Sophie Colas, Vincent Caradec, Ségolène Petite and Aline Chamahian, Elderly men and women and the digital age. Similar levels of use, but different socialisation patterns«, Gerontology and society. 47/n° 177(2), 2025, pp.153-170. https://doi.org/10.3917/gs1.177.0153

Summary:

This article examines the digital habits of the over-60s from a gender perspective. Firstly, based on INSEE's Information and Communication Technology Survey, it establishes that there are few differences between the rates of digital practices of men and women. A series of interviews conducted with people from three different generations then shed light on these small differences, which appear to be the result of different processes of digital socialisation between men and women. Professional socialisation to the digital world varies according to the occupation (and the generation to which they belong). However, working-class women are more likely to have been digitally socialised than blue-collar men. As for family socialisation to digital technology, this is more common among women. Finally, if we focus on the marital context of use, we can see that digital socialisation between spouses is rare and that the marital context is a place where previous socialisation crystallises.

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