Underlying dimensions in attitude towards technology in a sample of Spanish, German and Indian women

Abstract

Background: the underrepresentation of women in the field of technology, their progressive disappearance from scientific and technological careers, as well as the disaffection towards technology by women continues to prevail despite, the efforts that are being made. This article is an analysis of the early results of a study on women's attitudes towards technology. Method: we prepared a questionnaire about attitudes towards technology building on previous investigations. By means of a convenience sampling, followed by a snowball sampling strategy, we presented a questionnaire to 497 women (Spanish, German and Indian). Results: By means of a Principal Components Analysis, we have identified two dimensions: 1) attitude related to the experience with technology entrenched in gender stereotypes; 2) attitude to the ability to teach and learn ICT. Conclusions: similarities have been shown among the groups of women of different nationalities, in terms of the interpretation of these dimensions, but not for the set of items summarized in each one of them. In addition, a third dimension was obtained in the group of women from India: attitude related to the role of gender in relation to technology