The immediate stage of the COVID-19 pandemic placed university instruction into an emergency remote mode. The intermediate stage of the pandemic has continued to present economic, psychological, and social challenges to workers, including academic staff. This paper details part of a project examining changes in faculty lives since the pandemic’s onset. The study’s two waves took place during the immediate and intermediate periods of the COVID-19 pandemic (Christakis, 2020). The study of pandemics, in particular, and disasters more generally, suggests that the long tail toward recovery after the immediate threat has receded but while lasting aftershocks or additional waves may arrive can be a period of particular psychological disruption (Van Hoof et al., 2021). We report on survey data collected from academic staff at three selective liberal arts colleges in New York in the immediate aftermath of the lockdown in 2020 and during the intermediate stage a year later in 2021. Specifically, we investigate two measures of life satisfaction: changes in satisfaction with work-life balance and work strain.
Our findings indicate that at both the immediate and the intermediate stage of the pandemic academic staff reported lower levels of satisfaction with work-life balance compared to pre-pandemic and higher levels of work strain. They reported the same decline in their satisfaction with work-life balance in 2021 as they did in 2020 with those with caregiving responsibilities showing the largest declines and tenured faculty the smallest. Similarly, work strain was as high in 2021 as it had been in 2020, but the sources of this elevated strain shifted from teaching and research demands in the immediate stage to emotional labor demands during the intermediate stage of the first full academic year of the pandemic. As the pandemic continues to linger, the consequences for life satisfaction may become increasingly dire.
The immediate stage of the COVID-19 pandemic placed university instruction into an emergency remote mode. The intermediate stage of the pandemic has continued to present economic, psychological, and social challenges to workers, including academic staff. This paper details part of a project examining changes in faculty lives since the pandemic’s onset. The study’s two waves took place during the immediate and intermediate periods of the COVID-19 pandemic (Christakis, 2020). The study of pandemics, in particular, and disasters more generally, suggests that the long tail toward recovery after the immediate threat has receded but while lasting aftershocks or additional waves may arrive can be a period of particular psychological disruption (Van Hoof et al., 2021). We report on survey data collected from academic staff at three selective liberal arts colleges in New York in the immediate aftermath of the lockdown in 2020 and during the intermediate stage a year later in 2021. Specifically, we investigate two measures of life satisfaction: changes in satisfaction with work-life balance and work strain.
Our findings indicate that at both the immediate and the intermediate stage of the pandemic academic staff reported lower levels of satisfaction with work-life balance compared to pre-pandemic and higher levels of work strain. They reported the same decline in their satisfaction with work-life balance in 2021 as they did in 2020 with those with caregiving responsibilities showing the largest declines and tenured faculty the smallest. Similarly, work strain was as high in 2021 as it had been in 2020, but the sources of this elevated strain shifted from teaching and research demands in the immediate stage to emotional labor demands during the intermediate stage of the first full academic year of the pandemic. As the pandemic continues to linger, the consequences for life satisfaction may become increasingly dire.
The immediate stage of the COVID-19 pandemic placed university instruction into an emergency remote mode. The intermediate stage of the pandemic has continued to present economic, psychological, and social challenges to workers, including academic staff. This paper details part of a project examining changes in faculty lives since the pandemic’s onset. The study’s two waves took place during the immediate and intermediate periods of the COVID-19 pandemic (Christakis, 2020). The study of pandemics, in particular, and disasters more generally, suggests that the long tail toward recovery after the immediate threat has receded but while lasting aftershocks or additional waves may arrive can be a period of particular psychological disruption (Van Hoof et al., 2021). We report on survey data collected from academic staff at three selective liberal arts colleges in New York in the immediate aftermath of the lockdown in 2020 and during the intermediate stage a year later in 2021. Specifically, we investigate two measures of life satisfaction: changes in satisfaction with work-life balance and work strain.
Our findings indicate that at both the immediate and the intermediate stage of the pandemic academic staff reported lower levels of satisfaction with work-life balance compared to pre-pandemic and higher levels of work strain. They reported the same decline in their satisfaction with work-life balance in 2021 as they did in 2020 with those with caregiving responsibilities showing the largest declines and tenured faculty the smallest. Similarly, work strain was as high in 2021 as it had been in 2020, but the sources of this elevated strain shifted from teaching and research demands in the immediate stage to emotional labor demands during the intermediate stage of the first full academic year of the pandemic. As the pandemic continues to linger, the consequences for life satisfaction may become increasingly dire.
Keywords
COVID-19 pandemic
higher education
work strain
work-life balance
The immediate stage of the COVID-19 pandemic placed university instruction into an emergency remote mode. The intermediate stage of the pandemic has continued to present economic, psychological, and social challenges to workers, including academic staff. This paper details part of a project examining changes in faculty lives since the pandemic’s onset. The study’s two waves took place during the immediate and intermediate periods of the COVID-19 pandemic (Christakis, 2020). The study of pandemics, in particular, and disasters more generally, suggests that the long tail toward recovery after the immediate threat has receded but while lasting aftershocks or additional waves may arrive can be a period of particular psychological disruption (Van Hoof et al., 2021). We report on survey data collected from academic staff at three selective liberal arts colleges in New York in the immediate aftermath of the lockdown in 2020 and during the intermediate stage a year later in 2021. Specifically, we investigate two measures of life satisfaction: changes in satisfaction with work-life balance and work strain.
Our findings indicate that at both the immediate and the intermediate stage of the pandemic academic staff reported lower levels of satisfaction with work-life balance compared to pre-pandemic and higher levels of work strain. They reported the same decline in their satisfaction with work-life balance in 2021 as they did in 2020 with those with caregiving responsibilities showing the largest declines and tenured faculty the smallest. Similarly, work strain was as high in 2021 as it had been in 2020, but the sources of this elevated strain shifted from teaching and research demands in the immediate stage to emotional labor demands during the intermediate stage of the first full academic year of the pandemic. As the pandemic continues to linger, the consequences for life satisfaction may become increasingly dire.
The immediate stage of the COVID-19 pandemic placed university instruction into an emergency remote mode. The intermediate stage of the pandemic has continued to present economic, psychological, and social challenges to workers, including academic staff. This paper details part of a project examining changes in faculty lives since the pandemic’s onset. The study’s two waves took place during the immediate and intermediate periods of the COVID-19 pandemic (Christakis, 2020). The study of pandemics, in particular, and disasters more generally, suggests that the long tail toward recovery after the immediate threat has receded but while lasting aftershocks or additional waves may arrive can be a period of particular psychological disruption (Van Hoof et al., 2021). We report on survey data collected from academic staff at three selective liberal arts colleges in New York in the immediate aftermath of the lockdown in 2020 and during the intermediate stage a year later in 2021. Specifically, we investigate two measures of life satisfaction: changes in satisfaction with work-life balance and work strain.
Our findings indicate that at both the immediate and the intermediate stage of the pandemic academic staff reported lower levels of satisfaction with work-life balance compared to pre-pandemic and higher levels of work strain. They reported the same decline in their satisfaction with work-life balance in 2021 as they did in 2020 with those with caregiving responsibilities showing the largest declines and tenured faculty the smallest. Similarly, work strain was as high in 2021 as it had been in 2020, but the sources of this elevated strain shifted from teaching and research demands in the immediate stage to emotional labor demands during the intermediate stage of the first full academic year of the pandemic. As the pandemic continues to linger, the consequences for life satisfaction may become increasingly dire.
The immediate stage of the COVID-19 pandemic placed university instruction into an emergency remote mode. The intermediate stage of the pandemic has continued to present economic, psychological, and social challenges to workers, including academic staff. This paper details part of a project examining changes in faculty lives since the pandemic’s onset. The study’s two waves took place during the immediate and intermediate periods of the COVID-19 pandemic (Christakis, 2020). The study of pandemics, in particular, and disasters more generally, suggests that the long tail toward recovery after the immediate threat has receded but while lasting aftershocks or additional waves may arrive can be a period of particular psychological disruption (Van Hoof et al., 2021). We report on survey data collected from academic staff at three selective liberal arts colleges in New York in the immediate aftermath of the lockdown in 2020 and during the intermediate stage a year later in 2021. Specifically, we investigate two measures of life satisfaction: changes in satisfaction with work-life balance and work strain.
Our findings indicate that at both the immediate and the intermediate stage of the pandemic academic staff reported lower levels of satisfaction with work-life balance compared to pre-pandemic and higher levels of work strain. They reported the same decline in their satisfaction with work-life balance in 2021 as they did in 2020 with those with caregiving responsibilities showing the largest declines and tenured faculty the smallest. Similarly, work strain was as high in 2021 as it had been in 2020, but the sources of this elevated strain shifted from teaching and research demands in the immediate stage to emotional labor demands during the intermediate stage of the first full academic year of the pandemic. As the pandemic continues to linger, the consequences for life satisfaction may become increasingly dire.
Keywords
COVID-19 pandemic
higher education
work strain
work-life balance
