Closing or Widening the Digital Divide? Paradoxical Effects of Digital Education Preparedness on Educational Equity

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Friday 3:45 pm - Gold 2
  In Roundtable Session: Imagining Digital Futures: AI, Cell Phones, and Technology Policy in the Digital Age of Schooling

Abstract

This study examines how various types of digital education preparedness affect educational equity across OECD countries using PISA 2018 and 2022 data. While digital preparedness became increasingly important for academic performance post-pandemic, our findings reveal a paradoxical pattern where countries with higher digital readiness exhibited larger socioeconomic achievement gaps. Regression analyses with country-fixed effects demonstrate that hardware-focused interventions consistently produce Matthew Effects, with higher-SES students deriving disproportionate benefits from digital infrastructure investments. Conversely, interventions emphasizing individual empowerment—specifically ICT self-efficacy development—generate compensatory effects that reduce educational inequalities.

Authors

• Hannah Kim, Seoul National University

• Kwangho Jung, Seoul National University

• Soojeong Kim, Seoul National University

• Sangeon Jin, Seoul National University