive Online Chat
TABLE 2. Male and Female Students’ Mean Ratings of Self-Efficacy for Computer Tasks
Task Malesa Femalesb
WP 3.76 3.71
SS* 3.13 2.75
PP* 3.05 2.66
Brow* 3.51 3.04 Email 3.78 3.77 Group* 1.56 0.89 Attach* 3.10 2.71
PDF* 1.97 1.26
FTP* 1.50 0.90
DB 2.40 2.20
Stat* 2.31 1.78
Zip* 2.12 1.48
ScPic 2.97 2.74
OCR* 2.19 1.78
PicEd 2.47 2.26
Exp* 1.93 1.09
WebRe 3.79 3.68 FulTxt 3.21 2.93 NewsGr* 2.68 1.94 BulBrd* 2.78 2.20
Chat 3.47 3.36
an= 68. bn= 69.
*p< .05.
applications through personal use. Communication applications are more conducive to self-teaching. Therefore, if most students become more familiar with applications through personal use, then more women should gain confi-dence in their abilities to perform cer-tain computer tasks through greater personal use of those applications.
DISCUSSION
H1 was partially supported by the data. Compared with female students, male students rated their ability higher in more than half of the computer tasks. Male students rated their ability on nearly 62% of the 21 tasks significantly higher than did female students. These computer applications were either more technical in nature or had limited uses. If female students use these tasks less frequently than male students, then they are likely to rate their self-efficacy for those specific tasks lower than men do.
A subtler difference between male and female students is that the types of computer tasks for which we found no significant differences were communi-cation forms of computer work (e.g., word processing, transmitting e-mail messages, researching information on the Internet, scanning and editing pho-tographs). These tasks provide direct dissemination of information rather than involve calculating information.
The more technical and complex computer tasks, such as file transfer protocol, file management, using spreadsheets, and computing statistics, provide an efficient method of calculat-ing or manipulatcalculat-ing data. Male stu-dents rated their confidence to perform these tasks significantly higher than did the female students. This study offers continued support for the gender schema theory and the notion that only when education encourages both male and female students to engage in tech-nology activities at an early age will the inequity dissipate.
In the meantime, colleges must strive to make more of an effort to train female students to be confident in using com-puter technology. Because we found gender differences at the task level, business technology instructors should make every effort to stratify their
con-tent, delivery, assignments, and support to allow females (if necessary) to get caught up on the basic technology appli-cations before moving to a more advanced level (Messineo & DeOllos, 2005). Wasburn (2004) provides 10 strategies for making technology teach-ing more conducive for female students. Similarly, Mathis (2002) offers sugges-tions for institusugges-tions of higher education to improve female students’ computer self-efficacy. Additionally, business col-leges should continue to offer an intro-ductory or remedial course to those stu-dents who need additional training to be at a similar level of competence as their peers. However, to require an introduc-tory course for all students could create frustration among those students who have developed advanced competencies in computer technologies, or advanced students might intimidate those who are not yet at a similar skill level.
Thus, business schools need to design and administer a survey instrument to place students in courses with various levels of computer technology require-ments. Because electronic survey instruments are more available, this process can be instituted with a mini-mum of resource expenditures. To pre-pare all graduates for the technology-savvy business environment, business schools must continue to provide oppor-tunities for women to enhance their computer confidence. This will create a more diverse and technologically-equi-table workplace.
The business workplace will continue to place emphasis on hiring computer-literate employees. Business colleges must respond to this need of business employers by preparing their students to be proficient in computer applications in business. Because the business environ-ment continues to rely upon efficient computer systems, business colleges must continue to advance self-efficacy of computer skills for all students. To do so will prepare students to meet the ever-changing technology applications. Busi-ness deans or administrators cannot assume that all students enter college with basic computer technology, nor should they assume that male and female students have similar technology skills. At the same time, business deans or administrators must be cautious not to
stereotype female students as technolog-ically inferior to male students. How-ever, they may need to provide more opportunities for female students to interact with computers and to use appli-cations with which they are unfamiliar.
NOTE
Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Joyce Shotick, Executive Director of the Center for Student Support Services, Bradley University, 1501 W. Bradley Avenue, Bradley University, Peoria, IL 61625.
E-mail: jas@bradley.edu
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