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Digital Literacy to Bridge the Gender Digital Divide: A Phenomenographic Study of the Digital Diversity for Arab Graduate Women in the United States

Abo Alasrar, Heyam F.
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1490153673225496

Abstract Details

2017, Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Ohio University, Instructional Technology (Education).
The digital divide exists worldwide. One of the forms of the digital divide is the gender digital divide: the unequal access of Internet use among men and women. Typically, women are perceived as less capable of gaining digital skills. Through a phenomenographic approach, the researcher conducted an empirical and interpretative inquiry to map the qualitatively different ways in which Arab women in the United States understand the use of technology in their lives, the skills needed for technology use, and how they define a digitally literate person. The study also explored their relation with technology and compared their experiences in using technology in the United States to their experience in their home country. The purpose of this study was to show the variation in women’s perception of technology and to understand how to design strategies that can bridge the gender digital gap in the Arab world. Twenty women from different colleges at a Midwestern university were interviewed. Semi-structured questions were used to help women reflect on their experiences with technology. The data analysis formed five qualitatively different categories that described the ways Arab graduate women experienced the use of technology. These five categories described digital literacy as: a basic need, a contextual need, a need to connect, a lifestyle, and as an awareness of 4 the Internet culture. The categories describe digital literacy as understood by those women and what skills, from their perspective, a digital person should possess.
Teresa Franklin, Dr. (Advisor)
222 p.
Educational Technology; Information Technology; Instructional Design; Middle Eastern Studies; Womens Studies
Digital Literacy; Digital Divide; Phenomenography; Arab Women,

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Abo Alasrar, H. F. (2017). Digital Literacy to Bridge the Gender Digital Divide: A Phenomenographic Study of the Digital Diversity for Arab Graduate Women in the United States [Doctoral dissertation, Ohio University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1490153673225496

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Abo Alasrar, Heyam. Digital Literacy to Bridge the Gender Digital Divide: A Phenomenographic Study of the Digital Diversity for Arab Graduate Women in the United States. 2017. Ohio University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1490153673225496.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Abo Alasrar, Heyam. "Digital Literacy to Bridge the Gender Digital Divide: A Phenomenographic Study of the Digital Diversity for Arab Graduate Women in the United States." Doctoral dissertation, Ohio University, 2017. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1490153673225496

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

ohiou1490153673225496
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© 2017, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by Ohio University and OhioLINK.