New Compass Brief: Computational thinking, socioeconomic gaps and policy implications.

Compass Brief: Computational thinking, socioeconomic gaps and policy implications

The 12th Compass Brief written by Dr Zbigniew Karpiński, Dr Giorgio Di Pietro and Dr Federico Biagi of the European Commission's Joint Research Centre, explores computational thinking, socioeconomic gaps, and policy implications.

Numerous studies have shown that individuals from less advantaged backgrounds face poorer labor market prospects partly because they are characterized by low levels of skills, including digital skills. However, regarding digital skills, most of these studies rely on indicators of general digital competences rather than of specific information and communication technology (ICT) skills, which are particularly relevant to employability. One such skill is computational thinking (CT), which is related to problem-solving abilities in the digital domain and is often considered to be an important requirement for “high-quality” jobs. In this brief, we use IEA International Computer and Information Literacy Study (ICILS) 2018 data in order to compare the socioeconomic gap in computer and information literacy (CIL) with the corresponding one in CT. The results consistently show that students from less advantaged backgrounds have lower levels of skills than those from more advantaged backgrounds in both areas, but especially in CT.

Read the full Compass Brief in the link below.

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