Millions still lack basic IT skills

New Eurostat survey reveals UK citizens are above the EU average for IT competence, with men outperforming women across the region

Almost 40 percent of women and 30 percent of men in the UK are unable to carry out basic IT tasks such as moving a file or using copy and paste tools, according to a new study from the European Union’s statistics agency.

Eurostat, the Statistical Office of the European Communities, released the data on gender gaps in computer skills, tertiary education and unemployment rates in conjunction with International Women’s Day on 8 March.

However, while the study highlights that women lag behind men in computer skills in the UK and across the rest of Europe, a more worrying figure is the high proportion of respondents from both genders admitting to having no IT skills.

Participants aged from 16 to 74 were asked about their ability to carry out six computer tasks, from the more basic such as copying a file, to advanced skills such as writing a computer program. Respondents who ticked five and above activities were rated as high level, while those ticking none were ranked as having no computer skills.

Across all European member states, 44 percent of women and 38 percent of men were rated as having no computer skills, while 29 percent of men and only 15 percent of women made it into the high-ability category.

The UK had fewer people with no computer skills compared with the European average, although men again outperformed women. More than a third of UK men fell into the high-level IT skills category, compared with less than a fifth of women, for example.

Denmark emerged as the most computer-literate nation. Only 18 percent of women and 14 percent of men had no computer skills, while more than half of men had high IT ability.

However, while Danish women topped the European league for their computing skills, only a quarter were ranked in the high-ability computing category - half as many as men, which was the same gap as in the UK.

Bulgaria emerged as the least technology-proficient nation: 70 percent of men and 69 percent of women had none of the computer skills tested; while Italy, Ireland and Portugal also had a low proportion of skilled IT users.