Sociology of Education: Maths & the Social
A webinar co-organized by the Canadian Sociological Association's Sociology of Education Research Cluster (CSA) and the Canadian Association of Sociology of Education (CASE).
March 26, 2026 @ 12:00 PM Eastern Time
Download the event poster - coming soon
Presentation 1:
Patrick Denice, PhD, University of Western Ontario & Shahar Dangur-Levy, PhD, University of Western Ontario
Disruptions to high school math course taking trajectories during the COVID-19 pandemic
By now, much research as demonstrated the deep and lasting toll taken on students and their education by the COVID-19 pandemic. Students experienced substantial learning loss, lower test scores in math and reading, and lower rates of high school completion (Liu 2023) and enrollment in college or university. Less is known, however, about how the pandemic affected students’ math attainment, particularly as they progressed through high school. This study draws on administrative, student-level data from one U.S. state and estimates multilevel logistic regression models to address the following core research question: How did the COVID-19 pandemic and the shift to remote instruction affect high school students’ advancement in math courses? We find that rates of advancement (that is, of taking a higher-level math course in one year compared to the prior year) decreased during the 2020-21 school year—especially among students who spent a greater share of the year in remote instruction. Findings also reveal widening gender, racial, and socioeconomic gaps in math advancement during the pandemic. These disruptions contribute to stratification in two ways: students who do not advance in one grade level are less likely to attain higher levels of math in high school generally, and the variation in disruption by gender, race, and socioeconomic status means some students fall even further behind in subsequent grades.
Presentation 2:
Shahar Dangur-Levy, PhD, University of Western Ontario
Mathematics Self-Efficacy as a Mediator and a Moderator of the Gender Gap in STEM Education
Drawing on Social Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT), this study examines whether gender differences in students’ likelihood to enroll in and complete a STEM degree are mediated or moderated by math-efficacy. Utilizing the National Education Longitudinal Study (NELS) data—a nationally representative sample of U.S. students—I find that math-efficacy mediates about 12% of the effect of gender on enrollment in Physical-STEM majors and 10% of the effect of gender on STEM degree completion. Higher levels of math-efficacy are associated with higher probabilities of enrollment in STEM degrees. Surprisingly, the positive effect of math-efficacy on both enrollment and completion of a Physical STEM degree is higher among young men. Implications for narrowing the gender gap in STEM education are discussed.