International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences

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Gender Differences in Digital Intelligence Quotient: A Non-Parametric Approach

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Siti Fatimah Mardiah Hamzah, Suzila Mat Salleh, Noor Malinjasari Ali, Raslina Mohamed Noor, Hasmida Mohd Noor, Noor Hafiza Mohammed, Roszainora Setia, Ruzaidah Sulong@A. Rashid

Pages 1077-1093 Received: 10 Sep, 2025 Revised: 29 Sep, 2025 Published Online: 21 Oct, 2025

http://dx.doi.org/10.46886/IJARBSS/v15-i10/19077
The growing reliance on digital literacy in education highlights the importance of evaluating students’ digital quotient, which comprises competencies namely digital communication, safety, literacy, security, identity, use, and rights. This study aimed to (1) investigate whether significant gender differences exist in digital quotient, and (2) identify which dimensions show greater variation between male and female students. Data were collected from 184 university students, with an imbalanced number of male and female respondents. To report for this imbalance, non-parametric analysis using the Mann-Whitney U test was employed. The hypothesis testing results indicated that no significant gender differences were found across most dimensions of digital quotient, including digital communication, digital literacy, digital security, digital identity, digital use, and digital rights, thus supporting the null hypothesis in these areas. However, a significant difference was observed in digital safety (U = 3625.00, z = -2.95, p = .003, r = .22), with female students revealing higher awareness and safer practices compared to males. These findings suggest that, while male and female students generally possess comparable digital competencies, digital safety represents a critical area of variation.
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