Access to, and use of, the Internet has important economic, educational and social benefits and those who are excluded from Internet participation will also be excluded from these benefits. For example, many companies use the Internet to announce jobs. Therefore access can be shown to stratify individuals into the information elite and the information have-not's. The fascination with science and technology has always been stereotypically masculine. Cross-cultural research has shown that females are more likely to be technophobic, less likely to be technophiles, perceive less advantages for new technology and have less experience with technology.
Fear of technology increases resistance to adopting new technology.
The gap between males and females in having any computer experience has diminished if not disappeared in the US, but is quite strong in other cultures. Research in the US has shown that boys and girls do differ in having computer experience or using the computer at home or school, but by the age of seven, boys outscore girls in computer aptitude. Boys spend more time on the computer at home than girls, and parents buy twice as much computer-related products for sons and daughters. It seems that among adults in the US the pattern is similar. Men are more likely to own and use a computer at home, to use more computer applications and to use computers as a leisure activity.