Gender and Help Seeking by Older Adults When Learning New Technologies
Rachel L. Franz, Leah Findlater, Barbara Barbosa Neves, Jacob O. Wobbrock · 2019 · Proceedings of the 21st International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS) · doi:10.1145/3308561.3353807
Summary
This paper investigates whether the gender stereotype that men are more reluctant to ask for help applies in the context of older adults learning new technologies. The study was motivated by the observation that if older men avoid asking for help with technology, this could create a hidden barrier to digital inclusion — they might struggle silently rather than seeking the assistance that would help them learn. A controlled experiment with 36 older adults (18 men, 18 women; ages 65-85, mean 73.4) observed help-seeking behavior while participants learned to use two unfamiliar applications: a simplified email client and a medical records portal. Participants were told a facilitator was available to answer questions at any time. The study measured the number of questions asked, task completion time, task completion success, and technology self-efficacy (measured using a validated scale). Post-experiment semi-structured interviews explored participants' perceptions of help seeking and gender. The study controlled for age and technology experience across gender groups, and participants were recruited from senior living communities and community organizations in Seattle.
Key findings
Contrary to the stereotype, the gender difference in help seeking was minimal. Men asked an average of 7.4 questions (SD=7.2) across all tasks while women asked 8.4 (SD=8.1) — a non-significant difference (p=0.68). Gender was also not a significant predictor of task completion time or success. However, individual differences had substantial effects: age was a significant predictor of task completion time (older participants took longer, p<0.01), and technology self-efficacy was a significant predictor of questions asked (participants with lower self-efficacy asked significantly more questions, p<0.05). Interestingly, despite the lack of observed gender difference in behavior, most participants endorsed the stereotype during interviews — both men and women expected that older men would be more reluctant to ask for help with technology. Men described feeling pressure to be self-reliant ("men are supposed to know everything") and reported strategies for avoiding direct help-seeking, such as trying to figure things out alone first or consulting YouTube rather than asking someone. Women reported being more comfortable asking for help and described helping male partners with technology. The disconnect between stereotyped expectations and actual behavior suggests that while gendered attitudes about help seeking exist, they may not translate into measurably different behavior in structured learning environments where help is readily available and socially sanctioned.
Relevance
This research contributes to understanding the social and psychological barriers — beyond physical and cognitive factors — that affect older adults' technology adoption. For accessibility practitioners designing technology training programs or support systems for older adults, the key finding is not about gender per se but about technology self-efficacy: people who feel less confident with technology ask more questions and need more support, regardless of gender. This suggests that training programs should focus on building self-efficacy (through graduated successes, encouraging experimentation, and normalizing help-seeking) rather than targeting interventions by gender. The disconnect between participants' stereotyped beliefs and their actual behavior is also practically important — it suggests that creating structured, supportive learning environments where help is explicitly offered and normalized may override gendered reluctance to seek help that might manifest in more informal settings. The study also reinforces that age within the older adult population matters: the oldest participants took significantly longer to complete tasks, highlighting that "older adults" is not a homogeneous group and that people in their 80s may need substantially different support than those in their 60s. The connection between technology self-efficacy and help seeking parallels findings from computer anxiety research, suggesting that addressing the emotional and psychological dimensions of technology use is as important as addressing usability and accessibility.
Tags: older adults · aging · gender · help seeking · technology self-efficacy · digital literacy · technology adoption · user study