The emotional labour of academia in the time of a pandemic: A feminist reflection.

Michelle Newcomb

doi:10.1177/1473325020981089

Abstract

During the COVID19 pandemic, emotional labor has become an indispensable resource in social work, providing comfort, strength, and focus for many. Within the social work academy, emotional labor has been required to support students, especially as education has moved quickly into online and remote teaching modes. For the majority female social work educators, the pandemic has also led to a rise in caring responsibilities, especially for children. This personal essay explores the experience of a female, early career social work academic in negotiating the use of emotional labor simultaneously in paid and unpaid roles during the pandemic. This exploration is contextualised within the neoliberal university and its expectation of how emotional labor should be used to meet student and business needs. The essay questions the individualized practice and responsibility of emotional labor and questions alternative ways to meet the emotional needs of individuals, families, and universities during the COVID19 pandemic.

Highlights

Faculty of Health, School of Public Health and Social Work, Queensland University of Technology, Queensland, Australia
As a social work academic, I had intellectually anticipated emotions, disconnection and even death during the pandemic, but the lack of value prescribed to the emotional labour was unexpected
I work in a university in Australia and I am the primary carer of two children

Summary

Introduction

Faculty of Health, School of Public Health and Social Work, Queensland University of Technology, Queensland, Australia. This emotional labour extended to my children, the students enrolled in my class, but it was used in maintaining the illusion of master juggler within my professional role. This reflective essay examines my experience of emotional labor in the time of COVID19 within the context of being a female, early career researcher within a neoliberal university.

Results

Conclusion