Grade Disparities in Principles of Microeconomics Before and During COVID-19

Student performance in economics has long suffered from racial, gender, and socioeconomic disparities at all levels, from introductory college courses to PhD graduate numbers. In March 2020, COVID-19 forced most universities to deliver all courses online. This shift online had the potential to increase grade disparities present along racial, gender, and socioeconomic lines in all college courses. Using data from Fall 2019 to Spring 2021 with 3,000 students enrolled in principles of microeconomics classes at a large non-flagship public university, we find evidence of grade disparities based on these key demographics. First, we show that disparities in microeconomics classes were similar to students’ grades in all other classes, suggesting that what we see in economics is just a reflection of problems across many disciplines. Second, we demonstrate that the disparities remain relatively unchanged, even in the second year of the pandemic when classes continued online. These results suggest that policy and programmatic changes aimed at addressing disparities would be more effective if aimed at the university as a whole rather than just economics courses.