In line with gender stereotypes associating technical and math-intensive fields with masculine qualities ( Charles and Bradley, 2009), computers and technology use have been perceived as masculine and therefore more suitable for boys than girls ( Cooper, 2006 Adamus et al., 2009). Gender Differences in Stereotyped Domains As there are studies indicating that gender differences persist in use of technologies and related skills ( Kayany and Yelsma, 2000 Colley and Comber, 2003 Li and Kirkup, 2007 Drabowicz, 2014), it is critical to investigate gender differences in important components of digital learning-a stereotyped domain that became a necessity in schoolchildren lives during COVID pandemic. UNESCO and scholars have called for recognizing the gender dimension of school closures due to COVID-19, especially in light of the gender digital gap ( IIEP-UNESCO, 2020 Nefesh-Clarke et al., 2020). The urgent imperative to move online following the outbreak of the virus forced digital learning upon unprepared school systems ( Hodges et al., 2020), putting at risk all pupils but especially groups that might be particularly disadvantaged in the virtual classroom. While various European Union bodies and international organizations had long called for technology adoption in education systems ( OECD, 2001 European Commission, 2018), most European school systems had continued to employ face-to-face teaching as their main modus operandi before COVID-19 ( Wahlmüller-Schiller, 2017 Schrenk, 2020). As a response, most schools switched to digital learning, creating a unique situation for all actors in the education field ( UN, 2020). As of March 2020, a majority of countries had announced temporary school closures, preventing around 1.6 billion children and young people from physically attending school ( UNICEF, 2020). This situation affected the education sector as well, causing the largest disruption of education systems in history ( UN, 2020). Implications of the findings for theory and practice are discussed.ĭue to the spread of COVID-19, countries worldwide implemented unprecedented measures in various sectors of society to contain the pandemic ( OECD, 2020). Furthermore, our results indicated clear benefits of an androgynous gender role self-concept for all studied components of digital learning. Results showed higher perceived teacher support, intrinsic value, and learning engagement among girls than boys, while no significant sex differences were found in competence beliefs regarding digital learning. A total of 19,190 Austrian secondary school students (61.9% girls, M age = 14.55, SD age = 2.49, age range 10–21) participated in an online study in April 2020 and answered questions regarding their competence beliefs, intrinsic value, engagement, and perceived teacher support in digital learning during the pandemic-induced school closures. This study includes both biological sex and gender role self-concept in order to investigate the role of gender in different components of this stereotyped domain in a more differentiated way.
Previous studies investigating gender differences in digital learning largely used biological sex as the only indicator of gender.
As some studies indicate persistent differences between boys and girls in use of technologies and related skills, the aim of this study was to investigate gender differences in the digital learning environment students faced in spring 2020. The spread of the COVID-19 pandemic quickly necessitated digital learning, which bore challenges for all pupils but especially for groups disadvantaged in a virtual classroom.
2Department for Teacher Education, Centre for Teacher Education, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.1Department of Developmental and Educational Psychology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.Selma Korlat 1 * †, Marlene Kollmayer 1 †, Julia Holzer 1 †, Marko Lüftenegger 1,2 †, Elisabeth Rosa Pelikan 1 †, Barbara Schober 1 † and Christiane Spiel 1 †