Digital competence in University's students with a gender perspective

This study was carried out in order to analyse the uses and digital skills of students from University of La Laguna and to check for differences arising from the digital gender divide. An adaptation of the Digital Core Competences 2.0 COBADI questionnaire (Vazquez-Cano et al., 2017) was administered to 367 students from several degrees of Social Sciences and Sciences. The results indicate that there are significant differences with regard to the interests and frequency of Internet uses, so that women are less interested in entertainment with ICT in general and, specifically, in online games and sports. Women spent more time searching for information to do academic assignments, working in groups and posting photos and males playing online games. However, both women and men have the same level of perceived competencies for information search and processing skills, as well as for interpersonal competences in the use of ICT and social communication in the university context, except for cooperative competences with women's more positive perception. These results are discussed in relation to androcentric culture and the construction of a heavily masculinized digital universe, highlighting their effects, especially with regard to the different uses of the Internet. It is recommended that the sample be extended to a larger number of universities, as well as to delve more qualitatively into how these differences affect the daily and academic life of Generation Z.