Gender differences in internet usage among faculty members: The case of Saudi Arabia

In this paper, we examine gender differences of Internet adoption and usage in Saudi Arabian higher education institutions as reported by faculty members. The context is unique because of the gender-segregated higher education systems and the relatively new advent of Internet in the region. We gathered information from 504 faculty members in four Saudi Arabian higher education institutions regarding Internet usage for academic purposes. The focus of this paper is self-reported practices and beliefs. We report a gender difference in some self-reported practices of Internet usage among females and males. However, we did not see a significant gender difference in the overall Internet usage. We examine some possible explanations for our observations and discuss possible avenues of future research.