5th ISA Forum of Sociology (6-11 July 2025)

For young people in school, the COVID-19 pandemic brought about the closure of schools, effectively stopping their normal pathways of educational progress. Many schools attempted to provide educational instruction online, via ZOOM and other internet connections, yet these options were often found to be somewhat ineffective and unreliable as a means of teaching youth. There remains a need to better understand the broader effects of the pandemic upon the educational experiences of youth. Furthermore, there were considerable variations around the globe in regard to how schools and parents attempted to maintain a “normal” school experience progressing for children. The lack of physical presence, of both teachers and peers, likely affected youth in manners which remain largely unknown. The disruptions caused by the pandemic may have affected not only their immediate school performance, in the short-term regard, but also their aspirations for and eventual educational attainment.

In this session, we invite submissions from scholars around the globe which address the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic upon the educational performance, attainment, and aspirations of youth. Topics of interest may include, but are not limited to: school performance, educational aspirations, long-term implications of school disruption, variations in parental involvement, social class differences in school responses to the pandemic, gender and school performance, family factors and educational aspirations, and other related issues. Given the considerable variations in how the pandemic affected the school experiences of youth, we seek submissions from all regions of the world, and submissions from all theoretical and methodological perspectives.