Digital Inequalities: A Social Injustice?

Overview: Digital inequalities impact participation in digital society and have effectively exacerbate societal inequalities. Yet, the topic is not typically discussed in the classroom despite being aligned with the CSWE's competency requirements. This workshop will introduce the complexities of digital inequalities, offer theoretical frameworks for investigation, and strategies for curriculum integration.Proposal text: Scholars posit digital inequalities which impact our participation in digital society have the effect of exacerbating societal inequalities, making it one of the most critical social justice issues of the 21st century (van Dijk, 2020; Seifert, 2020). Digital society is the predominant realm where social, economic, personal, and cultural offline resources are secured (Castells, 2000; van Deursen and Helsper, 2015). Access to information and communication technologies (ICT) is necessary for digital inclusion. Yet, disproportionate access exists, a phenomenon recognized as the “digital divide” (van Dijk, 2020). More complex than having a computer or the internet access is multifaceted representing: material (e.g., device and connection quality); motivation (e.g., fear, perceptions), skill (e.g., digital literacy), and use (e.g., activities) (van Deursen and van Dijk, 2015). Evidence shows access inequalities result in unequal participation in digital society. Moreover, this results in unequal opportunities for employment, housing, education, benefits to health and financial outcomes (Fairlie and London, 2012; van Deursen and Helsper, 2015; Majeed et al., 2019; van Dijk, 2020; Francis and Weller, 2021). This disproportionately impacts those most vulnerable including those with personal (e.g., minorities, in poor health, older generations) and positional (e.g., income, employment) disadvantages, who social work serves (Mossberger et al., 2012; Ambati et al., 2020).

Despite this information, digital inequalities and inclusion are not regularly discussed in classrooms. Scant literature focuses on access, with only a few calling attention to inequalities. Scholars find students and providers report mixed feelings about ICT and access competencies, and little understanding about their advocacy role (Kuilema, 2013; Currey et al., 2017; Cwikel and Friedmann, 2019; Mishna et al., 2020). Simultaneously, social work is increasingly incorporating technology-enhanced practice (TEP) across all fields with the goal to improve outcomes (Chan and Holosko, 2018; Sinha and Larrison, 2020). Yet, we know little about TEP through a perspective of access (Chan, 2016; Chan and Holosko, 2016; Mishna et al., 2020). Lacking competencies are we contributing to, or advocating for social injustice?

Though these subjects align with goals and competencies set forth by the Council on Social Work Education, they’ve yet to be adequately incorporated. For these reasons, we believe it is essential to integrate ICT and digital inequalities into the curriculum.

While structuring this interactive workshop as a larger model of classroom activities we plan to introduce: A) the multifaceted concept of access and digital inequalities; B) theoretical frameworks for classroom discussions and research and C) a three-tiered curriculum integration strategy.

Learning objectives:
1. Participants will examine resource availability between digital and traditional society, enabling them to identify and understand the differences.
2. Participants will become familiar with access as a multifaceted concept to include: the material, motivation, skill, and use with ICT, enabling them to understand barriers and the factors influencing them to strategize advocacy and intervention at micro and macro levels critically.
3. Participants will become familiar with theoretical frameworks to examine digital inequality, enabling them to critically discuss it in the classroom and field and apply it to research.