The Wage Effect of Engagement with Computers at Home and at Work: Does Gender Make a Difference?

Men are often considered to be more technologically minded than women, and to gain advantage in the labour market from this. However, with the growth of computer technology, which at work is spread equally across gender, this advantage might be declining. It is likely, moreover, that this computer experience has direct effects on attitudes to computers, thus reducing the attitudinal differential. A British panel dataset is used to demonstrate first, the subservience of attitudes to experience with computers both cross-sectionally and over time and, second, that the wage advantage of computer experience is at least equal for women, though some relative advantage from domestic PC experience might still accrue to men.