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234 Manuel Castells et al.this study is not based on a comparative approach because we have not definedour observations to be equivalent to those of other studies in other contexts.Thus, the analysis presented here is specific to Catalonia. Yet, it is no more orless specific than a study of America or of England is beyond its social setting.By studying different societies with a common set of analytical questions, andrecording and interpreting the data that relate to these questions, the internationalresearch community may elaborate on the contrasts, similarities, anddifferences that characterize the development of the network society throughoutthe world.THE HISTORICAL CONSTRUCTION OF THE DIGITALDIVIDEThe diffusion of the Internet among people is highly differentiated by theirposition in the social structure. Catalan society is no exception to this rule.However, there are some features that allow further analysis of general relevance.At the time of our survey, in February–May 2002, Catalonia was in themiddle range in terms of its percentage of Internet users, in relation to othercountries: slightly over one-third (33.5 percent) were Internet users at leastonce a month, although the number of people connected from their home waslower (29.8 percent). This was significantly lower than in North America,Scandinavia, or Korea, and lower than the average for the European Union (40percent), although higher than Spain as a whole, and significantly higher thanthe world at large (about 8 percent at that time).The digital divide, in terms of education and income, exists in Catalonia, aselsewhere. Thus, 77.4 percent of college graduates are Internet users, incontrast to 46.8 percent of those who have only secondary education, and 16.7percent of those who have primary education or less. Income levels also conditionaccess to the Internet: 63.8 percent in high-income groups are users, butonly 15.4 percent of those with low incomes, and 53.7 percent of those withmiddle incomes. There is in Catalonia, unlike the United States orScandinavia, a gender gap: 39 percent of men are users versus 30.5 percent ofwomen. But the influence of one’s position in the occupational structure onInternet use presents a more complex picture. To be sure, only 17 percent ofmanual workers are users. But there is a surprising contrast between managersand executives (37.8 percent of users) and the high frequency of use amongprofessionals and technicians (70.4 percent) and clerical personnel (55.5percent). This reveals an occupational structure in which the informationprocessinglabor force is largely on the Internet, but the corporate leadersremain anchored in old-fashioned practices, certainly in technological terms,but most likely also in organizational terms.