A Path Analysis of Gender Differences in Social Presence in Online Course Discussion Forums

Abstract

Online social presence—the degree to which individuals project their identities and personalities into a web-based community—plays an essential role in fostering a connected and satisfying learning environment. The present study’s aim was to explore gender differences in behaviors related to social presence in an online course. Using path analysis, we found that students identifying as women or non-binary were more likely than men to use indicators of mood, feeling, and emotion when posting to an online college course discussion forum, holding posting frequency constant. These results have implications for instructional strategies aimed at facilitating social presence in online learning environments.