Culture and digital inequalities: Uses among the youth in Québec

“Digital culture and inequalities. The question of uses among youth in vulnerable situations in Québec” is an action research study carried out by Amina Yagoubi, PhD in sociology and researcher at the Canada Research Chair in Digital Equity in Education at the Université of Québec à Montréal (UQAM). This research, supported by MITACS (Acceleration program), is conducted as part of the Youth QC 2030 project supported by the Secrétariat à la jeunesse (SAJ).

In a context marked by the multiplication of disruptive technologies [Artificial intelligence — AI, virtual reality and augmented reality — VR/AR, digital mobility, Internet of Things — IoT, cloud technologies, etc.], the question of lifelong learning for young people and other segments of the population arises. In the face of increasingly rapid transformations, it is important to remain attentive to social and digital inequalities, especially in terms of practices, skills and digital knowledge.

In this regard, Québec’s Digital Education Action Plan (2018–2021), published in June 2018, aims to maintain social cohesion in order to prevent inequalities that widen the gap between the information-rich and the information-poor (Brotcorne and Valendu, 2009). This helps reduce the digital divide that so often affects the most vulnerable populations: “the digital divide exists, and it is simply the translation of a violent cultural and intellectual segregation that continues to grow with ‘new technologies’” (Guichard, 2003: 11). The divide retained for this study is the so-called second-level divide (Hargittaï, 2002), which is based on inequalities in knowledge and skills (Kling, 1998).

This is why understanding the mechanisms that help reduce digital disparities is essential (Collin et al., 2016). Young people do not master technologies simply because they use them every day (Karsenti, Collin, 2016). It is therefore important to analyze, on the one hand, the conditions for acquiring digital skills (Collin, 2016) and, on the other, the characteristics of social uses of digital technology (Lacroix, 1994; Perriault, 2008; Gardies et al., 2010; Proulx, 2002). From this perspective, young people’s digital practices are a sociological object shaped by socioeconomic, demographic and cultural variables, revealing inequalities marked by symbols, values and relationships to the world (Aillerie, 2011). We will pay attention to causal links between digital inequalities, sociocultural inequalities and certain identified variables (identity, geography, gender, environments, etc.) in order to understand how equity values are constructed (Fusaro, 2008). Knowledge of digital mediation environments, their actors and their roles in their mission may prove essential to consolidating a digital literacy ecosystem and reducing the digital divide in every region of Québec.

The sociological survey follows an exploratory, inductive and iterative approach that respects the principles of university research ethics (see TCPS2). Data collection is largely carried out during experiences developed by Printemps numérique in 2018 and 2019. The first stage of fieldwork consists of collecting quantitative and qualitative data during Printemps numérique’s flagship event: the Cafés numériques, inclusive digital mediation spaces for young people aged 13 to 29, deployed in six administrative regions of Québec. They are designed as a creative lab offering an invitation to a digital journey through the discovery of several stations: virtual reality, 3D design; humanoid robot programming; exchanges and discussions (survey and vox pop). After the Cafés numériques and other Printemps numérique events, once the collected material has been analyzed, we will draw up a portrait of youth digital culture in Québec. In addition, through semi-structured interviews with digital mediation actors, we will refine our knowledge of the digital literacy ecosystem in Québec. In conclusion, this partnership research will make it possible, as the Youth QC 2030 project unfolds:

– To ensure the co-construction of knowledge between a practice environment and the university research community;

– To enrich knowledge of the social impacts of new technologies;

– To share a better understanding of young people’s digital culture with different communities;

– To highlight the role of digital mediation actors in Québec and elsewhere;

– To feed the reflections of the intersectoral and interregional consultation roundtable on digital literacy in Québec, a roundtable initiated by Printemps numérique;

– To continue developing partnerships, in collaboration with Printemps numérique, between university research communities and the various actors;

– To issue advice and recommendations.