Digital Literacy Inequality in Korea: ICT Affective Factors in Gender and Socioeconomic Gaps

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  In Roundtable Session: Case Studies of Large Scale Data Systems: Modeling Best Practices

Abstract

This study investigates how affective factors related to information and communication technologies (ICT) shape digital divides in computer and information literacy (CIL) across gender and socioeconomic status (SES) in Korea. Using the International Computer and Information Literacy Study (ICILS) 2023 data, five affective factors were analyzed, including ICT self-efficacy, positive ICT attitude, negative ICT attitude, ICT expectation, and ICT for learning. The findings reveal that a positive ICT attitude was more beneficial for male students in improving their CIL scores, thereby reducing the gender gap. Enhancing ICT self-efficacy and ICT for learning were especially helpful for students with lower SES. These results suggest that improving students’ affective aspects with ICT can reduce digital divides by gender and SES.

Authors

• Minju Kim, Korea University

• Beilei Gou, Korea University

• Pey-Yan Liou, Korea University