Overcoming the digital divide to inspire future engineers

摘要

The pandemic has shone a light on a whole host of inequalities, the most obvious being health. Wealth inequalities are also more apparent especially in some new areas - who can afford to self-isolate or work in frontline shift jobs that don't provide sick pay? Another inequality much more visible since the pandemic started is the digital divide. Schools and teachers have had to step-up their digital offering during lockdowns to ensure pupils can learn from home, but we know that digital access continues to be a barrier. With many disadvantaged pupils struggling to afford hardware and data. In addition, superfast broadband is still limited in many - often rural -areas of the country. Another casualty of digital inequality can be access to careers information, advice and guidance, which already had patchy provision. Many students from disadvantaged backgrounds miss out on social capital their peers might have at home and digital barriers to online quality careers guidance can be another blow to their life chances.