Digital gender gap and digital competence among university students

The development of technology has brought great benefits and opportunities however it has greatly contributed to widening social inequalities such as the digital gender gap. The objective of the study presented is to analyze the gender differences between formal and informal learning environments in the use of technology, specifically from the areas of digital competence. With a descriptive-correlational quantitative methodology, a questionnaire was applied to a sample of 969 universities students from Spain, Colombia, Mexico and Ecuador. This work serves to show dear gender differences in both informal and academic use of the internet. Results indicate that with regard to daily Internet use, men feel more up-to-date and informed than women, and that women have more skills in terms of security. With regard to the use of the Internet for learning, the gender digital divide seems evident, since men feel more capable of solving technical problems and sharing content, while women are more concerned about the quality and presentation of academic work and more cautious when it comes to sharing content. In condusion lines of action aligned with UNESCO's objectives about the gender differences reduction can be purposed as a necessary research area.