Cultural differences in students' privacy concerns in learning analytics across Germany, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, and the United States

  • Highlights • Students have limited concerns about privacy in learning analytics (LA). • Students' privacy concerns in LA vary across countries. • Culture shapes students' privacy concerns in LA. • Power distance, uncertainty avoidance and masculinity affect privacy concerns in LA. • Cultural values should be considered in LA privacy management. Abstract Applications of learning analytics (LA) can raise concerns from students about their privacy in higher education contexts. Developing effective privacy-enhancing practices requires a systematic understanding of students’ privacy concerns and how they vary across national and cultural dimensions. We conducted a survey study with established instruments to measure privacy concerns and cultural values for university students in five countries (Germany, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, and the United States; N = 762). The results show that students generally trusted institutions with their data and disclosed information as they perceived the risks to be manageable even though they felt somewhat limited in their ability to control their privacy. Across the five countries, German and Swedish students stood out as the most trusting and least concerned, especially compared to US students who reported greater perceived risk and less control. Students in South Korea and Spain responded similarly on all five privacy dimensions (perceived privacy risk, perceived privacy control, privacy concerns, trusting beliefs, and non-self-disclosure behavior), despite their significant cultural differences. Culture measured at the individual level affected the antecedents and outcomes of privacy concerns. Perceived privacy risk and privacy control increase with power distance. Trusting beliefs increase with a desire for uncertainty avoidance and lower masculinity. Non-self-disclosure behaviors rise with power distance and masculinity and decrease with more uncertainty avoidance. Thus, cultural values related to trust in institutions, social equality and risk-taking should be considered when developing privacy-enhancing practices and policies in higher education.

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Metadaten
Author:Olga Viberg, Rene F. KizilcecORCiD, Ioana JivetORCiDGND, Alejandra Martínez MonésORCiD, Alice OhORCiD, Chantal MutimukweORCiD, Stefan HrastinskiORCiD, Maren ScheffelORCiDGND
URN:urn:nbn:de:hebis:30:3-838246
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chbr.2024.100416
ISSN:2451-9588
Parent Title (English):Computers in human behavior reports
Publisher:Elsevier
Place of publication:Amsterdam
Document Type:Article
Language:English
Date of Publication (online):2024/04/17
Date of first Publication:2024/04/16
Publishing Institution:Universitätsbibliothek Johann Christian Senckenberg
Release Date:2024/04/22
Tag:Culture; Higher education; Learning analytics; Privacy concerns; Students
Volume:14
Issue:100416
Article Number:100416
Page Number:12
HeBIS-PPN:51915567X
Institutes:Angeschlossene und kooperierende Institutionen / Deutsches Institut für Internationale Pädagogische Forschung (DIPF)
Dewey Decimal Classification:3 Sozialwissenschaften / 37 Bildung und Erziehung / 370 Bildung und Erziehung
Sammlungen:Universitätspublikationen
Licence (German):License LogoCreative Commons - Namensnennung 4.0