Digital inequality and forced virtualization: argentine public university admissions during the pandemic

Abstract

This study examines the transformations in admission modalities to Argentine public universities during the COVID-19 pandemic. It analyzes how forced virtualization affected both access and student inclusion, considering the diversity of institutional trajectories. Thus, it hypothesizes that digitalization, while necessary, widened existing inequalities, generating "digital inequalities" that impacted differently according to students' socioeconomic context. Newer institutions or those located in areas with less technological infrastructure faced greater challenges. To carry out this work, a qualitative, multiple case study approach is developed, addressing official documents, virtual platforms, institutional websites, and conducting in-depth interviews with administrators and teachers to capture the complexity of the experiences. The analysis is carried out through the construction of an Expansion Matrix, which allows interpreting the implemented strategies and understanding how history and resources conditioned the responses to the pandemic. From there, the implications of these transformations for the democratization of Argentine higher education in the digital age are evaluated, a challenge that persists beyond the health emergency.