The Digital Divide: Socioeconomic, Regional, and Gender
Ximena and Diego are in the same first-semester class. The teacher posts the homework on an online platform and asks students to turn it in before 8 p.m. Ximena does hers on her computer with internet at home. Diego lives in a community with poor signal, shares a cell phone with his siblings, and has very little data. Do the two of them have the same chance of turning it in? Why not, if "everybody has a cell phone"?
What the digital divide is
The digital divide is the inequality between those who can take advantage of digital technologies and those who cannot. It is not only about having or not having internet: it also matters how well you can use it and what you can find or do with it.
The 2023 ENDUTIH data (INEGI/IFT) show that Mexico is highly connected, but unevenly:
| Indicator | Data |
|---|---|
| People who use the internet in urban areas | 85.5 % |
| People who use the internet in rural areas | 66 % |
| Connection devices: smartphone | 97.1 % |
| Connection devices: computer | 44.0 % |
| Young people ages 12 to 17 who use the internet | 92.4 % |
Notice the contrast: almost everyone has a smartphone, but fewer than half have a computer. Having "something" is not the same as having what you need to study, complete a government procedure, or learn to code.
There is a gap of $85.5 - 66 = 19.5$ percentage points between urban and rural areas.
Three dimensions
To analyze the divide, we separate it into three dimensions. Each one answers a different question.
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Socioeconomic. A data plan of $\$200$ a month weighs very differently on a family that earns $\$7{,}000$ a month than on one that earns $\$25{,}000$. According to the program guidelines (Martínez Domínguez, 2020), the cost of service is one of the causes of the divide.
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Regional. In the Sierra Norte of Oaxaca or in the Sierra Madre, you sometimes have to climb a hill to get a signal. Installing antennas and fiber in sparsely populated areas is very expensive, and companies find it barely profitable.
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Gender. In some homes, the cell phone or computer goes to the brother first, or girls are expected to spend that time on household chores. The UN (2023) notes that 90 % of young women in low-income countries lack access to the internet.
Explain the three dimensions of the digital divide with a Mexican example for each one: think of the cost of mobile data compared to family income (socioeconomic), a…
Explain the three dimensions of the digital divide with a Mexican example for each one: think of the cost of mobile data compared to family income (socioeconomic), a rural locality without coverage (regional) and who usually owns a personal device inside some households (gender).
Levels of access
Having a connection is only the first step. The official program distinguishes three levels of access.
| Level | Question | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Material | Do I have a device and a connection? | My own cell phone with a data plan |
| Skills | Do I know how to use them well? | Finding reliable information, using a spreadsheet |
| Content | Is there useful content for me? | Material in my language, with topics from my community |
That is why we talk about a usage divide: two people with the same cell phone can take advantage of it in very different ways. One only watches videos; the other takes courses, completes government procedures, and shares their ideas online. The program guidelines, citing Martínez Domínguez (2020), point to the cost of service and low digital skills as causes of the divide.
Measuring the divide with data
Comparing percentages lets us see how large the inequality is. The difference in percentage points is the first step.
In a spreadsheet, just type =B2-C2 to get the difference between two columns of percentages.
In one municipality, 78% of urban households have internet at home and 31% of rural ones do. Calculate the difference in percentage points and explain two educational…
In one municipality, 78% of urban households have internet at home and 31% of rural ones do. Calculate the difference in percentage points and explain two educational consequences of that gap for students in rural areas, for example when homework is posted only online.
When divides reinforce each other
The three dimensions rarely act alone: they add up and feed into one another. A young woman from a poor rural community can face all three at once.
It works like this: few resources limit the device and the data; without them, you learn less; with fewer skills, there are fewer job and study opportunities; and with less income, the cycle repeats. If, in addition, the way equipment is shared at home favors others, the gender dimension adds to it.
A common thread with other parts of this chapter: people with limited access often depend on "free" apps that are paid for with their data and their attention. The divide does not only exclude; it can also put people at a disadvantage against whoever extracts that data.
A young woman from a community in the Sierra Norte of Oaxaca shares a cell phone with her siblings, has a limited data plan and dreams of studying programming. Analyze…
A young woman from a community in the Sierra Norte of Oaxaca shares a cell phone with her siblings, has a limited data plan and dreams of studying programming. Analyze how the three dimensions of the digital divide reinforce each other in her case and propose one intervention (at school, municipal or community level) that tackles two dimensions at once.
Back to the beginning: Ximena and Diego do not start from the same point. Diego is missing the material level (shared device, little data) for socioeconomic and regional reasons. An assignment that requires a connection at a specific time rewards the person who already has an advantage. A fair school offers alternatives, such as turning in work offline or using the computer center.