The gender differences in metaverse : A study of university art & design students

Abstract

There is no strong evidence hitherto supporting the males have more competency on using computer than females do, however, gender differences in the use of online learning have been a controversial topic especially since the popularity of shared virtual learning platform like metaverse. In this paper, I am not going to investigate the differences between males and females in using computers as the previous research did, but rather looking at, is there any clear gender differences in E-Learning in particular to the learning in metaverse? An empirical research has been carried out with a pilot lesson in the metaverse and a set of post-lesson online interviews to study the gender differences in a selected metaverse. Although the findings showed no significant gender differences in operating avatars and the system, a clear gender differences in choosing avatars as well as art & design students’ virtual identities have been identified. This gender awareness of choosing avatars can potentially influence art & design students’ learning experience, which is one of the essential areas for studying gender differences in metaverse for further exploration.