Bridging the Digital Gap between Wealthier and Poorer Students? A Cross-National Analysis

• In Event: 422 - Section on Communication and Information Technologies Paper Session. Inequalities and Communication, Media, and Information Technologies

Abstract

Students from high-income or more-educated families have more digital skills and higher Internet literacy than their socioeconomically (SES) disadvantaged peers. Until recently, this digital inequality—also called the digital divide—persists worldwide, particularly in the U.S. Using the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), we examine cross-national variation in the size of the digital divide between higher-SES and lower-SES students across 61 countries. We consider two aspects of the digital gap: computer use in learning and Internet literacy. We find that there is substantial variation across countries in the size of the digital gap. Results from multilevel regression models present that economic development has a substantial effect in bridging the digital divide, but political freedom does not impact the digital gap. We also find that cross-national differences in the digital divide are systematically linked to a country’s expenditure on education, investment on research and development (R&D), and degree of trade openness.

Authors

• Josef Kuo-Hsun Ma, University of Connecticut

• Todd E. Vachon, University of Connecticut