Precarity of women’s academic work and careers during the COVID-19 pandemic

The history of women's engagement with the academy has been characterised by exclusion and inequality. Seven decades ago, Virginia Woolf1 asked: Do we want to join the procession or don't we? On wh...

Emerald Studies in Higher Education, Innovation and Technology seeks to provide a multifaceted and interdisciplinary approach to these interconnected topics and invites proposals from all scholars working in these fields. The underlying purpose of this series is to demonstrate how innovations in education, educational technology and teaching can advance research and practice and help us respond to socio-economic changes and challenges. The series has a broad scope, covering many topics, including but not limited to learning analytics, open and distributed learning, technology enhanced learning, digital pedagogies, data mining, virtual and augmented realities, cloud computing, social media, educational robotics, flipped classrooms, active learning, innovation networks and many more.

This Special Issue was conceived and developed following a series of international conferences held in Asia, with a particular focus on critically reflecting upon higher education development in the region from broader social and political economy perspectives. Some of the papers in this Special Issue were selected from presentations in the East Asia Social Policy (EASP) Research Network Conference successfully held in Taiwan in 2018, while others were chosen from international events held at Lingnan University in Hong Kong presenting critical reviews and reflections on internationalization, marketization and graduate employment of higher education in Asia. This introductory article puts the discussions of the selected papers in this issue in context, with critical reflections on the key issues being examined in these papers. The Special Issue is published when the world is still confronting the unprecedented global health crisis resulted from the outbreak of the COVID‐19 pandemic. This article discusses the higher education development trends in Asia through the massification, diversification and internationalisation processes in transforming the higher education system and examines how these development trends are affected by the COVID‐19 crisis.

Against the backdrop of an increase in research on the effects of COVID-19, this article uses the analysis of survey data of female academics from the 26 higher education institutions in South Africa to identify how female academics with young children coped with academic output during the pandemic-enforced lockdown. A growing body of research documents the influence of children and childcare on the careers of female academics. In this article, we see how female academics who stayed at home during the enforced lockdown period negotiated childcare and home-schooling, and how the lockdown influenced their academic output. An online survey questionnaire was administered, consisting of 12 Likert-scale questions followed by an open-ended section that solicited a narrative account of academic work and home life during the lockdown period. Data on female academics with children under the age of six years was extracted for this study. The quantitative and qualitative data that emerged from our study of 2,018 women academics at 26 universities across South Africa describes how academic mothers felt, and how they struggled to complete the academic work required by their educational institutions. Such academic work directly influences future career prospects. This study highlights the influence that the presence of young children in the home, the pressures of home-schooling, traditional gender roles, and household responsibilities have on the academic careers of women.

Relevance. Today, the topic of academic integrity is quite relevant among the scientific and educational communities, and it is based on the fact that ethical behavior in academic work in higher educational institutions is an effective tool that ensures the quality of higher education from the point of view of international standards. The issue of academic cheating in higher education institutions has become globalized, which has forced researchers to focus on the study of academic ethics from different perspectives.Purpose. The main purpose of this study is to investigate the perception and attitude of teachers and students toward the issue of ethical behavior in academic work, as well as factors that contribute to solving the problem of plagiarism.Methodology. The following scientific methods were used during the research: structural-functional method, method of synthesis, logical and comparative analysis, and method of generalization.Results. The study showed that students' attitudes toward the issue of ethical behavior in academic work are similar due to various institutional, socio-cultural, and personal factors, as well as the fact that some individuals have no idea about plagiarism. It has been shown that a number of factors can lead to a problem of ethical behavior in academic work, and no taxonomy can explain either all these factors, how they affect the problem, or how it manifests itself. The study shows that students do not feel guilty for missing classes and using other people's work on their own. Most people demand a tolerant attitude towards plagiarism and accept the practice of passing off other people's tasks and Internet sources as their own.Conclusions. The practical significance of the work is that all theoretical provisions, conclusions, and recommendations can be used in educational institutions by teachers and students to increase their level of knowledge about ethical behavior in academic work.

The lack of women in leadership across higher education has been problematised in the literature. Often, contemporary discourses promote “fixing the women” as a solution. Consequently, interventions aimed at helping women break through “the glass ceiling” abound. We argue that the gendered power relations at play in universities cause entrenched inequalities to remain in place, regardless of measures implemented for and by women. This article reports on a study of the impact of COVID-19 on 2029 women academics in South Africa. We examine how academic women’s roles as nurturers at home are extended to their roles as carers at work, and how these impact their prospects for career progression. The article further shows how expectations placed on women academics as carers contribute to gendered dimensions of inequality that are detrimental to both their own well-being and careers. Finally, we call on higher education institutions to “fix themselves”, rather than “the women”, if they want to dismantle gender inequalities.

This paper aimed to alleviate the disparity in the literature regarding social media use for collaboration and communication and its influence on the performance of students at higher education. A questionnaire survey on constructivism theory, technology acceptance model, and communication theory were utilized as the key method for collecting data and was circulated among a total of 863 university students. The obtained outcomes of students’ behavioral intention to utilize social media to collaborate learning and online communication indicates a positive effect on their academic works in higher education institutes, while male students were not completely satisfied with interaction with peers for collaboration learning. The study indicates that collaboration learning, as well as online communication over social media enhances, the students learning activities and enable to sharing knowledge, information, and discussions, and hence, we recommend students to utilize social media for education purpose and should have encouraged them through lecturers at higher level education institutions.

As the fastest growing cohort of disabled student populations, autistic students are often let down by inherently ableist institutions of higher education (HE). Traditionally, institutions of HE have sought to support autistic students through an individualized approach, placing the responsibility on the autistic student to seek out and advocate for academic and nonacademic support. However, there remain opportunities for the broader community to foster autistic individual and community well-being. This conceptual analysis evaluates the current environment and approaches in HE for supporting autistic academic success and well-being and describes a community framework based on a collective combined effort that invites individual autistic students and autistic community flourishing. It contributes an alternative approach to supporting autistic students, making autistic individual and community well-being the responsibility of peers, support staff, instructors and faculty, and the institution, identifying a need to restructure institutions into ones that work to promote autistic culture and provide autonomous supports and accommodations. Right now, there are a lot of different ways in which institutions of Higher Education (HE; i.e., colleges and universities) do and do not support autistic students. There are opportunities for peers, instructors and faculty, support staff, and institutions to get involved in supporting autistic students. However, institutions of HE do not have a clear framework to make the wellbeing of autistic students a community responsibility. The purpose of this article is to evaluate the current ways in which institutions of HE support the academic success and wellbeing of autistic students and to describe a framework for a collective effort to promote individual autistic student and community flourishing. Our evaluation demonstrates that non-acceptance of autism, stigma, and oppression may impact an autistic students' experiences, making the transition to HE, academic success, and wellbeing more difficult. Traditional approaches to supporting autistic students, including formal academic supports, informal academic supports, and non-academic supports, may not be accessible to all autistic students. Our framework uses a critical understanding of learning and autism, valuing autistic experience. The goal is to support autistic academic success and wellbeing and to reduce the need for autistic students to mask, change, or seek out support to 'fit in' to HE. The framework centers individual autistic students and the autistic community, placing the responsibility of academic success and student wellbeing on the larger HE collective. Peers, instructors and faculty, support staff, and institutions are shown as having influence on the academic success and wellbeing of autistic students. These key players can promote autistic culture by being open to autistic students' decisions around disclosure; applying a Universal Design for Learning (UDL); recognizing neurodiversity as an important diversity, equity, and inclusion initiative; offering and engaging in neurodiversity trainings; developing and enhancing disability cultural centers; and featuring autistic culture in the academe; autistic culture can be promoted. Furthermore, they can support autistic student agency by honouring autistic students' autonomy, building comprehensive and connected services; normalizing academic accommodations; and offering non-academic supports. The authors hope that this article helps to create a system-wide change through a collective, combined effort to promote individual autistic student and autistic community flourishing in HE.

Reviewed by: Presumed Incompetent: The Intersections of Race and Class for Women in Academia ed. by Gabriella Gutierrez et al. Nadia M. Richardson Gabriella Gutierrez yMuhs, Yolanda Flores Nieman, Carmen G. Gonzales, and Angela P. Harris (Eds.). Presumed Incompetent: The Intersections of Race and Class for Women in Academia. Boulder, CO: Utah State University Press, 2012. 570pp. Paper: $36.95. ISBN 978-0-87421-922-7. This anthology, Presumed Incompetent: The Intersections of Race and Class for Women in Academia, is comprised of essays that explore the presumption of incompetence that arises when women of color pursue academic careers in culturally inhospitable institutions of higher education. The theme woven throughout the book is the experienced and, at times, internalized presumption that the women represented in these stories do not possess the intellectual competency to belong in the academically rigorous “ivory tower” traditionally equated with White male scholars. Although the civil rights movement in the United States is currently commemorating its 50th anniversary, affirmative action debates continue to rage, spurred on most recently by the Supreme Court’s decision to order an appeals court to re-rule on the most current affirmative action case, Fisher v. University of Texas). At issue is the questioned constitutionality and necessity of considering race in higher education admission processes in what some consider a postracial society. Institutions of higher education are caught in the crux of the debate and face the challenge of increasing campus diversity in environments that covertly resist such efforts by claiming liberal objectivity and academic freedom. Instead, scholarly uniformity may be rewarded with tenure, and social hierarchical power structures are reproduced along the lines of race, gender, and class (Evans, 2007; Tierney & Bensimon, 1996; Woods, 2006). Through interviews, academic research, and first-person accounts, Presumed Incompetent explores the intersection of race, class, gender, sexual orientation, and ethnicity in the professional experiences of women in academia. While the stories and research represent a variety of disciplines, a majority of them are legal academic narratives that utilize critical race feminism and intersectionality. Critical race feminism (CRF) is a theory that emerged in response to the essentialist portrayals of Black women in critical legal studies (CLS) and critical race theory (CRT) (Crenshaw, 1991; Williams, 1991; Wing, 1997). It deconstructs the allegedly neutral concepts of CLS and CRT by focusing attention on the sexual and racial aspects of power relationships and the multi-dimensional experiences of women of color who are subjected to multiple forms of discrimination based on their race, class, and gender. Combined with intersectionality, a concept that examines the “multiple systems of oppressions” that “simultaneously corroborate and subjugate to conceal deliberate, marginalizing ideological maneuvers that define ‘Otherness’” (Few, 2007, p. 454), CRF places women of color at the center of its analysis. Presumed Incompetent adeptly brings theory to life by providing powerful examples of overt and covert discrimination that women in academia face due to their intersecting identities. Presumed Incompetent consists of 30 chapters grouped in five parts. Part 1, “General Campus Climate,” focuses on ways in which institutions of higher education can foster hostile climates that contribute to the persistence of discriminatory stereotypes that negatively impact how students and colleagues perceive women of color. Part 2, “Faculty-Student Relationships,” highlights classroom challenges for women of color, especially regarding teaching evaluations and unexamined consumer-driven student expectations of faculty homogeneity. Part 3, “Network of Allies,” presents the struggle that women of color face in developing the professional networks and mentorship they need to advance their careers and secure tenure. Part 4, “Social Class in Academia,” is a rare and thought-provoking analysis of class bias in higher education with a particular focus on the performance of class, class bias, and the evolving acquisition and navigation of social capital. Part 5, “Tenure and Promotion,” showcases the institutional racism that pervades the often ambiguous path to tenure and the self-doubt and psychological harm that it elicits. Each story, study, and interview presented in the five individual parts deconstructs the layers of cultural incompetence and inequitable power structures that inform the contributors’ presumed incompetence. The women who contributed their stories, research, and time to this important anthology provide a wealth of cultural and professional...

Orientation: Higher education institutions face significant challenges in retaining women’s services as they navigate the challenges of a career. One of the factors critical in retaining the services concerns leadership behaviour displayed by managers.Research purpose: The aim of the study was to explore the relationship between leadership behaviour, and the retention of women in the higher education sector.Motivation for the study: To determine how leadership behaviour impacts the retention of women.Research approach/design and method: A quantitative research approach was employed with descriptive, correlation and multiple regression analysis. The population consisted of 2732 females. A sample of 311 females from different ages, races, marital statuses, staff categories and educational levels across a higher education institution in South Africa was drawn.Main findings: The results indicated that leadership factors such as relationship orientation, integrity, involvement and task orientation are significantly related to women’s retention in terms of unique needs, growth, recognition, work conditions, work relationships and support. The most significant retention factor is leaders’ work relationship with female employees.Practical/managerial implications: Exploring the role of leadership in enhancing women’s retention is noteworthy for the higher education sector. The high drop-out rate by women from academic careers and gender inequity necessitate a review of factors such as leadership behaviour to prevent women in academia from abandoning their careers.Contribution/value-add: This study outlined leadership behaviour critical to the retention of women.

The paper summarizes the experience in higher education institutions financing, substantiates the trends in their financial support models diversification. The study systematizes approaches to the organization of higher education institutions financing under market conditions and reveals their advantages and disadvantages in terms of the effects at the level of an individual and society as a whole. It defines tools and models of the financing under orientation on demand, supply and strategic purposes of the national development. The study proves the need to substantiate the rational balance of individual and social effects in higher education institutions financing, which can be achieved through a combination of market self-regulation and state regulation of the higher education services market. The system of methods was used in the study, namely: monographic – to define the research aim and conclusions, the method of theoretical generalization of foreign and domestic scientists was used to critically analyze the existing approaches to the organization of financing the work of agricultural education higher institutions. General scientific methods of cognition, such as analysis and synthesis, induction and deduction, systemic integrated approach, were used to systematize the models of financial support for higher agricultural education institutions and to generalize the conclusions. The paper substantiated that the state should take leading positions in higher education institutions financing. The role of state funding in ensuring sustainable development of agricultural education higher institutions has been identified considering the specificity of educational services and their role in ensuring sustainable development of the agricultural sector of the economy and rural areas. It is argued that the current conditions of free economic development and challenges the institutions face requires focusing on consumer demand and adjusting their educational services through prompt updating the changing educational programs based on modern research, attracting a larger number of stakeholders in the financing model formation. The modern tendencies typical of the market of educational services determining the expansion of the participants of the organization of financing the higher education institutions activity, are considered. The importance of financing elements focused on the innovations development, the role of which will grow in the future, especially in the form of competitive and targeted financing is revealed. It is proved that the results-based approach to the organization of financing also reduces the risks of macroeconomic inefficiency and contributes to reducing the information asymmetry. The obligatory presence of the state in the organization of research funding in higher education institutions is justified due to the positive impact of research on educational services quality and increases their value for an individual and society. The paper considers options for market-oriented higher education financing and the state's demands in terms of the concept of management, public and private funding methods, the education fee. It is established that the changing conditions of the market of educational services require a revision of targets for state funding due to the following factors: increased number of foreign students, use of information and communication technologies, increase in the integration of higher education institutions nationally and internationally. Key words: higher education institution, higher agricultural education, concepts of higher education institution management, methods of free economic education financing, sources of higher education institutions financing.

Globally, career development is a challenge for women academics at higher education institutions. In South African higher education institutions, Black women academics still lag in terms of career progression and their representation in leadership positions compared to their male counterparts. While structural and systemic challenges contribute to this, a lack of formal mentorship support for Black women academics is among the underlying reasons. Against this background, using various mentorship models applied in higher education institutions as the theoretical lens, this book chapter explores a conceptual framework for mentorship support to early-career Black women academics, which will often happen in a cross-cultural context due to historical imbalances. Through a qualitative research approach, a narrative literature review is provided based on content analysis of literature, both peer-reviewed and non-reviewed. Through a conceptual framework, this chapter provides insight regarding the type of mentorship support that is required to advance the career development trajectory of early-career Black women academics in South Africa, considering the paucity of women’s mentorship programs at most of our higher education institutions. Recommendations propose how mentorships can be integrated into the formal career development trajectory of these academics.

This article explores the psychosocial impact of online teaching and learning on students, following the decision by South African universities to move teaching and learning from physical contact platforms to cyberspace interactions. South Africa’s intervention, like many other countries, adopted the necessary measures that would prevent the spread of the virus among its population, particularly educational institutions. One such measure was the decision to shut down institutions in South Africa and the contingent measure to operationalise teaching and learning using cyberspace. The unprecedented move to online teaching engendered levels of anxiety and fear, and presented a highly disruptive and traumatic experience for many students, especially those from impoverished and rural backgrounds. While focusing on student psychosocial vulnerabilities during this pandemic, the article also presents background factors such as social and economic factors that constrain student success in South Africa’s higher education institutions (HEIs), and which became exacerbated during the pandemic. It further explores the behavioural significance of online teaching and learning’s impact on the physical and psychological energy that students devote to their academic work. The study is underpinned by psychosocial and student-integration theories, and it weaves the argument articulated by leaning heavily on the secondary data. Lastly, by way of recommendation, the study highlights the unique challenges that the COVID-19 disaster posed for South African students in HEIs and emphasises the need to give symbolic attention to these unique challenges. The study, therefore, is proposing improvement in preparedness and the mitigation of societal disruption in South African society and higher education during future pandemics.

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought increased attention to the existing gender asymmetries in academia, which have been extensively studied in the literature. Using the analytical lens of “gendered academic citizenship”, this paper takes a micropolitical perspective to examine how the pandemic has impacted the dynamics of academic work, specifically focusing on the often-overlooked aspect of everyday interactions in the work environment. Through qualitative and quantitative analysis of survey data collected from 1750 lecturers and researchers in Portuguese higher education and research institutions, the study uncovers that women, especially those who are younger, single, have specific caregiving responsibilities, and are in the early stages of their careers, were more vulnerable to experiencing “everyday” microaggressions such as silencing, exclusion, belittlement, being ignored, lack of validation, and invisibility compared to men during the pandemic. These findings suggest that, while the marginalization of women in academia is a longstanding issue, the virtual work model has created a platform for the expression of subtle forms of disempowerment and discrimination against women. These dynamics are perpetuated within the micropolitics of organizations, shaping subjective feelings of belonging and circulating differential levels of recognition within academic institutions.

The COVID-19 pandemic significantly affected students studying in higher education (HE) institutions in the UK and international contexts. Black and Asian Minority Ethnic (BAME) university students faced massive pressure during and post COVID-19 pandemic, alongside trying to meet their education goals. Our research project was with postgraduate students from two HE institutions, and this paper highlights participants' lived experiences and perspectives, including emotional stress, the need for greater support to access learning resources, financial issues and physical and mental health issues. Our paper suggests that HE institutions need to provide democratic spaces to encourage all students, including BAME students, to engage in dialogues among themselves and with other key players in HE, such as policymakers, and local and international communities, to address issues of inequality. It is important for HE institutions to listen to students' voices, reflect on the impact of the pandemic on their lives and make strategic planning for mitigating negativities and uplifting quality learning experiences post the pandemic.