A Course-Level Analysis of the Grade Gap between Off-Reserve Indigenous and Non-Indigenous Students in British Columbia

Kevin P. Mongeon and Janique Dubois

Canadian Public Policy, 2025, vol. 51, issue 3, 298-318

Abstract: The educational attainment levels of Indigenous peoples in Canada are lower than those of non-Indigenous peoples. Using detailed student-level data from British Columbia, we estimate grade disparities between off-reserve Indigenous and non-Indigenous students from 2010 to 2018. We identify a persistent yet narrowing grade gap across courses, with particularly notable disparities in key core subjects, including English 10, English 12, and Science 10. Approximately half of these grade disparities can be explained by observable school, student, family, and community characteristics. We also find that Indigenous students’ academic outcomes are especially sensitive to socio-economic conditions such as parental and neighbourhood income, highlighting the potential of targeted socio-economic interventions to meaningfully narrow the achievement gap.

Keywords: Indigenous education; grade gap; course-level analysis; education production function; socio-economic determinants (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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