Disconnected connection: A reflective look at the challenges of student engagement in higher education during COVID-19

Food and housing insecurity are two of the silent threats to participating in higher education and affect many students in community colleges and universities in the United States (King, 2018). In 2019, nearly 167,000 students from 227 higher education institutions (HEIs) responded to a survey conducted by The Hope Center. This survey indicated that “39% of respondents were food insecure in the prior 30 days, 46% of respondents were housing insecure in
the previous year, [and] 17% of respondents were homeless in the previous year” (Baker-Smith et al., 2020, p. 2). The topics of food and housing insecurity among students in HEIs have been consistent barriers to higher education participation and success (Baker-Smith et al., 2020; Broton, 2019), especially among vulnerable student populations (Maynard et al., 2018). During the year 2020, the global pandemic exacerbated these barriers and demanded expedient institutional
responses. The global pandemic of the coronavirus or COVID-19 has caused many higher education institutions in the United States to rethink their priorities and reassess issues of equity in education (UNESCO, 2020). As HEIs began to close their campuses, teaching was promptly shifted to an online format, and students were asked to move out of campus housing. Housing insecure students
struggled with the uncertainty of returning to an unstable housing situation which was further complicated by the predicament of securing means of remaining connected to the required digital learning environment. While withstanding the barriers of housing insecurity, students had to obtain
internet access and required technology tools for digital participation which became an additional hurdle for them. Certainly, these sudden transformations at HEIs revealed a noticeable difference between students who had access to the tools and resources needed to continue to digitally participate in their education and those who did not (Flannery, 2020). Without a doubt, COVID19 revealed many challenges of equity for vulnerable groups within HEIs (Crow & Anderson,
2020), including housing insecure students. The purpose of this reflection essay is to shed light on two important struggles housing insecure students in higher education are facing during the COVID-19 pandemic: housing insecurity
(Bramhall, 2020) and maintaining digital accessibility and connectivity (Wust, 2020). We interviewed students, pseudonyms used to maintain anonymity, about their experiences as a housing insecure student. Within this essay, we discuss COVID-19 and how housing insecurity impacted digital accessibility. Next, we explore COVID-19 and digital accessibility and connectivity by shedding light on the restrictions implemented and how they affected students during COVID-19. Specifically, those students reliant upon the digital and internet resources
available at their university campuses were suddenly obligated to establish resources independently to continue making academic progress. Finally, we will conclude the reflection by sharing the current impact on trends in higher education that have resulted as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic.