Forbes - America’s Digital Divide

Plus: Antiracism And The Future Of Diversity Programs

Morning Banter

State-issued shelter-in-place mandates have placed a greater reliance on internet access at home, primarily through smartphones and computers.

But the ability to learn and work remotely means that individuals must meet a certain digital threshold. And for a number of marginalized communities, including people of color and low-income households, that threshold comes at a lofty price, one that fuels the digital divide and a digital literacy gap.

Simply put, the digital divide refers to the gap in access to information and communication technology. With socioeconomic and racial disparities already present amid the global Covid-19 pandemic, the split between the online haves and have-nots has been further compounded.

“Its persistence and depth have been brought to light by efforts to institute distance learning on a broad scale in response to Covid-19. If we don’t close this divide, the impact will be devastating,” writes Forbes contributor and CEO of the Southern Education Foundation Raymond Piece.

The digital literacy divide presents itself throughout the education pipeline and bleeds into the workforce. Nearly two-thirds of the 13 million new jobs created in the U.S. between 2010 and 2018 require medium or advanced levels of digital skills. But about half of Black job seekers lack the digital competencies employers seek, hampering their economic mobility.

Some tech companies are stepping up to bridge that gap. Google announced on Wednesday a Career Readiness Program in partnership with the Thurgood Marshall College Fund.

The workforce program will embed Grow with Google, its national online skills training initiative, into the career centers of 20 Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) with the goal to eventually reach all 101 HBCUs by fall 2021.

Send me an email at rumoh@forbes.com.

Quiz Yourself

About __% of Black workers and __% of Latinx workers have no digital skills.

(A) 5% of Black workers; 25% of Latinx workers
(B) 15% of Black workers; 35% of Latinx workers
(C) 40% of Black workers; 65%  of Latinx workers
(D) 60% of Black workers; 75% of Latinx workers

(Answer located at the bottom of this newsletter.)

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Up Ahead

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Quiz Answer: (B) About 15% of Black workers and 35% of Latinx workers have no digital skills, according to the National Skills Coalition.

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