The Sociology Research Forum hosts Silvia Bartolic, Neil Guppy and Haily Craig for a presentation titled, “Student Vulnerabilities in the Face of the Sars-CoV-2 Virus: Evidence from Higher Education.”
Abstract
We investigate how the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic impacted students in higher education. Our research focuses upon whether or not the uneven impact of COVID-19 on more vulnerable communities in the general population is replicated within the post-secondary student community. Our data come from over 4,500 students studying at eight international higher education institutions located in six different countries around the globe. Imagery of the ‘Ivory Tower’ treats colleges and universities as elitist academic spaces beyond the ‘real world.’ Recently though the student demographics of campuses have changed to be more inclusive, more representative of the population distribution beyond the gates of the academy. We report how both the characteristics of students, such as their gender or family background, and their social circumstances through the COVID-19 pandemic, impacted their ability to learn. We find that student’s in more challenging living situations – no study space, caring for others – experienced much greater disruption with their learning than did their peers who had more stable living arrangements. We also show that some attributes of individuals made little difference to perceived learning (e.g., gender, parental education) whereas other factors were more consequential (e.g., being registered with a campuses health or well-being support service).
Study partners include: Ateneo University of Manila, Deakin University, Eindhoven University of Technology, Humber Institute of Technology and Advanced Learning, University of British Columbia, University of Liege, University of New South Wales, University of North Texas.
