Demographic factors and university mathematics performance during Covid-19

Abstract

This research considers the academic performance of all students undertaking mathematical sciences modules at the University of theWest of Scotland in the years immediately before and during Covid-19-induced learning and assessment changes. Each student's first attempt at each module was considered, and we investigated what demographic factors affected their grades. The statistical analysis showed that on average, the performance of young, male students from ethnic minority backgrounds deteriorated the most during this period. We present statistics which illustrate that not all demographic groups' scores deteriorated throughout the pandemic, however there was an alarming increase in non-engagement of assessment across the entire student body. We conclude with possible next steps to further this investigation and hence provide reflection for university executives and support teams alike.

Rights

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, and is not altered, transformed, or built upon in any way. The terms on which this article has been published allow the posting of the Accepted Manuscript in a repository by the author(s) or with their consent.

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DOI

https://doi.org/10.1080/0020739X.2025.2458169

Repository URI

https://research-portal.uws.ac.uk/en/publications/e7dae2b0-d584-494b-a38f-f33d371b6b14