San Jose State University's enrollment demographics reflect the ethnic and economic diversity of the city from which the University takes its name. Specifically, research into SJSU student demographics shows that:
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Nearly ten percent of SJSU students are international non-residents (IEA, 2016b)
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The majority of SJSU students belong to ethnic minority groups (IEA, 2016a) and
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As a member of the California State University system, SJSU serves a prominent proportion of students who are the first in their families to attend four-year university (Chapin, 2017).
Studies indicate that, on average, students who belong to racial minority groups or working class families have limited access to computer technology and fall behind their peers in computer literacy (Pearson, 2001; Tien and Fu, 2008). Given SJSU's racially and socioeconomically diverse population, it's reasonable to conclude that many SJSU students, and thus SJSUL users, do not own personal computers or have limited exposure to personal computing technology.
Objective
The objective of this study is to assesses whether and how SJSUL addresses the digital divide, specifically in terms of support for the significant sector of its user base who may have limited computer exposure and experience.
