TY  - RPRT
        AU  - Gershoni, Naomi
AU  - Stryjan, Miri
        TI  - Disconnected: The Unequal Impact of Online Learning on Minority Students
        PY  - 2026/Mar/
        PB  - Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)
        CY  - Bonn
        T2  - IZA Discussion Paper
        IS  - 18445
        UR  - https://www.iza.org/index.php/publications/dp18445
        AB  - Online instruction can expand access to education for disadvantaged groups, yet it often deepens performance gaps. We study its impact on high-stakes exam outcomes using administrative data on five cohorts of students in 31 Israeli vocational colleges and the abrupt shift to online instruction during the COVID-19 pandemic. In this setting, exams were held in person and graded centrally, ensuring comparability to pre-pandemic performance. A difference-in-differences design comparing outcomes within students and across cohorts shows significant declines in exam attendance and demonstrated knowledge after the switch to online instruction. These effects are not explained by local infection rates or childcare responsibilities and are especially pronounced among Arabic-speaking minority students, regardless of socioeconomic status. Drawing on variation in infrastructure, residential crowdedness, language of instruction, and prior academic performance we identify poor internet access as a key mechanism. In addition, while the negative effects on majority students are concentrated among lower-performing students, for minority students the effects are, if anything, larger among high achievers.
        KW  - online instruction
KW  - education and inequality. minorities
KW  - vocational education
KW  - higher education
KW  - COVID-19
        ER  -