Technology Skills Gap Threatens Traditional 'Manly' Roles

LONDON, November 20, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --

Men are missing the 'manly' mark when trying to mend motors and machinery around the home, according to a survey^[1] commissioned by Crucial.com, the computer upgrade specialists. Sadly, only a third of women surveyed (35%) believe that blokes still have the skills to mend things such as their faulty car or their slow computers.

Regardless of UK households' reliance on technology and computers in the home, traditional 'manly' skills just aren't keeping up. Over half of men surveyed (51%) said they find the thought of upgrading their home computer's hard drive extremely confusing, with 39% admitting they'd be baffled by upgrading their computer memory. In addition, a quarter of guys said even changing the oil on their car would bamboozle them.

However, women have high expectations:  more than two in five (43%) of women surveyed said that  men should be able to upgrade the home computer to ensure it no longer performs slowly, and nearly three quarters (73%) of women surveyed stated that mending a faulty car was definitely a job for the man of the house.

Quentin Wilson, TV presenter and car expert said, "I may know a thing or two about cars, but like most blokes, I'm rubbish at all the usual do it yourself and techie stuff. My computer may be my lifeline but I know as much about upgrading its memory as I do about understanding particle physics." 

In fact, most women surveyed said that UK blokes are now more likely to have only the basic skills to do the simpler things in life, such as cut the grass (80%), put up a picture frame (72%), or wash the dishes (68%).

Roddy McLean, a Crucial.com Memory Expert, said, "Fixing the car and cutting the grass have traditionally been considered roles which guys have undertaken, and now the home computer is another task which blokes have on their list. However, keeping a computer running smoothly is really not hard at all. In fact, a computer memory upgrade can take less than 15 minutes to do and upgrading your hard drive is a simple DIY task, even if you haven't done it before."  

For more information about how to find an affordable memory upgrade for nearly any computer, visit http://www.crucial.com/uk.

Notes to Editors

^[1] The survey, conducted by The Leadership Factor, polled more than 2,000 people in the UK, aged 18-70.