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Race, place, and information technology
Journal article   Open access   Peer reviewed

Race, place, and information technology

Karen Mossberger, Caroline Tolbert and Michele Gilbert
Urban affairs review (Thousand Oaks, Calif.), Vol.41(5), pp.583-620
2006
DOI: 10.1177/1078087405283511
url
https://doi.org/10.1177/1078087405283511View
Published (Version of record) Open Access

Abstract

Technology inequalities based on race and ethnicity present a paradox. African-Americans and Latinos have lower rates of access and skill, even controlling for socioeconomic factors. Yet African-Americans, and to a lesser extent, Latinos, also have more positive attitudes toward information technology than similarly situated whites. Because attitudes cannot explain lower rates of access and skill, we hypothesize that racial segregation and concentrated poverty have restricted opportunities to learn about and use technology. Using hierarchical linear modeling and multilevel data to control for both community-level socioeconomic and demographic characteristics and individual-level factors, we find that disparities among African-Americans are due to place effects rather than race. Ethnicity still exercises an independent influence for Latinos. These findings contribute to our understanding of the “digital divide,” and to research on the effects of concentrated poverty.

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