Girls and Online Civic Engagement: Why Are They Less Likely to Engage in Political Discussion and Argumentation?
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.12775/PBE.2023.018Keywords
online civic engagement, girls’ citizenship activity, online petitions, internet-based protest/campaign, digital citizenshipAbstract
The text summarizes the results of the second wave of research conducted in Poland as part of the ySKILLS project (Horizon 2020), which explored young people’s digital skills and online civic engagement from six European countries. The study aimed to answer research questions about gender differences in digital skills and the forms of civic engagement in which young people participate through digital means. Data were collected through a Quantitative Longitudinal Data Collection method (survey), and the sample consisted of 1,340 Polish students aged 12–17 from twelve primary and secondary schools. The results showed that boys reported higher levels of involvement in online civic engagement than girls, especially in two areas: 1) discussing or commenting on
social or partial political issues online and 2) joining or following a political group on social networks. Regarding digital skills, students reported higher levels of proficiency in
communication and interaction skills and lower levels in programming skills. Regarding girls’ digital skills, statistically significant differences were noticed in four areas. Boys
declared having higher digital skills in technological and operational skills, programming skills, and information navigation and processing skills. It is recommended that schools and policymakers implement measures aimed at reducing gender disparities, for instance, by providing girls with increased chances to acquire programming skills or by highlighting to girls the advantages of engaging in online civic activities.
References
Bachen, C., Raphael, C., Lynn, K., McKee, K., & Philippi, J. (2008). Civic Engagement, Pedagogy, and Information Technology on Websites for Youth. Political Communication, 25(3), 290–310, doi: 10.1080/10584600802197525.
Banales, J., Mathews, C., Hayat, N., Anyiwo, N., & Diemer, M.A. (2020). Latinx and Black Young Adults’ Pathways to Civic/Political Engagement. Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology, 26(2), 176–188, doi: 10.1037/cdp0000271.
Barrett, M., & Pachi, D. (2019). Youth Civic And Political Engagement. Oxon, New York: Routledge.
Blais, A., & Loewen, P. (2011). Youth Electoral Engagement. Gatineau: Elections Canada.
Brzezińska, A. (Ed.). (2014). Niezbędnik dobrego nauczyciela [A Good Teacher’s Essentials]. Warszawa: Instytut Badań Edukacyjnych.
Brzezińska, A., & Trempała, J. (2003). Wprowadzenie do psychologii rozwoju [Introduction to Developmental Psychology]. In: J. Strelau (Ed.), Psychologia. Podręcznik akademicki [Psychology. Academic textbook] (Vol. 1, pp. 229–294). Gdańsk: GWP.
Campos-Mercade, P., Meier, A.N., Schneider, F.H., & Wengstrom, E. (2021). Prosociality Predicts Health Behaviors During The COVID-19 Pandemic. Journal of Public Economics, 195, 104367, 1–23, doi: 10.1016/j.jpubeco.2021.104367.
Cockburn, T., & Cockburn, T. (2013). Children’s Rights And Their Limitations. Rethinking Children’s Citizenship, 137–159, doi: 10.1057/9781137292070_6.
Cohen, A.K., & Chaffee, B.W. (2012). The Relationship Between Adolescents’ Civic Knowledge, Civic Attitude, and Civic Behaviour and Their Self-Reported Future Likelihood of Voting. Educations, Citizenship and Social Justice, 8(1), 43–57, doi:10.1177/1746197912456339.
Coleman, S. (2006). Digital Voices And Analogue Citizenship: Bridging The Gap Between Young People And The Democratic Process. Public Policy Research, 13(4), 257–261, doi: 10.1111/j.1070-3535.2006.00451.x.
Crone, E.A., & Achterberg, M. (2022). Prosocial Development In Adolescence. Current Opinion in Psychology, 44, 220–225, doi: 0.1016/j.copsyc.2021.09.020.
Deursen, A.J.A.M. van, Helsper, E.J., & Eynon, R. (2014). Measuring Digital Skills: From Digital Skills to Tangible Outcomes. Project report. London: LSE. Retrieved 15 February 2023 from: www.lse.ac.uk/media-and-communications/assets/documents/research/projects/disto/Measuring-Digital-Skills.pdf.
Druciarek, M., Przybysz, D., & Przybysz, I. (2019). Kobiety w polityce krajowej. Strategie partii politycznych w wyborach parlamentarnych w 2019 roku [Women in National Politics. Strategies of Political Parties in the 2019 Parliamentary Elections]. Warszawa: Instytut Spraw Publicznych. European Commission, Directorate-General for Education, Youth, Sport, and Culture,
Paolini, G., Motiejūnaitė, A., & Horvath, A. (2018). Situation Of Young People In The European Union: Commission Staff Working Document, Publications Office. Retrieved 15 February 2023 from: https://data.europa.eu/doi/10.2766/370313.
European Institute for Gender Equality, Barbieri, D., Fiore, A., Linkevičiūtė, J., Mollard, B., Nahrgang, M., Peciukonis, V., Ptak, C., Reingardė, J., Rioboo Leston, I., & Salanauskaitė, L. (2022). Gender Equality Index 2022: The COVID-19 Pandemic and Care. Publications Office, doi: 10.2839/035888.
Freelon, D., Wells, C., & Bennett, W.L. (2013). Participation in the Youth Civic Web: Assessing User Activity Levels in Web Sites Presenting Two Civic Styles. Journal of Information Technology & Politics, 10(3), 293–309, doi: 10.1080/19331681.2013.792309.
Haddon, L., Cino, D., Doyle, M., Livingstone, S., Mascheroni, G., & Stoilova, M. (2020). Children’s and Young People’s Digital Skills: A Systematic Evidence Review. Zenodo, doi: 10.5281/zenodo.6921674. Retrieved 15 February 2023 from: https://zenodo.org/record/4160176.
Helsper, E., & van Deursen, A.J. (2018). ICT skills for the future. In: M. Gibson (Ed.), Measuring the Information Society Report 2018 (pp. 24–48). Geneva: International Telecommunication Union.
Helsper, E.J., Scheider, L.S., van Deursen, A.J., & van Laar, E. (2020). The Youth Digital Skills Indicator: Report on the Conceptualisation and Development of the Yskills Digital Skills Measure. Zenodo, doi: 10.5281/zenodo.4608010. Retrieved 15 February 2023 from: https://zenodo.org/record/4608010.
Hope, E.C., & Spencer, M.B. (2017). Civic Engagement as an Adaptive Coping Response to Conditions of Inequality: An Application of Phenomenological Variant of Ecological Systems Theory (PVEST). In: N.J. Cabrera, & B. Leyendecker (Eds.), Handbook on positive development of minority children and youth (pp. 421–435). Cham: Springer.
Howe, P. (2010). Citizens Adrift: The Democratic Disengagement of Young Canadians. Vancouver: UBC Press.
Hui, B.P.H., Ng, J.C.K., Berzaghi, E., Cunningham-Amos, L.A., & Kogan, A. (2020). Rewards of Kindness? A Meta-Analysis of the Link Between Prosociality and Well-Being. Psychological Bulletin, 146(12), 1084–1116, doi: 10.1037/bul0000298.
Jarosz, E. (2016). Partycypacja dzieci a rozwoj zaangażowania obywatelskiego [Children’s Participation and the Development of Civic Engagement]. Pedagogika Społeczna, 2, 67–87.
Kahne, J., Middaugh, E., & Allen, D. (2015). Youth, New Media, and the Rise of Participatory Politics. In: D. Allen, J.S. Light (Eds.), From voice to influence: Understanding citizenship in a digital age (pp. 35–58). Chicago–London: The University of Chicago Press.
Kawashima-Ginsberg, K., & Thomas, N. (2013). Civic engagement and political leadership among women – A call for solutions. CIRCLE Fact Sheet. Retrieved 15 February 2023 from: http://www.civicyouth.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Gender-and-Political-Leadership-Fact-Sheet-3.pdf.
Livingstone, S., Kardefelt Winther, D., & Saeed, M. (2019). Global Kids Online Comparative Report, Innocenti Research Report. Innocenti, Florence: UNICEF Office of Research.
Mann, R.M., Abbas, S., Burton, M., Gauder, G., Jones, M., & Lafleur, R. (2009). Exploring Voter Turnout in the 2008 Federal Election Among University of Windsor Undergraduates: A Qualitative Study. Qualitative Methods, 48, 310–401.
Pyżalski, J., Walter, N., Bartkowiak, K., & Iwanicka, A. (2022). Wyniki badań Yskills 1 runda (2021), Polska [Yskills Research Results 1 Round (2021), Poland], doi: 10.5281/zenodo.6376294. Retrieved 15 February 2023 from: https://zenodo.org/record/6376295.
Pyżalski, J., Walter, N., Bartkowiak, K., Iwanicka, A. (2023). Second Round of Yskills Survey (Poland). Zenodo, doi: 10.5281/zenodo.7554510. Retrieved 15 February 2023 from: https://zenodo.org/record/7554510.
Tomczyk, Ł. (2019). Aktywności młodych ludzi w Internecie [Activities of Young People on the Internet]. In: J. Pyżalski, A. Zdrodowska, Ł. Tomczyk., K. Abramczuk (Eds.), Polskie badania EU KIDS ONLINE 2018. Najważniejsze wyniki i wnioski [Polish EU KIDS ONLINE Research 2018. Most important results and conclusions] (pp. 31–40). Poznań: Wydawnictwo Naukowe UAM.
UNICEF, Cho, A., Byrne, J., & Pelter, Z. (2020). Digital Civic Engagement by Young People. UNICEF Office of Global Insight and Policy: New York, NY, USA. Retrieved 15 February 2023 from: https://participationpool.eu/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/UNICEF-Global-Insight-digital-civic-engagement-2020_4.pdf.
Walter, N. (2022). The Bright Side, or on Prosocial Engagement of Children and Youth, Both Off- and On-Line. In: M. Sajkowska, R. Szredzińska (Eds.), Children Count 2022. Report on risks to children’s safety and development in Poland (pp. 376–391). Empowering Children Foundation.
Wray-Lake, L., & Shubert, J. (2019). Understanding Stability and Change in Civic Engagement Across Adolescence: A Typology Approach. Developmental Psychology, 55(10), 2169–2180, doi: 10.1037/dev0000772.
Wyness, M. (2019). Childhood And Society. London–New York: Bloomsbury Publishing.
Yue, A., Nekmat, E., & Beta, A. (2019). Digital Literacy Through Digital Citizenship: Online Civic Participation and Public Opinion Evaluation of Youth Minorities in Southeast Asia. Media and Communication, 7(2), 100–114, doi: 10.17645/mac. v7i2.1899.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2023 Natalia Małgorzata Walter, Agnieszka Iwanicka
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Stats
Number of views and downloads: 250
Number of citations: 0
