Saudi Women and the Internet

The Internet plays an increasingly significant role
in people s lives. Poverty of data and research on
Internet use and users is probably one of the most
significant factors affecting the understanding of
the Internet use and attitude in a conservative
country and society such as Saudi Arabia.
In this study gender was found to be significantly
associated with students email usage, and chatting.
Culture also affected women s reasons for using the
web, choice of websites visited, and web activities.
It also influenced reasons for e-mail use and
non-use, and the people with whom they communicated
using email. Females in Saudi Arabia face many
challenges when it comes to Internet access and use.
These barriers tend to be somewhat different than
those faced by man. For Saudi females it is more
cultural (i.e. family restrictions, lack of time) and
psychological (i.e. security & privacy, Internet
complexity).
Considering the scarcity of previous literature in
this particular context (Saudi Arabia), this research
provides an original and comprehensive contribution
to knowledge regarding Internet use and attitude
among university male and female students.

Autorentext
Maryam S. Oshan, PhD: Studied Information Science at Loughborough University. Assistant Professor at Imam University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. She is also an Information Consultant at King AbdulAziz Centre of national Dialogue, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Klappentext
The Internet plays an increasingly significant role in people's lives. Poverty of data and research on Internet use and users is probably one of the most significant factors affecting the understanding of the Internet use and attitude in a conservative country and society such as Saudi Arabia. In this study gender was found to be significantly associated with students' email usage, and chatting. Culture also affected women's reasons for using the web, choice of websites visited, and web activities. It also influenced reasons for e-mail use and non-use, and the people with whom they communicated using email. Females in Saudi Arabia face many challenges when it comes to Internet access and use. These barriers tend to be somewhat different than those faced by man. For Saudi females it is more cultural (i.e. family restrictions, lack of time) and psychological (i.e. security & privacy, Internet complexity). Considering the scarcity of previous literature in this particular context (Saudi Arabia), this research provides an original and comprehensive contribution to knowledge regarding Internet use and attitude among university male and female students.