Gender gaps in the impact of the pandemic on the use of ICT in higher education

Abstract

Abstract The COVID‐19 pandemic has led to a process of digitalisation of higher education that has forced a change in the habits of use of information and communication technologies (ICT) among professors. The literature analyses this impact from different perspectives, but the gender gaps that may have occurred in this regard have not been studied so far. The main purpose is to analyse the gender gap in the self‐concept of digital competence of Latin American professors and the impact that the pandemic has had on the habits of use of ICT among them. For this purpose, this paper conducts quantitative research. A questionnaire designed by the authors has been answered by a sample of 1062 professors, and the responses have been statistically analysed. The results prove that the self‐concept of digital competence influences males more than females in terms of their assessment of the didactic use of ICT. The pandemic has caused the frequencies of ICT use in different teaching activities to homogenise. Females have increased their use of ICT more than males—a certain correction of the digital gender gap occurs in the region after the pandemic, within faculty. The use of ICT among faculty has increased after the pandemic more among females than males, but insufficient digital competence hinders full digitalisation in both cases. It is recommended that universities develop digital training plans aimed at facilitating an egalitarian process of ICT integration.