A Survey of Computer Experience among First Year Female Undergraduates

This paper presents the results of an exploratory survey which was carried out among 406 part time and full time first year students of four undergraduate degree programmes; BA Public and Social Administration (BAPSA), BA Teaching English as a Second Language (BATESL), BA Accounting (BAAC), and BA Information Systems (BAIS) .These students were enrolled on introductory computer modules. The survey was in two parts; Demographics, in which the students were asked about their computer background, work experience and age; and Definitions, in which they were asked more specific questions to determine their levels of computer literacy. Among those surveyed, 58% were female 35% male and 7% did not state their sex on the questionnaire paper. Although the majority of those surveyed will not ultimately seek careers in a computing field, some contact with computers in the workplace will be unavoidable in the majority of cases. 1 Formerly at City University of Hong Kong