Publication
Within the context of STEM education, students who enter university having studied mathematics in high school and men are considered the traditional population. From this perspective, students who do not correspond to such profile have more difficulties succeeding in their studies. Previous studies have shown that with some efforts, curricula can be made more inclusive. Therefore, this study investigated to what extent online forums help diverse students, as defined previously, succeed in the first year at university, a period where freshmen are most at risk to drop out and where we estimate that forums could support most. The study relied on quantitative methods to investigate the intended aim. More precisely, the research took on an explorative secondary data analysis in order to process data already available in Piazza Forums. Using a large sample (N=2337), our results revealed that indeed the use of forums in the first year at university is more beneficial for weaker students in terms of mathematics ability and for women.