So close and yet so far: Comparing the experiences of university non-traditional students before and after the pandemic

This paper explores the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the objective and subjective experiences of working-class non-traditional students in Higher Education (HE). Against the backdrop of increased access to tertiary education, the study delves into the challenges faced by historically under-represented groups, analyzing educational vulnerabilities and inequalities. More specifically, the contribution analyses how the pandemic scenario change students’ experience—in terms of the emergence of new forms of inequality—. With this aim, the research involves 20 in-depth interviews with working-class non-traditional students in a Catalan public university before the pandemic (2018) and 12 interviews after the pandemic (2022). Results reveal that while these students already encountered significant hurdles before the pandemic, the crisis further amplified difficulties, hindering their academic success and deepening pre-existing inequalities. Unexpectedly, elements initially designed to facilitate the situation, such as non-presential teaching, contributed to an unsatisfactory experience, fostering isolation and loss of specific links and codes within the academic field. The findings underscore the pandemic’s detrimental effects on European HE systems, representing a setback in terms of equity and a substantial loss of opportunities for non-traditional students.