The purpose of the study was to investigate the influence of traditional sex-role stereotypes and educational environment on computer attitudes of college women. The study considered three measures of computer attitude: anxiety, confidence, and liking. It classified as sex-typed women having the combination of high measures of femininity, and low measures of masculinity, using a sex-role inventory. All other women in the sample were classified as non-sex-typed. The sample consisted of 150 women at a single-sex college and 104 at a coeducational school. Students were in their second through fourth years of study. Both colleges were highly selective.
The research investigated differences between sex-typed women and non-sex-typed women on computer attitude measures in two situations: no distinction between educational environment, and controlling for math anxiety and computer experience. It also investigated differences among sex-typed women on computer attitude measures between single-sex and coeducational environments.
The findings of the study are: (1) The only computer attitude measure significantly related to sex-role perception was computer confidence. Sex-typed women were less confident about computers. Measures of anxiety and liking were not significantly different between sex-typed and non-sex-typed women. (2) Computer attitudes of sex-typed women at the single-sex college were more positive than those of sex-typed women at the coeducational college. Single-sex students were more confident and less anxious about computers. (3) Math anxiety and computer activity were consistently identified as significant predictors of computer attitude. Controlling for math anxiety and computer activity, there was no statistically significant difference between women in the sex-typed and non-sex-typed groups in computer anxiety and computer liking. There was significant difference in computer confidence.
These results have several implications. First, social behavior such as sex-role, influence computer attitudes and must be acknowledged. Second, an educational environment supportive of women's learning styles can improve computer attitudes. Finally, the design of computer instruction curricula should consider anxiety about mathematics, and computer experience, in order to encourage women's achievement.
