Adapting to Online Instruction: Disparities Among Graduate and Professional Students

Abstract

Nearly two-thirds of graduate and professional students enrolled at five large, public research universities reported that they were able to adapt to online instruction “well” or “very well” according to the Graduate Student Experience in the Research University (gradSERU) COVID-19 survey of 7,690 graduate and professional students (Figure 1). Preliminary survey results suggest that 24% of students adapted “very well” to the transition to remote learning while 42% of students adapted “well” to the transition to online learning implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Additionally, approximately one-third (34%) of graduate and professional students indicated that they adapted only “slightly well” or “not at all well” to the transition to remote instruction implemented by their universities. Although many students adapted well to online instruction, the data suggest that students from low-income or working-class backgrounds and students with disabilities did not adapt as easily to online instruction.