Four or more major challenges were more prevalent among women, Hispanic and minoritized students, and lower-income students¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study (3 entries) · associational r2 · q2
Currency · newest study 2020 · checked against its sources 2026-10-20 (automated, 3 of 3 entries) · not reviewed by a person · overdue for a recheck since 2025: baselines and conditions change

Subclaims¶

q2 i? 17% of women versus 7% of men reported four or more major problems continuing their STEM course online. → Means 2020 q2 i? Hispanic students (19%) were more likely than non-Hispanic White students (7%) to report four or more major problems. → Means 2020 (2) q2 i? Students from households earning under $50,000 (19%) were more likely than middle- (10%) and upper-income (8%) students to report four or more major challenges. → Means 2020 (3)

Evidence¶

Means 2020¶

Means, B., & Neisler, J. (2020). Unmasking Inequality: STEM Course Experience During the COVID-19 Pandemic. Digital Promise Global. https://digitalpromise.dspacedirect.org/items/c978880f-6afe-4778-9df2-dac931a9c471 doi:10.51388/20.500.12265/102

q2 · i? · associational · r2

Survey analysis of number of major challenges by student group (Table 2); the report suggests part of the gender difference may relate to childcare responsibilities.

"The proportion of women reporting four or more major problems was more than twice that of the proportion of men (17% versus 7%)."

Means 2020 (2)¶

Means, B., & Neisler, J. (2020). Unmasking Inequality: STEM Course Experience During the COVID-19 Pandemic. Digital Promise Global. https://digitalpromise.dspacedirect.org/items/c978880f-6afe-4778-9df2-dac931a9c471 doi:10.51388/20.500.12265/102

q2 · i? · associational · r2

Same challenge-scale analysis by race/ethnicity. Table 2 gives 19% of Hispanic students and 7% of non-Hispanic White students reporting four or more major challenges; the text's second figure for Hispanic students (16%) is not explained and does not appear in Table 2.

"Hispanic students were more likely to report having experienced four or more major problems (19% and 16%, respectively) than were non-Hispanic white students (7%)."

Means 2020 (3)¶

Means, B., & Neisler, J. (2020). Unmasking Inequality: STEM Course Experience During the COVID-19 Pandemic. Digital Promise Global. https://digitalpromise.dspacedirect.org/items/c978880f-6afe-4778-9df2-dac931a9c471 doi:10.51388/20.500.12265/102

q2 · i? · associational · r2

Same challenge-scale analysis by household income (Table 2); the report also found students with four or more prior online courses less likely to report four or more problems (only 7% did so).

"Students in the lowest of the three annual household income groups (annual income of less than $50,000) were more likely to report having had four or more major challenges (19% versus 10% for students in the middle-income group and 8% of those in the highest-income group)."

Discussion¶

Learner Variables¶

• Gender — predictor: outcomes differ by group: a gap reflecting circumstances and treatment, not a cause

Related Claims¶

• Hispanic and low-income students reported more challenges and technology problems after the shift online than non-Hispanic White and higher-income peers; rural students did not differ — a narrower finding that bears on this claim
• Technology access problems during the COVID shift were more prevalent among minoritized students and students from lower-income households — related
• Despite more challenges, minoritized, female, and lower-income students were more likely to rate their online STEM experience as good as or better than in person — related
• Students experiencing more major challenges reported lower satisfaction with their post-COVID STEM course and learning — related
• Students of color receive disparaging signals about belonging and ability that their White upper-middle-class peers are far less likely to receive — related
• Hispanic students reported higher frequencies of six of the seven non-technology challenges measured in the survey — a narrower finding that bears on this claim