The Impact of Tertieary Education on the Digital Capital of Rural Youth in China

In this information era, youth are labeled as “digital natives” because they have been immersed in the digital elements since an early age. Although they do belong to a group with high digital literacy, age alone cannot fully explain the reasons for the digital divide. Several studies indicate the obvious differences exist among youth, that is, it is still the originally advantaged in society who benefit more from ICTs. Bourdieu’s concept of capital is extended to the digital realm for explaining these differences among youth. Chinese rural youth face multiple dilemmas with respect to ICTs which might significantly deteriorate their development. Relative to urban peers, their level of digital capital is typically low, but tertiary education may have a compensatory contribution. Through semi-structured interviews with 20 rural youth, this study found that youth with tertiary education demonstrated significantly higher levels of digital access and competence compared to their non-tertiary-educated peers. This study focuses on a group that is often overlooked in digital research, and it also addresses the scarcity of research exploring the impact of tertiary education on youth’s digital capital.