Unnatural Interfaces

There has been plenty of research pointing to the reality of the gender gap when it comes to uptake of IT.

For instance, a recent story out of Toronto confirmed the gender gap in high-tech gadgets, with a report suggesting 75 percent of all BlackBerry device users in 2005 were men. The report from the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission also found males were the main users of PDAs, digital music players and Webcam devices.

Darren Meister, associate professor of information technology at University of Western Ontario, told Yahoo News the slower adoption of handheld digital devices by women was understandable given that some of them had such an "unnatural interface". That is in keeping with research that suggests men and women value technology for different reasons. While women have finally caught up to men in most measures of online life for instance, research suggests men use the Internet for the experiences it offers, while women value it for the human connections it promotes.

The Internet was dominated by men in its early days. A November 1994 study found 90 percent of Net users were male but by 2000 and continuing on to today, as many women as men are logging on. But that the sexes have achieved equality in Internet use does not mean they use it for the same things. As early as 1992 a researcher named Susan Herring closely analyzed posting behaviour on several academic lists to conclude men were more likely to adopt an adversarial/challenging/superior stance while women were more likely to issue expressions of support.

In her 2000 paper, "Cyberjanes and Cyberjitters: Myths and Realities of Gender Differences and the Net", Phyllis Holman Weisbard explores Herring's work. "To dig deeper, Herring also surveyed the list members and found different value structures. Men championed individual freedom as the highest good, whereas women, 'harmonious interpersonal interaction'. Men like debate - "constructive denunciation" as one male SWIP [Society for Women in Philosophy] member referred to it, but not open hostility or flaming. In contrast, many women did not distinguish between hostile, angry, adversarial comments and 'rational adversariality'," Weisbard writes.

Then last year a Pew/Internet report concluded men still pursue many Internet activities more intensively than women and are first out of the blocks in trying the latest technologies. Men log on more often, spend more time online and are more likely to be broadband users. Women, having almost caught up in overall use, are now claiming certain Internet spaces as their own. Women, the survey says, are framing their online experience around deepening connections with people.

"Women are more likely than men to use e-mail to write to friends and family about a variety of topics: sharing news and worries, planning events, forwarding jokes and funny stories," it found. "Women are more likely to feel satisfied with the role e-mail plays in their lives, especially when it comes to nurturing their relationships. And women include a wider range of topics and activities in their personal e-mails. Men use e-mail more than women to communicate with various kinds of organizations."

Although men and women are just as likely to use the Internet to buy products and take part in online banking, men are more likely to use the Internet to pay bills, participate in auctions, trade stocks and bonds, and pay for digital content.

Men look for information on a wider variety of topics and issues than women do, and are more likely than women to use the Internet as a destination for recreation. Men are more interested than women in technology and they are also more tech savvy. Women are more likely to see the vast array of online information as a glut and to dig deeper into areas of greatest influence. They also tend to "treat information gathering online as a more textured and interactive process - one that includes gathering and exchanging information through support groups and personal e-mail exchanges".