[Air-l] Young women and the Internet: the self-perception gap

[Christian Sandvig]

Dear aoir colleagues,

I noticed this interesting new study by Hargittai & Shafer is out, and it is
getting some great press.  Aside from the research value, this is also a
great item for classroom discussion.  I quote:  "[M]en and women do not
differ significantly in their abilities to find...information online.
However, young women are less likely to perceive themselves as
skilled...[this] may affect significantly the extent of their online
behavior and the types of uses to which they put the medium." (p. 444)

The cite:

Differences in Actual and Perceived Online Skills: The Role of Gender
Eszter Hargittai & Steven Shafer. 2006. Social Science Quarterly.
87(2):432-448.  http://eszter.com/research/a17-genderskills.html

The press:
<http://eszter.com/research/a17-genderskills.html>
"Gender differences non-existent when it comes to surfing skills"
Chicago Tribune:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/technology/chi-0607070132jul07,1,152691.column?coll=chi-techtopheds-hed
(FREE REGISTRATION REQUIRED)

Minnesota Public Radio segment:
http://download.publicradio.org/podcast/futuretense/mpr_20060707_futuretense.mp3

I hope this is helpful,
Christian

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