Impact of gender and race on attitudes toward telework

Although past research on telework is limited, research that does exist has indicated that motivations and constraints for telework are likely to differ amongst varying segments of society. This research continued to explore that theory by exploring student (next-generation teleworker) attitudes about telework through the use of a questionnaire. The responses to the questionnaire were analyzed using gender (Research Question 1) and race (Research Question 2) as independent variables. Responses were analyzed using descriptive statistics as well as by using a t test for Research Question 1 and an ANOVA for Research Question 2. To provide further information, the responses were also analyzed in relation to age and citizenship and comments to open-ended questions were reviewed. Results of the research indicated that attitudes toward telework were generally favorable. Comparing responses by subsections of the survey indicated that questions related to willingness to obtain additional training generally received the most favorable responses and questions related to willingness to pay additional expenses or to forgo benefits in order to telework generally received the least favorable responses. While there were significant differences in respect to a few of the questions in the survey, overall it cannot be said that there is a significant difference in attitudes about telework based on gender or race. From a potential employer perspective this may indicate that students just out of college might consider teleworking a benefit and would be willing to take additional training in order to telework, but would be slightly less likely to be willing to pay additional costs in order to telework. This result appears to hold true regardless of gender or race. Further research using a similar survey extended to other college campuses and longitudinal studies following survey participants into the workforce would provide additional information for understanding factors that motivate individuals to desire to telework or keep them from teleworking Also, further studies that examine the effect of income, education, age, and cultural differences on attitudes toward telework would add to the knowledge available about telework and allow employers, employees, and future employees to make more informed decisions about telework.