Economics is a very complicated issue, and as an education major, I have no formal education within economics, so fair warning. Whatever I have learned is things I have picked up on my own, either from my own observations, or finding things out on the internet. However, digital technology can easily be linked to changes within the gap of socioeconomic status, though how large of an effect it has had could be debated.
Academic Paper Discussing the Divide in Technology in Australia
Out of all the articles we were provided with, “The Untapped Potential of Digital Literacy to Reduce Inequality”, points out several ways in which technology widens to gap of socioeconomic status. While I agree with the facts she presents, I disagree with the conclusion the she pulls. She argues that digital technology eliminates jobs from some people. Example she uses are with AirBnB eliminating jobs working in hotels along with automation taking jobs. She also says that these losses most heavily impact those of low socioeconomic status, which is also correct. However, she seems to me as though she villainizes this technology for taking these jobs away, and this is a mindset I cannot agree with.
While these are due to advances in digital technology, jobs typically held by those of low socioeconomic status are typically the easiest to replace, and such has been the case for a long time. One only needs to look at farming, to see this. Thirty to forty years ago, back when stacking hay was most common in the Sandhills, ranches during the summer were easily able to employ dozens of hired hands for haying, tending to cattle, among other things. Then balers came in, technology improved, and now it’s rare to see even the largest ranches having even a dozen hired hands.
I would also argue that differences in technology, as far as education go, makes it much harder for those of lower socioeconomic status to compete with those of higher status. College, a trade school, or some other form of higher education is fairly important for many of those wanting to get into the workforce nowadays. Many children are also getting well ahead in their education before they start college. It’s not unheard of for students to come in out of high school as sophomores, in some more extreme cases they may even be able to be pushing into their junior year. Obviously, this gives them a massive advantage on getting a head start. In order to even do most college, you need a computer. Even Chadron, a fairly small, out of the way four-year college operates almost exclusively online as far as homework is concerned. For those that rely on school provided computers in order to do their work, they are at disadvantage.
So overall, I would say that advances in digital technology has worked to widen the socioeconomic gap. However, I would not say that it is solely to blame, and I would not look to it to provide any solutions to the problem. As technology advances, we’ve seen higher education grow more and more vital in order to secure a good job. Even before digital technology really caught on, we were already seeing academic inflation and automation occurring.
Colin's Digital Literacy Blog 