Business School Grades, Assessment Scores, and Dropout Rates in the Covid-19 Pandemic

Abstract

In response to the Covid-19 pandemic, universities shifted from predominantly in-person learning to fully online instruction in early 2020. Subsequent semesters faced continued uncertainty regarding course modalities, with institutions adopting an idiosyncratic mix of formats dependent on current community infection rates. In this paper, we compare student performance in three Covid-19 affected semesters to performance in the previous two unaffected semesters. Performance is measured as course grades, scores on standardized course specific assessment tests, and the incidence of dropping, withdrawing, or earning a grade of an F. On average, we find grades trended significantly higher throughout the semester, although student performance on standardized course assessment tests and the incidence of students failing or dropping remained relatively unchanged. This was not true for all types of students. First-year and first-generation students did significantly worse throughout the pandemic in online courses, as compared to courses with some in-person element. In addition, women in courses with some in-person requirement reversed the usual penalty observed in business courses, outperforming otherwise equivalent male students in this modality.