Inequality in Higher Education: Faces in Figures the Context of the covid-19 Pandemic (Emphasis on Colombia)

Abstract

This article documents and shows the increase in educational inequality in times of the co­vid-19 pandemic, with a view to devising strategies to mitigate it. The focus of analysis is the Colombian higher education level. The following questions guide the inquiry: What has happened to educational inequalities since the covid-19 pandemic? What analyses are made in terms of inequality and post-pandemic for the Colombian context? A mixed approach combining documentary and descriptive quantitative analysis is applied. The result is that in some countries the relative gains in well-being that had been achieved until 2016 decreased, gaps expressed in dualities were generated: countries in the North and South, urban and ru­ral areas, public and private universities, women and men, people with or without economic resources and employment, access/no access to internet and devices, and sighted and blind people. Educational inequality increased in terms of men and women, care and health, location, disparities, availability and requirements, and access. With the pandemic, opportunities for access and retention were not expanded by governments and many educational organizations. Post-pandemic, for Colombia student enrollment increased and teacher recruitment decreased.