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Quant Hub: Social inequality, academic resilience, and learning outcomes: evidence from six cycles of PISA
This seminar discusses findings from a recent analysis of the impact of the pandemic on cognitive and non-cognitive learning outcomes. More specifically, results from the 2022 Programme in International Student Assessment (PISA) were juxtaposed against five previous test administrations to examine the impact of school closures across Canada, United States, Australia, New Zealand, Great Britain, and Europe. The findings, gleaned from approximately 1.45 million student test profiles, suggested an important intersection between cognitive and non-cognitive outcomes. In particular, pandemic related learning deficits for students with high levels of a sense of belonging and growth mindset were approximately one school year for reading, and half a school year for mathematics and sciences. Conversely, for students who were frequently bullied, the COVID-related losses averaged 1.5 school years across all three test domains: mathematics, reading, and science literacy. Overall, the analysis indicated that students, when controlled for the trend, experienced a loss of 0.07 standard deviations in their sense of belonging to school, an increase of 0.14 standard deviations in fixed mindset, and a 3% decrease in the probability of being frequently bullied, compared to past student cohorts. The results further suggested that lower socioeconomic status students, as represented in the bottom quartile of the PISA Economic, Social, and Cultural Status (ESCS) index, were disproportionate impacted by the pandemic. The seminar concludes with a discussion of the implications for supporting academic resilience in contemporary education systems.
Biography
Louis Volante (PhD) is a Distinguished Professor at Brock University and a Professorial Fellow at UNU-MERIT / Maastricht Graduate School of Governance. His interdisciplinary scholarship focuses on the global governance of education; politics, policy, and large-scale reform; political economy of education systems; international achievement surveys and policy diffusion; and impact evaluation of policies and programmes. Professor Volante’s research is widely referenced in academic and policy communities and has received continuous funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC). His current SSHRC funded research examines the short- and long-term impact of the pandemic on student learning outcomes.
Full Biography:
brocku.ca/education/faculty-and-staff/dr-louis-volante
unu.edu/merit/about/research-fellow/prof-louis-volante
Teams-link: teams.microsoft.com/l/meetup-join/19%3ameeting_ZDYwMTY0ZmQtNjkzYS00NjFlLWEzNzgtNWYzMTkzNzQ1YmM2%40thread.v2/0?context=%7b%22Tid%22%3a%22cc95de1b-97f5-4f93-b4ba-fe68b852cf91%22%2c%22Oid%22%3a%22b33f55d8-6202-46f8-a141-737715faff88%22%7d s
Date:
21 October 2025, 12:45
Venue:
15 Norham Gardens, 15 Norham Gardens OX2 6PY
Venue Details:
Seminar Room D (Department of Education) and Teams
Speaker:
Professor Louis Volante (Brock University, Canada)
Organising department:
Department of Education
Part of:
Quantitative Methods Hub Seminars
Booking required?:
Not required
Cost:
Free
Audience:
Public
Editors:
Hannah Freeman,
Heather Sherkunov,
Kristina Khoo
