Seminars

The digital divide does not stop at access

Seminar given as part of the series on Equity, Diversity and Inclusion hosted by the Raspberry Pi Computing Education Research Centre in collaboration with the University of Cambridge.

Seminar abstract

Around the world, young people from socially and economically disadvantaged backgrounds are less likely to have access to a home computer and to computing at school, and are underrepresented in computing-related qualifications and careers. Although national curricula in the four nations of the UK all include some form of mandatory computing in schools, the uptake of computing qualifications and careers amongst those from disadvantaged groups is still low. In this seminar, Hayley and Thom provided an overview of research into socioeconomic disadvantage and computing in the UK and beyond. They also shared some initial results from a qualitative study conducted with young people at risk of educational disadvantage in the UK, focusing on their attitudes towards computing as a discipline and their own digital capabilities. Read the blog post about this seminar here.