Author ORCID Identifier
Samad Rasoulzadeh Aghdam: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2096-6676
Glenn Muschert: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3748-4961
Behnam Ghasemzadeh: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0689-1401
Kris Hartley: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5349-0427
Abstract
Technology influences development in numerous ways, including through education and training. It is both a didactic tool and a defining feature of students’ personal growth and social experiences. The ability of students to develop personal digital caTechnology influences development in numerous ways, including through education and training. It is both a didactic tool and a defining feature of students’ personal growth and social experiences. The ability of students to develop personal digital capital (an extension of Bourdieu’s multidimensional concept of capital) is a major determinant of their educational and career success and, by extension, national economic development. This study examines the influence of sociodemographic factors – age, gender, degree type, income, and parental education – on the personal development of digital capital among university students. Applying a structural equation model with data from an Iran-based survey (n = 421), the study finds that disparities in digital capital are explained by gender, income, and other sociodemographic factors. The finding that digital access supersedes digital competence in explaining inequalities in digital capital highlights pathways for targeted policy intervention.pital (an extension of Bourdieu’s multi-dimensional concept of capital) is a major determinant of their educational and career success and, by extension, national economic development. This study examines the influence of socio-demographic factors – age, gender, degree type, income, and parental education – on the personal development of digital capital among university students. Applying a structural equation model with data from an Iran-based survey (n = 421), the study finds that disparities in digital capital are explained by gender, income, and other socio-demographic factors. The finding that digital access supersedes digital competence in explaining inequalities in digital capital highlights pathways for targeted policy intervention.
DOI
10.17705/1ITD.032205
Recommended Citation
Aghdam, S. R.,
Muschert, G.,
Ghasemzadeh, B.,
&
Hartley, K.
(2026).
The Influence of Socio-Demographic Factors on Digital Capital in Higher Education.
Information Technology for Development, 32(2), 98-129.
DOI: 10.17705/1ITD.032205
Available at:
https://aisel.aisnet.org/itd/vol32/iss2/10