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The COVID-19 pandemic: A threat to higher education?

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  • Bonaccolto-Töpfer, Marina
  • Castagnetti, Carolina

Abstract

Transition to online teaching during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic has led to various concerns about educational quality. So far, researchers have mainly focused on the effects on school teaching. This paper looks at the effects on a large Italian university (University of Pavia, Lombardy). Administrative data allows us to track both students' evaluation of teaching and student performance. Using a difference-in-differences design, we exploit the fact that the summer term 2020 started right after the first lockdown and compare students' outcome during this term to those of the same term in the previous year. In contrast to the literature, our results suggest no substantial effects of the pandemic on higher education. The findings are robust across various dimensions of courses, students and lecturers. In particular, the results suggest also no difference between top and bottom students or students from wealthier and poorer families.

Suggested Citation

  • Bonaccolto-Töpfer, Marina & Castagnetti, Carolina, 2021. "The COVID-19 pandemic: A threat to higher education?," Discussion Papers 117, Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg, Chair of Labour and Regional Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:faulre:117
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    9. Bonaccolto-Töpfer, Marina & Castagnetti, Carolina & Prümer, Stephanie, 2021. "Does it pay to go public? Understanding the public-private sector wage gap in Germany," Discussion Papers 116, Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg, Chair of Labour and Regional Economics.
    10. Boring, Anne, 2017. "Gender biases in student evaluations of teaching," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 145(C), pages 27-41.
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    Cited by:

    1. Bucher, Florian & Scheu, Lucas & Schröpf, Benedikt, 2022. "Economic complexity and environmental pollution: Evidence from the former socialist transition countries," Discussion Papers 124, Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg, Chair of Labour and Regional Economics.
    2. Elisa Failache, 2023. "Taking advantage of COVID-19? Online learning, descentralization and tertiary education," Documentos de Trabajo (working papers) 23-09, Instituto de Economía - IECON.
    3. Bratti, Massimiliano & Lippo, Enrico, 2022. "COVID-19 and the Gender Gap in University Student Performance," IZA Discussion Papers 15456, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    4. Schröpf, Benedikt, 2021. "The dynamics of wage dispersion between firms: The role of firm entry and exit," Discussion Papers 120, Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg, Chair of Labour and Regional Economics.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Online teaching; COVID-19 pandemic; difference-in-differences; higher education;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G18 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Government Policy and Regulation
    • I18 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health
    • I23 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Higher Education; Research Institutions
    • I24 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Education and Inequality

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