Addressing Inequality in Higher Education Access: Examining First-Year Students' Remote Learning Experience during Covid-19 in Mongolia

• In Event: Higher Education and Institutional Improvement Initiatives

Proposal

The Covid-19 pandemic and the subsequent shift to online learning around the world have exacerbated existing social inequalities, such as the digital divide (Lai & Widmar, 2021). Studies from different parts of the world show evidence that geographic location, parental education, and levels of income affect digital inequality among students (Talandron-Felipe, 2020; Cullinan et al., 2021). According to the UN, over 90 percent of the students’ learning in lower and lower-middle-income countries were disrupted during the Covid-19 pandemic school closures (United Nations, 2020).
Although the digital divide and socioeconomic inequality existed before Covid-19, the university buildings and services offered common space and tools for everyone to access classes, learning materials, and services. It was easier to communicate with peers and professors and receive necessary guidance and support when classes were held in person. Once universities shifted to online education, many students could not attend classes due to the internet and other technology issues. This digital divide not only had an impact on students’ learning experience but also on their mental health (Saha, 2021).
Studies on the impact of Covid-19 find increased stress, anxiety, and depression among college students (Son et al., 2020), lower levels of general well-being among students who do not have a supportive social network, and those living away from home (Doolan et al., 2021), and financial struggles (CSAC, 2020; Hiler, Fishman, & Nguyen, 2021). In addition, students without reliable access to technological resources remain left behind in online learning environments (Iyer & Chapman, 2021). Crawford et al. (2020) suggest that students have encountered various difficulties, including feelings of social isolation, insufficient learning resources, shifts in learning methods, a lack of recorded lectures in educational institutions, and unreliable internet connections in remote locations.
However, there is a dearth of research at the tertiary level investigating the experiences of students from diverse socioeconomic backgrounds within the Mongolian higher education context. Especially, first-year students, particularly those from rural areas are among the vulnerable groups lacking knowledge or experience about the university system, social network, and support inside and outside the university.

Authors

• Sayamaa Dangaasuren, University of Missouri - Columbia

• Ariunaa Enkhtur, Osaka University

• Oyundelger Enkhtur, Osaka University