Digital Divide among Faculty Members of Golestan University of Medical Sciences
Journal of Medical Library and Information Science,
Vol. 7 No. 7 (2026),
6 May 2026
,
Page 1-10
https://doi.org/10.22037/jmlis.v7i7.49391
Abstract
Introduction: The digital divide in higher education affects both access to technology and its effective use. This study examined the digital divide among faculty members at Golestan University of Medical Sciences and explored the relationships among ICT literacy, practical skills, and teaching/research requirements.
Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in 2024 among 95 faculty members selected from a total of 333 via convenience sampling. Data were collected using a validated questionnaire comprising five sections: demographic information; access to and use of information and communication technology (ICT); ICT literacy; practical abilities and skills in using ICTs; and educational and research requirements. Descriptive statistics, the Shapiro-Wilk test for normality, Mann-Whitney and Kruskal-Wallis tests for group comparisons, and Spearman’s correlation for relationships between ICT dimensions were applied using SPSS.
Results: Indicators of ICT access showed no substantial access-based digital divide: 94.7% of participants reported high-speed internet access at home, 89.5% used ICTs several times per day, and 65.3% reported more than three hours of daily ICT use. However, mean scores for ICT literacy (22.58 ± 5.36 out of 32), practical ICT skills (109.39 ± 27.34 out of 160), and educational and research requirements (28.55 ± 8.33 out of 36) indicated moderate competency levels. Faculty members from clinically oriented schools, particularly Medicine and Dentistry, consistently obtained lower mean scores across these dimensions. Strong and statistically significant correlations were observed between ICT literacy and practical skills (r = 0.605, p < 0.001) and between practical skills and educational and research requirements (r = 0.653, p < 0.001).
Conclusion: At Golestan University of Medical Sciences, while ICT access is largely achieved, skill-based challenges remain, particularly in clinically oriented faculties. The interconnection among ICT literacy, practical skills, and teaching/research requirements indicates that the observed digital divide is primarily skills- and outcome-based rather than access-related, and that improvements in one dimension can support gains in others.
- Digital divide
- Computer literacy
- Communication technologies
- Information technology
- Faculty members
How to Cite
References
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