Barriers to ICT use by ethnic minorities

Dr David Wilkinson
University of Leeds

Paper: 1/2 hour

Ethics, Economics & Exclusion

This paper will draw upon recently collected data to explore how attitudes towards, and use of, ICT might vary among people from different age groups and ethnic backgrounds. Specifically, this UK government sponsored research focuses upon the views and experiences of Black and Asian groups living in a number of inner-city regions around Leeds, Bradford and Birmingham.

Improving access to, and exploitation, of ICTs "has become a central plank of Government policy". The Social Exclusion Unit reports on neighbourhood renewal have highlighted the potential benefits for all sections of the community of enhanced use of ICT.

The key aim of this research is to provide background information which can help policy makers and practitioners address the danger of deprived ethnic groups living in deprived areas being further disadvantaged by the operation of the so called "Digital Divide". The work sought to:

1. identify the current level and pattern of usage of ICTs by people from minority ethnic communities, living in deprived urban neighbourhoods;
2. identify the attitudes towards ICTs and e commerce of people from minority ethnic groups living in deprived urban neighbourhoods, and their views about the wider social benefits of these technologies;
3. identify the barriers which people from minority ethnic groups face with regard to accessing and using ICTs, beyond those faced by all people living within deprived neighbourhoods;
4. explore the potential specific benefits of ICTs, in terms of expressing and developing cultural identities and promoting better integration between different groups. This would involve identifying the type of cultural content which people from different ethnic groups would require from electronic information sources;

Essentially, the project had two major data collection strands to it:

1. – a quantitative survey
2. – local case studies

Although it collected some very detailed information, the quantitative survey found that:

1. The patterns of usage of ICT and the barriers to usage of ICT emerging from the survey revealed a number of very strong contrasts. The most important of these is the effect of age. Knowledge of, usage of and interest in ICT tends to decline with age. Young people are most confident and familiar with information technology, and older people have had least contact with it. The most youthful ethnic groups are therefore those most confident with ICT. However, people of all ages are aware of the current and future importance of these technologies for their employment prospects.
2. People in work and education are therefore most likely to use ICT and to have undertaken training in ICT. The unemployed recognise the importance of training in these technologies for their future employment prospects. Involvement with ICT is closely related to level of skill. Lack of basic skills is a significant barrier to usage of information and communications technologies. Some ethnic groups face significant further barriers as a result of the lack of information, computer facilities and software in their own languages.
3. People from all ethnic groups are less than enthusiastic about using ICT to communicate with central and local government and service providers. Familiarity with some of the newer technologies is quite limited among respondents to the survey.

The case study strand of the research included a number of focus group interviews with members of communities in the Leeds and Bradford areas of West Yorkshire. A number of themes or issues relating to ICT emerged. These included: access to ICT equipment; the use of ICT centres/community centres to access computer equipment; and barriers to access. This paper will explore the data collected through this phase of the research work.

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Last Update : 22 October 2003