Congratulations to Prof. Doris Buss and Prof. Blair Rutherford (Department of Sociology and Anthropology) who have won a Carleton University COVID-19 Rapid Research Response Grant.
In response to COVID-19, Carleton developed an internal funding opportunity to provide seed funding for original, innovative, and time-sensitive research to propose solutions to the challenges posed by this pandemic.
Attending (to) Class: Intersectional Study of COVID-19 Adaptation in Universities in Canada and Africa, will focus on one university in each of Canada, Kenya, and Sierra Leone. With universities across the globe rapidly moving their curriculums online, this pilot study examines the gendered, socio-economic, racialized, and rural/urban contexts that shape access and participation in distance education for women and men students. The project will also look at access and use of the technology (phones, computers, internet) needed for distance education, and the differences in class, race, and rural/urban locations, alongside other obligations, including caring roles, that women and men students navigate when undertaking their studies. The research team, including Professors Aisha Ibrahim (University of Sierra Leone), Sarah Kinyanjui (University of Nairobi), and student researchers from each university, will conduct interviews and focus group discussions with students and university administrators at each institution. The resulting data on intersecting inequalities and student access to distance learning will inform ongoing COVID-19 responses.