Why has the pandemic exacerbated the socio-economic educational inequality gap?
Inequality can be understood in two ways, inequality of outcome and inequality in opportunity (Broer et al, 2019). Inequality of outcome refers to how the educational, academic outcomes of students can vary dependent on their social position within society. Whereas inequality in opportunity refers to how an individual’s social position in society can impact the access they have to certain levels or resources for education. Educational inequality can surface through areas based on social class, gender, and race, but since the pandemic the educational inequality gap between social classes has grown exponentially and highlighted the huge discrepancies. Students in society from lower socio-economic backgrounds have been disadvantaged in education by the pandemic through school closures, online-learning, and lack of resources, all of which highlight an inequality in opportunity to succeed in attainment, and ultimately showcasing an inequality of outcomes. Sophie, a 17-year-old stu...