Bridging the digital divide: Mentoring students of color to learn technology

The research examined the participation of African American college students in information technology, before, during, and subsequent to a mentoring experience designed to introduce them to the knowledge skills necessary for participation in the knowledge economy. This was accomplished through a retrospective qualitative analysis of longitudinal case studies of 3 African American college students attempting to negotiate the higher educational system.;What is examined is the impact of the mentoring experience on the subsequent representation of these participants in information technology (IT) literacy and the consequences of that representation on their experiences of personal, and professional growth. Specifically this addressed the question: What are the personal, social, professional, and educational experiences of African Americans struggling with IT literacy?;The intensive case studies included journal writings and articulated reflections of students, based on their reconstruction of milestones in their educational experience and the meanings they attributed to these milestones. Ethnomethodology was utilized to analyze the data, including interview transcripts, journal writings, and self-reflections of the students, as well as reflections by the researcher on participation in the educational and mentoring process between September 1995 and January 2001.;The research findings strongly suggested that these African American college students were unaware of opportunities in the field of information technology and the high technology workplace. This supports Walton's (1999) assertion that opportunities for participation in information technology by African American youth are "unclaimed" because they are "unseen" (Walton, 1999).;The results included the students creating knowledge regarding the impact of larger social and institutional forces on their education and socialization in the field of information technology. This led to the creation of an accelerated experiential learning program with a mentoring model designed, developed, and implemented to facilitate diverse students in bridging the digital divide.;The findings enrich the dialogue on education reform by adding the voice of important stakeholders, African American college students negotiating the educational system. This information may lead to a more informed constituency in shaping economic and educational policy toward alleviating the underrepresentation of people of color in the information technology revolution shaping the global economy of the 21st century.