THE EFFECTS OF AGE, GENDER AND COMPUTER EXPERIENCE UPON COMPUTER ATTITUDES

The effects of age, gender and prior computing experience upon attitud es towards computers were investigated in 278 secondary school pupils drawn from the 11-12 and 15-16 years age-groups. Males from both age-g roups reported greater experience with and more positive attitudes tow ards computers than females. Younger pupils, both male and female, wer e found to have greater experience with and more positive attitudes to wards computers than older pupils. After controlling for ownership and use of a home computer by means of analyses of covariance, female and male pupils reported similar levels of enjoyment of computers, but ag e differences in enjoyment and gender and age differences in confidenc e with computers remained significant. Similar analyses using length o f experience as a covariate did not significantly affect gender or age differences. The need to investigate and address the level of confide nce of female pupils is briefly discussed.