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The Legacy of the Digital Divide

Gender, Socioeconomic Status, and Early Exposure as Predictors of Full-Spectrum Technology Use Among Young Adults

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

James D. Basham

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Eunice Jang

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

This study investigates how college students’ current levels of technology use might be affected by digital divide issues. Survey data were collected from 130 students in colleges of education at two midwestern universities. Factor analysis yielded that students’ uses of technology can be described using three broad categories: entertainment, communication, and construction. Each is important to consider, in that high levels of use across categories indicate a broad base of technology skills. Multiple regression results indicate that male students from higher family income levels who had access to a computer at home before age 10 show significantly higher levels of full-spectrum technology use than other demographic groups. Students’ age of first encounter with computers at school had no significant impact on their full-spectrum technology use. These results have implications for how we address digital divide issues, and the article discusses what may be critical differences between home and school access.

Key Words: digital divide • technology • gender • socioeconomic status • survey research

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