ETHNIC DIFFERENCES IN INTERNET ACCESS

Abstract

Internet adoption has expanded rapidly in recent years and its use is been associated with the formation of social networks, the accumulation of social capital and a wage premium. Thus, lack of Internet access might reflect and even enlarge existing social inequalities. Considering the need for a better understanding of Internet inaccessibility, we investigated differences in access in relation to ethnicity. Presumably, in deeply divided societies, with a partial but significant overlap between ethnicity and the occupational structure, disadvantaged minorities lack digital access as they are concentrated in occupations that are not exposed to computers and the Internet. The hypotheses were tested with a representative sample of the Israeli population, a society deeply divided according to ethnic lines. Israeli Arabs proved less likely to have access to the Internet because they are concentrated in blue-collar occupations that do not involve work with computers and the Internet. Lack of exposure foments the development of negative attitudes to technology, which presumably deter them from adopting the Internet.