Characteristics of the current digital identity in Chilean students. A case study by gender in the area of Health Sciences

Abstract

The fingerprints left by participating in a highly digitized and hyper-connected world accompany individuals throughout their lives and are constitutive elements of their digital identity. This descriptive, non-experimental, cross-sectional case study based on the quantitative paradigm aims to describe the physical self in digital media, according to gender under its binary conceptualization of man and woman, in order to identify stereotypical gender behaviors that should be considered in the training process in students of the Chilean Health Sciences area. From the perspective of the participants, this research considered a non-probabilistic sample of 224 university students (164 women and 60 men) who participated voluntarily. Nonparametric tests were used since the data is ordinal and one of the advantages of these tests is that they should not fit any distribution and can be applied even if the parametric validity conditions are not met. To look for differences by gender, the Mann-Whitney-Wilcoxon U test was applied (95 %;.05). Among the relevant results is the fact that men preferably use the internet connection available at home, women choose the one provided by their cell phone (p =.0469 and p =.0404, respectively). Likewise, the cellphone is the main technological device from which both prefer to access the network. From the sample, 79.88 % of women and 76.67 % of men state that they are, at least, 3 hours a day connected to the network. Women tend to identify themselves on digital platforms more frequently than men, using their real name and surname. Meanwhile, men tend to use nicknames more often than women. In this research it was concluded that students in the Health Sciences area are highly truthful in relation to the information they share in digital media, leaving data available that allows for a clear identification of their physical self on the internet. In addition, their main means of connection are their cellphones and the data networks that they provide through the use of their phone plans. There is a clear reflection of correspondence between their face-to-face and digital life, maintaining certain behaviors that can be attributed to gender stereotypes, but to a low degree. Finally, there is a clear need to include aspects related to digital competences in the training process that address the importance and proper management of communications in digital media, as well as the development and management of digital identity from a professional ethics perspective, since their actions on the network can involve and affect not only the construction of their own personal and professional digital identity, but also the personal lives of their patients and colleagues. It is important to note that these conclusions have some limitations, since this research is a cross-sectional study, and the sample was intentional per volunteer subject and not random. This implies that the results obtained are limited to the sample studied and describe its behavior at a given time. However, according to the purpose of the study, this type of sample manages to build a theoretical body that describes the common elements and the differences inherent in a collective case study, so it can be considered a good approximation to the Chilean reality. From a practical point of view, the conclusions of this research provide higher education institutions with evidence that allows progress towards a comprehensive, solid, and coherent training regarding the digital skills required by a university professional graduating in a highly digitized world. Considering the above, it would be advisable to advance in future studies that consider knowing what digital protection measures are incorporated in the training of university students.