Female postgrads felt impact of Covid more than male peers

The 'Irish Survey of Student Engagement', carried out between February and March of 2021, when Ireland was in level 5 lockdown, recorded lower percentages of students agreeing with positive statements across almost every single area when compared to 2020. 

Female postgraduate students were more likely to have considered withdrawing from their programme during the pandemic than their male counterparts, and less likely to have submitted a paper for publication.

The finding is included in this year’s Irish Survey of Student Engagement, published today, which shows the impact that pandemic restrictions had on students during the 2020-2021 academic year.

The vast majority of college life last year was restricted to online-only, with college campuses remaining open for a limited number of activities.

Lack of interaction

First years, in particular, suffered from a lack of interaction with their tutors and other students.

The survey, carried out between February and March of 2021, when Ireland was in level 5 lockdown, recorded lower percentages of students agreeing with positive statements across almost every single area when compared to 2020.

First-year students who entered higher education in September 2020 returned scores that were statistically significantly lower than the baseline first-year undergraduate respondents for nearly all areas of the survey.

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Suggestions that female postgraduate research students have been more affected than male were supported by the survey’s findings, according to its authors.

It found that 52% of male respondents indicated they submitted a paper for publication in an academic journal or book, while the equivalent result for female respondents was 46.7%.

Almost 18% of female respondents had considered withdrawing due to personal or family reasons, compared to 13.8% of male respondents.

Gendered aspect

“The results point to the possibility of a gendered aspect to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, which could disproportionately affect the career progression of female postgraduate research students," the report says.

Almost 44,000 first- and final-year undergraduate students and students on taught postgraduate programmes across 25 higher education institutions took part in StudentSurvey.ie, with an overall response rate of 28.4%.

The survey found:

• 47.0% of first-year undergraduate students indicated that the quality of their interactions with other students was excellent, or close to excellent, in 2021. The average from surveys in 2018-2020 was 80.3%.
• 37.2% of first-year undergraduate students indicated that the quality of their interactions with academic staff was excellent, or close to excellent, in 2021. The average from surveys in 2018-2020 was 64.1%.
• 12.2% of first-year undergraduate students believed that their institution emphasised social opportunities in 2021. The average from surveys in 2018-2020 was 23.2%.
• 33.7% of first-year undergraduate students discussed course topics, ideas, or concepts with academic staff outside of class in 2021. The average from surveys in 2018-2020 was 48.8%.

According to the report, the term "student engagement" is used in “educational contexts to refer to a range of related, but distinct, understandings of the interaction between students and the higher education institutions they attend”.

Teaching reform

There is now an opportunity to improve and reform teaching and learning practices by retaining elements that perform well and discarding ineffective approaches, according to Megan O’Connor of the Union of Students in Ireland.

“We encourage transparent use and implementation of the data gathered by the survey and retaining the aspects of flexibility seen across the sector," Ms O'Connor said.

"Everyone has suffered due to the impact of Covid-19, and students are no exception”, said Dr Siobhán Nic Fhlannchadha, project manager of StudentSurvey.ie.

“They have also shown tremendous resilience, with many respondents to [this year’s surveys] showing positivity and strength in their responses, along with recognising the efforts being made by their HEI to support them in difficult circumstances.”