According to a new study led by Dora Gicheva, associate professor of economics at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, first-year women college students are experiencing slower academic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic compared to their male classmates. Although women students are still outperforming males overall, the study’s findings seem to indicate that women students experienced larger learning losses from COVID-19 when they were in high school compared to their male peers.
“Especially since the fall of 2021, female college students have been passing fewer classes and experiencing slower credit accumulation compared to female college students before the pandemic,” said Dr. Gicheva. “And this gap is relatively greater than the one we see for male college students.”
In an examination of trends among students enrolled at universities, colleges, and community colleges between 2013 and 2022, the study authors found that women community college students are earning nearly one fewer credit per year after the pandemic, compared to pre-pandemic levels. For those at four-year institutions, women students post-pandemic are earning about 0.6 fewer credits per year.
“The work highlights the importance of researchers comparing differences in pre-pandemic and post-pandemic data trends,” said co-author Julie Edmunds, director of the UNCG Early College Research Center. “If you simply look at trends over time, you’ll miss nuances in how different groups were impacted by the pandemic.”
Dr. Gicheva added, “College students were initially protected from academic deficits in the spring and fall of 2020 because most institutions had academic relief policies in place that were effective at keeping students on track. When those relief policies ended, we begin to see declines in performance. Colleges and universities need to stay proactive in identifying students who can benefit from additional academic supports and implementing policies to meet their needs.”
A graduate of Colgate University in Hamilton, New York, Dr. Gicheva earned two master’s degrees and a Ph.D. in economics, all from Yale University. She has been a member of the UNCG faculty since 2010.
Dr. Edumnds joined the UNCG community in 2004 as director of the secondary school reform program and assumed her current role in 2022. She holds a bachelor’s degree in history from Yale University, a master’s degree in elementary education from UNCG, and a Ph.D. in education from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.