e-Learning or she-learning? Exploring students' gendered perceptions of education technology

A study was conducted to reflect the university student's perceptions of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) such as the computer and the Internet based education. A questionnaire was designed to measure respondent's gendered perceptions of 26 different features of computers and computer-based applications on a 7-point Likert scale ranging from feminine to masculine with a neutral midpoint for neither masculine nor feminine. The questionnaire was administered to 406 undergraduate students following humanities, social sciences, business and engineering courses in two UK universities during 2005-06 academic year. Computer gaming was rated as the most masculine aspect of computers and online banking, online auctions, and downloading music came after that. Participants were invited through an open-ended item to expand upon the reasoning behind their responses. It was argued that studying online was considered a feminine activity because the girls want to study as compared to boys.