Personal Management of Digital Information in University Students from a Gender Perspective

Abstract

The purpose of the present study is to delve into the process of personal management of digital information among Spanish university students in their final year and to analyze whether there are similarities or differences regarding students’ gender. A non-experimental methodological design has been implemented of an exploratory type and based on a questionnaire as a single data collection instrument. The instrument was validated by means of experts’ judgement, cognitive interview, and construct validity. A total of 2,054 students’ surveys were collected, sourced from all areas of knowledge, in 75 public and private universities. These surveys made it possible to obtain information about the information search, selection, organization, processing, and creation processes. The results revealed that university students have a positive self-concept about their own competence for personal management of information. However, they fail to take advantage of all the possibilities that the digital world offers them. Women search the Internet for more diverse resources than men. They have better judgment when it comes to selecting and processing the information they need. Male students rely more often than female ones on digital mediums when organizing and creating information and choose to publish the information in less complex and more popular formats than their female counterparts. The conclusions of the present study match those of the majority of reviewed studies, namely regarding the organization of information, contextual and social factors which influence the management of information, such as third-party support, and also in relation to the increasing implementation of digital technologies in information management processes.