University–Community Partnerships for Advancing Digital Inclusion Among Justice‐Involved Women in the US

Hyunjin Seo
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Hyunjin Seo: William Allen White School of Journalism and Mass Communications, USA

Social Inclusion, 2026, vol. 14

Abstract: This article examines a university–community collaboration model designed to address persistent digital skills gaps among formerly and currently incarcerated women in the United States. Justice‐involved women, marginalized at the intersections of race, gender, and socioeconomic status, often lack access to reentry programs that provide relevant technological competencies. Grounded in a community‐engaged scholarship framework and using a qualitative case study approach, this research examines the structural and social factors that sustain these inequities and analyzes an interdisciplinary partnership that designed and implemented an evidence‐based digital skills program tailored to justice‐involved women’s interests and career aspirations. The partnership brought together a university research team, community organizations, and formerly incarcerated women in the United States. Central to the analysis is how the program was iteratively refined through research and practice and sustained through community partnerships. Findings show that co‐design principles, relational instruction by peer mentors with lived experience of incarceration, and evidence‐based programming played important roles in building and sustaining the initiative. Overall, this study underscores the importance of engaging justice‐involved women as active partners in developing educational programs that advance digital inclusion and support long‐term reentry outcomes.

Keywords: community partnerships; digital skills; justice‐involved women; reentry program; United States (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:cog:socinc:v14:y:2026:a:12683

DOI: 10.17645/si.12683

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