Digital inequalities in American disadvantaged urban communities: access, skills, and expectations for digital inclusion programs

ABSTRACT

Addressing several important gaps in the digital inequality literature, this study examines digital inequalities in public housing communities. Using a door-to-door survey of a hard-to-access population, it demonstrates how three distinct yet interrelated layers of digital inequalities – access, skills, and expectations for digital inclusion programs – are shaped by social inequalities and reinforce one another. First, it develops a multimodal view of access inequalities from the disconnected to the hyper-connected. Second, it highlights the expectation gaps on expected changes that digital inclusion efforts would bring. Results show deep, layered gaps by access, skills, and expectations for digital inclusion programs within disadvantaged communities. The access inequalities contribute to the skill inequalities, which in turn amplify the inequalities in expectations for digital inclusion programs.

KEYWORDS:

• Digital inequality
• access
• digital skill
• expectation for digital inclusion programs
• disadvantaged community

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Ford Foundation; Austin Pathways Foundation.

Notes on contributors

Wenhong Chen

Dr. Wenhong Chen is associate professor of media studies and sociology at The University of Texas at Austin. Her research has focused on digital media technologies in civic and entrepreneurial settings. Dr. Chen has more than 90 publications, including articles in top-ranked journals in the fields of communication and media studies, sociology, and management. Dr. Chen’s research has received awards from American Sociological Association, the Academy of Management, International Communication Association, and International Association of Chinese Management Research.

Xiaoqian Li

Dr. Xiaoqian Li (Ph.D., The University of Texas at Austin) is assistant professor of communication and media studies at the Illinois Institute of Technology. Her research has focused on the social and health effects of information and communication technologies, as well as digital inequalities and digital inclusion.