Some of my research on technological aptitude shows that men *perceive* themselves to be good at the "nuts and bolts" sorts of things related to technology, such as fiddling with new hardware/software, while women *perceive* themselves to be good at the communicative/relational issues, such as accommodating another's style etc. I presented a paper on that at ICA this May and you can contact me directly for a copy. Of course, these are *perceptions* and I'm emphasizing that on purpose because another of my studies shows that there isn't any significant difference between the genders along either the more applied/technical or the more communicative dimensions. (For more info on that paper, also email me directly.) While this may not explain why men participate more offline, this may provide an explanation for why women participate more online: they have confidence in their communication skills in a computer-mediated environment skills. Ulla http://bunz.comm.fsu.edu Bunz, U. (2005, May). A gender-focused meta-analysis of computer-email-web fluency and CMC Competency Studies. Presented at the 55th annual International Communication Association conference, New York. --- Ulla Bunz Assistant Professor Department of Communication 356 Diffenbaugh Building Florida State University Tallahassee, FL 32306 Email: ulla.bunz@comm.fsu.edu ----------------------------------------------- ________________________________ From: air-l-aoir.org-bounces@listserv.aoir.org on behalf of Avner Caspi Sent: Mon 8/8/2005 3:48 AM To: air-l@listserv.aoir.org Subject: [Air-l] Gender and media preference Dear list members, While examining differences between women and men participation in Web-based instruction, I found that women posted more than men. In face-to-face instruction, I found the opposite, well-documented observation: men talked much more than women. I wonder if someone here know of researches that dealt with women preference for written communication (as opposed to other communications, e.g., face-to-face conversation, video-conferencing etc.). Many thanks, Dr. Avner Caspi Open University of Israel _______________________________________________ The Air-l-aoir.org@listserv.aoir.org mailing list is provided by the Association of Internet Researchers http://aoir.org Subscribe, change options or unsubscribe at: http://listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org Join the Association of Internet Researchers: http://www.aoir.org/