Sumit Karn

Instructor and PhD Student in Comparative & International Education, Teachers College at Columbia University

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About Sumit

Karn's primary research interests lie in the intersection of the diffusion of ideas/institutions and the impact of public opinion on educational systems and reforms, particularly within the context of South Asia. Karn pursues this work through the disciplinary lens of sociology and political science, utilizing multiple and mixed methods approaches.

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Contributions

Online Growth Can Save Struggling US Universities

Commentary, September 2025

Protecting Public Education Amid the High-Stakes School Choice Debate

Basic Facts Brief, March 2025

Publications

"Analyzing Non-Linear and Interactive Impacts of Distance Learning on College Enrollment Post-COVID-19" (with Noha Emara, Mycaeri Atkinson, and Tiffany Tryon). Economic Analysis and Policy 85 (2025): 2112-2125.

Explores the impact of distance education on total college enrollment, considering changes spurred by COVID-19 and various demographic characteristics. Finds that increased online learning is linked to higher total enrollment, especially after the pandemic began.

"More Girls are Accessing School, but are They Learning? An Exploratory Study of the Factors Influencing Girls’ Mathematics Achievement in Pakistan" (with Vandita Churiwal, Chris Henderson, Mia Chin, and Shreya Sanjeev). Current Issues in Comparative Education (CICE) 25, no. 1 (2023).

Examines the relationship between gender and mathematical achievement among grade four students in Pakistan, within the broader context of gender equity in education. Results show that despite overall inequity in access to education for female students, girls outperform boys in mathematics.

"Equitable Research-Practice Partnerships: A Multilevel Reimagining" (with Kemi A. Oyewole, Jen Classen, and Maxwell M. Yurkofsky). The Assembly: A Journal for Public Scholarship on Education 5 (2022).

Examines the potential of research-practice partnerships (RPPs) in promoting sustainable and equitable school reform. Explores how neoliberal market, bureaucratic, and professional logics operate between institutional, organizational, and individual levels to compromise the goal of using RPPs for equity. Reimagines what RPPs could be if they were instead rooted in a progressive social justice logic.