ERIC Number: EJ1147622
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2017-Aug
Pages: 23
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1042-1726
EISSN: N/A
The Influence of Academic Discipline, Race, and Gender on Web-Use Skills among Graduate-Level Students
Owens, Jennifer; Lilly, Flavius
Journal of Computing in Higher Education, v29 n2 p286-308 Aug 2017
There is a paucity of research on the digital literacy of graduate-level students. The study examined whether academic discipline, age, gender, race, parental education, international status, GPA, and self-perceived skills is associated with web-use skills among this population. Hargittai and Hsieh's 27-item Web-use Skills Index was used to measure web-use skills. The Kruskal-Wallis H test with post hoc Fisher's least significant difference test was used to determine statistical differences between groups of independent variables. Academic discipline, race/ethnicity, and gender had a greater number of statistically significant differences (p < 0.05) with 12, 15, and 20 variables respectively. Few web-skill variables were significantly different by age, GPA, international status, and parental education with 4, 3, 2, and 3 variables respectively. Gender plays a large role in the digital literacy of graduate and professional students compared to other demographic factors. This may be due to factors influenced by gender including family life, self-efficacy, and access to technology. The high web proficiency of Asian/Pacific Islander students is consistent with past research. However, African American students were more web-proficient than Caucasian students, which is inconsistent with previous research. Academic discipline may be independently associated with varying levels of web-use scores.
Descriptors: Graduate Students, Gender Differences, Intellectual Disciplines, Influences, Age Differences, Racial Differences, Parent Background, Grade Point Average, Mass Media Use, Predictor Variables, Media Literacy, Information Skills, Social Status, Statistical Analysis, Statistical Significance
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A