Digital Divide among youth: socio-cultural factors and implications

Purpose – This paper aims to examine socio‐cultural differences in internet use (Digital Divide) among 14‐year‐old Austrian pupils, in particular usage scenarios and research competences. It is based on a paper presented at the International Association for the Development of the Information Society e‐Society conference, 10‐13 March 2011, Spain (Parycek et al., 2011).Design/methodology/approach – The interpretation follows the results of a study conducted in 2009 and 2010 in school computer labs. The study design includes an online survey, a questionnaire and a cloze test.Findings – The results give evidence that a Digital Divide in Austria exists even among teenagers, in particular in relation to gender, socio‐economic status and school type.Research limitations/implications – As the survey was done with 14‐year‐old pupils, the results are limited to this age group. However, the target group enables researchers to relate the results to the main two school types in Austria, as pupils attend either of thes...