Education Session

The Impact of Demographic Characteristics on the Saudi Females Attitudes toward Online Education

Introduction

Over the last few years, online education has become a widespread practice in higher education and is emerging as an advanced model in the Saudi society.  Some previous studies showed different findings in regards to the females’ attitudes toward online education. Female students were found to have a positive attitude toward online education and preferred to mask their gender when possible so they would be free with their opinions and feelings (Li, 2006; Guta&Karolak, 2015). Other studies showed that females are less positive toward online education due to the discussion board (Alshahrani, 2014).

Researchers identified a number of variables that have either negative or positive impact on the students’ attitudes toward online education. These included gender, age, and marital status (Anderson & Haddad, 2005; Bouras, 2009; Ivers, Lee, & Carter-Wells, 2005; Sahin, 2006).

Some studies found that the age of students have influence on their attitudes toward online education. Younger students, aged 18-21, were found to receive less learning and satisfaction while, on the other hand, older students received more learning and satisfaction. (Frederickson et al., 2000; Sahin, 2006).

Marital status of the students has been found to be a variable that impacts students’ attitudes toward online education. A previous research found that married and unmarried females had different attitudes toward the communication in an online educational environment. Married students were less positive toward online communication than unmarried students. Furthermore, unmarried Saudi students were more positive toward online education than married students, who were less positive. Researchers stated that this was not surprising because this finding was due to the Saudi cultural impact (Alanazy, 2011). In contrast, another study showed that the marital status of the students did not make any significant difference in regard to the students’ attitudes toward online education (Alaugab, 2007).

The location where females live could have an impact on their attitudes toward online education. Researchers found that Saudi and other international females showed a positive attitude toward the American online education; however, some of them were less positive toward the discussion board (Alshahrani, 2014; Zhang & Kenny, 2010). In light of these findings, the objectives of this study were to:

• Examine the attitudes of individuals is the best way to help stakeholders to provide effective online education for female students in U.S. and Saudi Arabia (S.A.).
• Meet the learner needs, enhance the student achievement, and satisfaction.
• Help instructional designers to provide Saudi females with the most appropriate online educational environment in S.A.

Online education seemed to be the most appropriate type of education for the Saudi females due to the following reasons:

• Saudi educational institutions are faced with overcrowding within adequate services.
• Online education offers the potential to deliver educational services to remote areas due to the large geographical size of S.A. and the large number of communities that are isolated from population centers.
• Segregation of males and females has put the kingdom in need for more females’ lecturers.
• Saudi females’ responsibilities toward their families make it difficult to peruse higher education in face-to-face education.

Data collected from an online survey were used to answer the following questions:

What affect the attitudes of Saudi female students toward online education?

1. Does age impact the attitudes of Saudi female students toward online education?
2. Does marital status impact the attitudes of Saudi female students toward online education?
3. Does location of residency impact the attitudes of Saudi female students toward online education?

Methodology

A quantitative research design was implemented to determine the impact of age, location, and marital status on the attitudes toward online education.

Participants

Participants in the study are 19 years old and above and enrolled in either Saudi Electronic University (SEU) in S.A. or American universities in the U.S. Participants are in the preparatory year and enrolled in the Education First “EF” courses for English language. SEU is one of the public Saudi universities that was established in 2010 for a complete online education. Female students at SEU are provided with blended mixed online education. Undergraduate female students attend the school ones a week for the 25% of their attendance and twice a month for the graduates (SEU, 2015). Additionally, researcher collected data from Saudi females who study in the U.S universities and had experienced the online educational classes.

Instrumentation

An online survey was designed into two languages, Arabic and English, then pilot tested and modified. Part 1 of the survey was developed to collect the demographics data of the participants; such as, age, marital status, and location of residency of the participants.

Part 2 of the survey is 4-point Likert-type scale "Attitude toward and value of online instruction" was modified to be "Attitude toward online education" and is adopted from Alaugab (2004) and Alanazy (2011). It consists of 26 statements that address Saudi female students' attitudes toward online education. The attitudes items are categorized in three categories; 17 positive statements about “Online Educational Experience”, 4 positive statements about “Technology Importance”, and 5 positive statements about “Appropriateness to the Saudi Environment and Culture”.

Responses ranged on a 4-scale Likert-type from strongly agree= 4, agree=3, disagree=2, and strongly disagree=1. Responses were added to form a single attitude score that can range from 26 to 104. Two links were sent to the list of Saudi females in U.S. through the Saudi students associations and to the list of students at SEU.

Results

The total population was (N=308) females studying in S.A. and United States. From the actual population, 173 of the participants were excluded and only 135 females were included because they met the participation requirements that were;

• Mixed gender online educational experience
• Study at SEU or University in the U.S.

Table 1 summarizes the sample size from both countries along with their marital status. A total number of the U.S. participants was (n=62) and (n=73) from S.A.

Table 1

Frequency of Females by Marital Status and Location

Table 2 summarizes the number of the participants based on the age group that was categorized in three groups; from 19 to 29, from 30 to 39, and above 40 years old.

Table 2

Frequency of Females by Age group and Location

Research question 1

Does age impact the attitudes of Saudi female students toward online education?

As shown on Chart 1, data regarding the age of participants and its impact on their attitudes revealed that participants whose ages ranged from 30-39 were significantly higher with M=87.47, which means that their attitudes was highly positive toward online education compared to participants in their twenties with M= 84.14 and participants in their forties with M=81.44.

Chart 1

            Research question 2

Does marital status impact the attitudes of Saudi female students toward online education?

As shown in Chart 2, marital status of the Saudi females has its impact on their attitudes. According the collected data, both means of married participants M= 87.40, and M= 87.5 for the divorced participants were significantly higher than the mean of single participants whose mean was M=81.04, with a mean difference of M= 6.36. Based on the Saudi culture, it seems to be understood that Saudi single females are unenthusiastic about online courses due to the online communication with the opposite gender. Married and divorced females might find online education as the most visible way to continue their higher education and do their duties toward their family members. 

Chart 2

Research Question 3

Does location of residency impact the attitudes of Saudi female students toward online education?

Data regarding the location of participants shows that Saudi females in U.S with M=86.62 were positively higher than their peers in S.A. with M=84.50. The difference in the groups’ means tells that participants might feel more comfortable with online education in the U.S. where they are away from the strong impact of the culture. Additionally, the low positive attitudes might be a result of the new implementation of online education in S.A.

Chart 3

Discussion

The attitudes of Saudi female students toward online education differed according to their age, marital status, and location of residency. Participants age 40 and more were less positive toward online education with M=81.44, and to better understand this is to do an interview with participants to have a detailed explanation of the reasons. Also, data regarding the marital status showed that single females were less positive toward online education compared to the married and divorced participants. Married and divorced participants are more positive to online education because they will be able to take care of their families and do their house responsibilities. Location of the participants impacts their attitudes where participants in the U.S. were significantly higher than participant in S.A. this might be because of the American education is more experienced with online education so students trust it more. Generalization should be limited to the population described and cannot be applied to any other group.