Digital Inequalities and Student Engagement in Higher Education

During the COVID-19 pandemic, education systems worldwide were forced to shut down and transition to online learning. While distance learning and digital technology offer a practical solution to mitigate the negative effects of university closure, there is also a risk of exacerbating the pre-existing digital disparities by reducing opportunities for those from less privileged backgrounds. China, as one of the first education systems to experience system-wide closure during the COVID-19 crisis, adopted emergency online learning, following a policy entitled Suspending Classes Without Stopping Learning. In the past three years, we have witnessed a growing number of studies on students’ online learning experiences. However, most of these studies have focused on a behavioural perspective which centres on student behaviour and effective institutional practices, thereby neglecting the exploration of broader sociocultural contexts that may influence student experiences. Moreover, the majority of empirical studies have laid particular emphasis on quantitative measures of student engagement through large-scale surveys, while very limited studies have explored in-depth factors that influence student engagement. This short paper offers a brief overview of an ongoing research project that focuses on exploring the day-to-day digital practice of students in two different types of universities in China. Adopting a digital ethnographic approach including visual methods, online observations, semi-structured interviews and comparative ethnographic analysis, this study aims to provide a detailed qualitative understanding of student experiences working with digital technologies in both research-oriented universities and teaching-oriented universities. Throughout the theoretical discussion of different approaches to digital inequalities, this paper hopes to stimulate thinking about the forms of the digital divide that might exist in higher education and ultimately contribute to both academic and policy debates on the subject. By exploring the different meanings of student engagement, this paper exhibits some of the challenges and issues relating to conceptualising and measuring student engagement in the digital age. It is hoped that this paper will bring insights into reframing and conceptualising student engagement from a socio-material perspective that moves away from the dominance of behavioural and quantitative studies. The finding of this study will contribute to providing a nuanced understanding of the relationship between initial socioeconomic inequalities, differences in student engagement and resulting inequalities in post-higher education, which will potentially inform future educational practitioners and scholars alike in developing effective strategies to enhance student learning experiences in the digital sphere.