The Persistent Digital Divide: The Case Study of a Minority Serving Institution

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has laid bare the persistent digital divide between those that have access to technology and those that do not. As such, we conducted a case study that consisted of interviews and a survey of students along with interviews of administrators and faculty at a minority serving institution. The institution is used along with resources and appropriations theory as a lens to further understand the digital divide and how technology access and use have manifested during the pandemic. The results suggest that students perceived difficulty with access to and use of information communication technologies (such as hardware and software), which interfered with their engagement with learning. At the institution under investigation, the pre-pandemic lack of access to technological resources was eliminated during the pandemic thanks to additional funding. Nevertheless, the communication problems between the administration and students limited students’ access to the resources available.