Title: Examining gender and urban-rural divide in digital competence among university students

Authors: Kamal Ahmed Soomro; Mahnoor Ansari; Imdad Ali Bughio; Nasrullah Nasrullah

Addresses: Department of Education, Governemnt College University Hyderabad (GCUH), Hyderabad, Sindh, Pakistan ' Mehran University of Engineering and Technology, Jamshoro, Sindh, Pakistan ' Mehran University of Engineering and Technology, Jamshoro, Sindh, Pakistan ' Qurtuba University of Science and Information Technology, Peshawar, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan

Abstract: Digital competence is now considered the most vital skill to thrive in today's information age. This study aimed to examine the gender and urban-rural divide in the digital competence of university students. We surveyed 241 undergraduate and graduate students in the universities of Sindh, Pakistan. The findings showed that there was no significant difference in the participants' digital competence with respect to their gender. However, significant differences were found in the digital competence between the students of urban-located and rural-located universities. Additionally, results suggested that the participants' digital competence did not differ at the three levels of digital skills namely operational, informational, and strategic skills. The findings have implications for the researchers and policymakers regarding equipping university students with digital competence.

Keywords: digital competence; gender; ICT skills; university students; urban-rural divide.

DOI: 10.1504/IJLT.2024.142512

International Journal of Learning Technology, 2024 Vol.19 No.3, pp.380 - 393

Received: 12 Jan 2023
Accepted: 22 Oct 2023
Published online: 05 Nov 2024 *

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