Digital Divide

Abstract

This entry provides a general overview of the digital divide in terms of access to and use of a variety of information and communication technologies (ICTs) by highlighting a number of shifts in thinking on the digital divide. Specifically, this entry summarizes the changing characterization and assessment of the concept from one that employs a simple dichotomy comparing the technological haves to the technological have‐nots, to one that sees the divide as a gradation of inclusion, which is mapped along the intersections of gender, race/ethnicity, age, education, socioeconomic class, and geography, i.e., rural versus urban and industrialized versus low‐income countries. Additionally, this entry examines attempts to account for the existence of the divide, focusing on the social construction of technology perspective, and also the broader social, political, and economic implications of the digital divide.

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