Non-Hispanics in the community have a better understanding of
basic computer skills like e-mail, word processing and spreadsheets
than Hispanics, according to the results of a study by Gavilan
College.
Non-Hispanics in the community have a better understanding of basic computer skills like e-mail, word processing and spreadsheets than Hispanics, according to the results of a study by Gavilan College.
Of the 600 people polled in Hollister, Gilroy and Morgan Hill, 78 percent of non-Hispanics own personal computers while only 37 percent of Hispanics do, and 77 percent of non-Hispanics have Internet access while only 40 percent of Hispanics are online. Forty-three percent of non-Hispanics polled said they’re experienced with computers, more than three times the 14 percent of Hispanics who said they’re experienced.
The research, funded by a federal government grant, Title V, was collected from six focus groups and six hundred phone interviews conducted in both English and Spanish.
Terrence Willett, director of research for Gavilan College, said while national data has already shown the digital divide between Hispanics and non-Hispanics, Gavilan needed to examine what exactly is happening in its own backyard so it would have a better understand of how to serve the community’s needs.
“I personally didn’t expect the gap to be quite as large, given our proximity to Silicon Valley,” he said.
Gavilan Board Trustee Jaime De La Cruz said those students are the county’s future work force and he feels the community should be doing something to ensure its future success.
“A lot of these families are low income and they have to make the decision between buying a computer and putting dinner on the table, and you know what that decision is going to be,” he said. “I feel like somehow the business community should offer some kind of funding or donate computers to those families who need them.”
Gavilan President Steven Kinsella agrees that the cost of computers and Internet access play a role in accessibility.
“It’s always a challenge with technology because the cost is so high but it is such a critical part of higher education,” he said.
Gavilan Business Instructor Margi Bryson is teaching computer courses at the Hollister campus this summer. She said the digital divide may be caused by language barriers.
“I think it would be hard for students who don’t speak English because most computer programs are in English,” she said. “It would be difficult for me to go to another country and try to learn how to use a computer in a foreign language.”
Bryson said majority of the computer courses she teaches are lower-level basics classes like keyboarding, but she assumes the significant gap in Hispanic and non-Hispanic computer skills is much more noticeable in the higher classes.
Kinsella agrees and said, with help from bond Measure E, which will grant Gavilan $108 million, technology will be improving at the school. There will be more software programs in different languages and the school will continue to improve its computer labs and resource centers. The funding also will go toward the creation of a Library Technology center.
Gavilan will do all it can to provide computer access to those who need it, but because the study surveyed the entire community, there is no way to know if the school’s efforts alone will make a difference, Kinsella said.
“It’s tough to say what our impact will be without other organizations involved, but it’s a need for students who will go onto higher education and even vocational careers,” he said.
