Computer literacy and computer use among college students: Differences in Black and White

This article examines differences in use of and familiarity with computing technology between Black and White undergraduate college students. It is based on data drawn from a large northeastern private university during academic year 1994-95. The main findings are that (a) Black students enter the university with fewer infotechnology skills and are less familiar with computers than are their White student peers; (b) these differences in computer usage and familiarity are not minimized by collegiate experience and may even be increased; and (c) institutional factors may be responsible for these differences. Additionally, significant differences were found between Black and White students in terms of their computing platform preferences (e.g, Apple/Macintosh versus IBM-based PCs).