The Impact of Social Relationships on College Student Learning during the Pandemic: Implications for Sociologists

Abstract

This article uses survey data gathered in fall 2020 and spring 2021 from students at a public, midwestern university to explore the factors affecting self-reports of learning during the pandemic. The consistent finding is that social relationships—support from professors and connections to peers—are critical. The impact of social relationships on learning is statistically significant even when other factors that have received much attention during the pandemic, including self-reports of mental health, technology access, and financial worries, are taken into account. The implications of these findings for our work as sociology teachers during and after the pandemic and for our departmental activities are highlighted.