the Digital culture in university students from the north and south of Mexico: a comparative approach

Abstract

A pilot study was conducted to analyze some aspects related to digital culture in students belonging to two public universities in the north (Autonomous University of Baja California) and south (Autonomous University of Yucatan) of Mexico, based on contextual variables (demographic, socioeconomic, and technological). Digital culture, understood as a multidimensional construct and estimated from a set of variables (age, socioeconomic level, technological self-concept, among others) that affect it, was addressed through a questionnaire prepared based on four aspects: sociodemographic, academic, technological-institutional, and attitudinal. Under a quantitative design with a descriptive and comparative scope, the instrument was piloted during the second semester of 2023 in a non-representative intentional sample of university students, who answered it asynchronously and online. The results show significant contrasts in participants from the northwest and southeast of Mexico based on demographic characteristics (age), socioeconomic characteristics (mother/father's education, work in parallel to their studies), technological characteristics (years of experience, self-concept) and frequency of use. The above allows us to infer distinctive elements around digital culture in students from both universities. However, these findings should be taken with caution, given the limitation of the study sample, although they represent a good starting point to analyze in greater depth some aspects around digital culture in university students from opposite geographic areas within Mexico.