Survey: Women Closing Computer Gender Gap

L O S   A N G E L E S, Jan. 22 -- Women are closing the gender gap when it comes to computer use but they still lack confidence in their high-tech abilities, according to a new college survey.

A record 78.5 percent of first-year students said they regularlyused computers before attending college. The figures for women andmen were 77.8 percent and 79.5 percent, respectively.

But women spent far less time on the Internet. They were half aslikely as men to rate their computer skills as above average, andwere five times less likely to pursue careers in computerprogramming — 9.3 percent of men as opposed to 1.8 percent of women— according to the survey conducted by the University ofCalifornia, Los Angeles.

“Research has shown that women feel computers and technology isa male domain,” said Linda Sax, the survey’s director. “In a workforce increasingly dependent on technological proficiency, womens’relative lack of computing confidence is likely to place them at adisadvantage.”

The annual survey, made last fall in conjunction with theAmerican Council on Education, was based on responses by 269,413freshmen at 434 colleges and universities nationwide. The data wasstatistically adjusted to represent 1.1 million freshmen enteringfour-year institutions.

The survey found the incoming students of 2000 were more liberalin their politics — more approved of gay rights and opposed thedeath penalty — but less interested than ever in the politicalprocess. Fewer smoked or drank beer but many enjoyed wine andliquor. Reading, playing computer games and praying were notwidespread pastimes.

The freshmen reported getting higher grades in high school butdid less work to earn them. And they cared overwhelmingly aboutmaking money, having a family and helping those in need.The Bottom Line

Money, in fact, was a far greater motivation than other careergoals. Only about 60 percent of freshmen said it was very importantor essential to become an “authority” in their chosen field — anall-time low. A little more than half cited obtaining recognitionfrom colleagues as essential — the lowest figure in 23 years —while only about 37 percent wanted to have “administrativeresponsibility over the work of others.”