Whereas recent studies show that the size of the Digital Divide has been shrinking for many groups, this article explores whether social-economic factors explain the racial, geographic, and gender divides. Rural, minority, and female respondents were less likely to have home computers or to be connected to the Internet. Controlling for socioeconomic variables, the effects of rural residence and gender disappeared but African Americans were still less likely to have home computers or Internet access. When public Internet access was examined, rural residence and gender had no effect but African Americans were more likely to know of public facilities in their community even when socioeconomic variables were controlled. Future research needs to better understand the implications of different ways of using new technology (i. e., public vs. private access) and determine if digital technology deepens socioeconomic chasms or provides new opportunities.

Using data from undergraduates we found that financial resources, intelligence and having responsibility were important sources of social power. Consistent with traditional gender norms, women were more likely than were men to perceive social power from emotional intimacy, social skills and parenting. Men were more likely than were women to perceive having a lot of social power due to physical strength and social status. Unexpected was that more men than women chose sexuality as a source of power. An awareness of gender stratification was found in the reports that “women in general” do not have a lot of social power and women were more likely than were men to say that “men in general” had a lot of social power.

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