Gender and the Internet, Revisited

• In Event: 422 - Section on Communication and Information Technologies Paper Session. Inequalities and Communication, Media, and Information Technologies

Abstract

We provide a brief review of the literature on gender and the Internet. Earlier studies on the subject were rather descriptive because the overarching purpose was to identify and to monitor the gaps. The emerging trend in the literature is more reflective and nuanced. The topic has become more interdisciplinary, moving beyond communications and social sciences, and reaching into medicine, health sciences, among others. Owing to more extensive data collection and more precise survey instruments, researchers are applying advanced research methods with convincing results. The empirical evidence is more international, encompassing developing countries in addition to industrialized economies. These advances have cleared a wider field. Gender and the Internet is engaging a broader audience and becoming a more mature area of research, both richer in context and more firmly rooted in theory.

Authors

• Hiroshi Ono, Hitotsubashi University

• Madeline Zavodny, Agnes Scott College