Gender differences in computer anxiety among university entrants since 1992

It has been reported that the proportion of computerphobic adults, including those comprising the population of first-year university students, remained fairly constant over several years preceding 1992, with estimates ranging from 25% to 50%. There has been a rapid increase in availability of computers during the following years and it was predicted that the incidence of computerphobia will have declined since 1992. Self-report computer anxiety (CA) scores obtained for five samples of first-year university students between 1992 and 1998 confirmed a reduction in mean levels of CA and in the proportion of computerphobic students over that period. However, the overall reduction in CA concealed a widening gap between mean CA scores of female and male students (p<0.01). Furthermore, female representation in the group at the high-scoring (computerphobic) end of the CA scale increased from 1992 to 1998 (p<0.001).