campusreview . com . au policy & reform of respondents felt the pandemic “ had contributed to labour-exploitation and work-based harm ”.
“ Drawing on SDT ’ s three principles of autonomy , competence and relatedness for wellbeing , these harms might be protected against by an ‘ improved sense of belonging within the institution ’; however , there was only 30.2 per cent agreement with this survey question ,” the authors state .
However , the study also uncovered some encouraging findings regarding institutional culture and practices , with the majority ( 60.9 per cent ) feeling well supported by their university during the pandemic . Also , camaraderie among teams was high , with 82.1 per cent of academics feeling supported by their colleagues and nearly three-quarters ( 74.8 per cent ) felt supported by their line-manager .
COVID-19 AND JOB SECURITY Plunging revenue and wide-spread job cuts in the Australian university sector were reflected in the academics ’ responses to many of the survey statements regarding job security , job prospects and career trajectories .
For example , an overwhelming 92 per cent of the academics agreed with the statement that “ the COVID-19 crisis will be used by universities as a means to legitimise ‘ cost-cutting ’ initiatives ( closing programmes / departments / making job cuts )”.
“ Respondents ’ concerns about job security ( 76.5 per cent are fearful for their current job ), damaged career prospects ( 50 per cent ), damaged early career academics ’ job prospects ( 80.9 per cent ), and predictions of increased casualisation ( 80.7 per cent ) paint a stark picture of the academic landscape ,” the authors state in the paper .
“ Finally , there was overwhelming agreement ( 93.3 per cent ) with the statement ‘ Changes brought about by the COVID-19 crisis will be long-lasting ’.”
THE CHANGING NATURE OF ACADEMIC WORK
Of course , the COVID-19 pandemic necessitated an almost overnight switch from face-to-face learning to an online model across Australian universities .
As the authors state : “ Academics are portrayed within survey accounts as scrambling in their transition from largely face-to-face to ‘ emergency remote teaching ’ during lockdown periods , often reliant on video-conferencing technology such as Zoom or Microsoft Teams , or through their existing Learning Management System .”
While some Australian universities have offered online courses for many years , the study found that the “ rapid emergency transition online appears to have been challenging for many ”. This was due to a lack of competence for many in delivering online learning , a perception that workloads were increasing , and boundaries between work and home were becoming blurred .
This quick , wholesale transition to online learning elicited some negative comments from respondents : “ Worker abuse . Staff are so desperate to keep their jobs , that they are too scared to say ‘ no ’ to the staggering increase in workload that wholly online learning brings .”
The study adds : “ A majority of respondents talked of long work hours , fatigue and exhaustion . Some spoke of the mental health challenges brought about by a rapid proliferation and escalation of workbased demands and the destabilisation of work-life balance , related especially to their pastoral obligations : “ I have built strong respectful and engagement [ sic ] relationships with my students , but gosh that required a lot of work — my work day was 9am to 10pm for fourteen weeks ... This can ’ t be the new norm .”
SILVER LININGS BROUGHT ABOUT BY THE PANDEMIC
Although the rapid transition to online learning was reported as stressful and overwhelming by many academics , by the same token it was also perceived as something of a “ silver lining ”, as the following respondent stated : “ Because online meetings and classes became necessary , most individuals learned ‘ by doing ’ how to use technology for communicating online that they would not have otherwise learned at all , or so deeply . This is a positive change because now most teachers have more choices about how they teach because they were forced by universal circumstance to upskill and in the process , gained insights into what works and doesn ’ t work for their disciplines and cohorts .”
Working from home was seen to have benefits for both staff and employer if done properly .
Linking back to the framework of STD , these pedagogical changes resulted in academics having to acquire a broader digital skill set , which could provide more autonomy in the way they deliver their lectures and tutorials in the future .
Other positive “ silver linings ” that were reported and related to online learning included “ greater flexibility , less travel ( and carbon footprint ) for commuting and conferences , and more time for research as a result of reduced travel ”.
“ Working from home was seen to have benefits for both staff and employer if done properly ,” the authors state .
“ Many expressed hope that more traditional working hours and expectations of presenteeism would change for good with more flexibility for how , where and when ( including across time zones ) academic staff would work .
“ Some saw COVID-19 as an opportunity to reassess the reliance on international students and to ‘ embrace ’ domestic students . Others saw significant networking opportunities opening up as a result of meetings , events and conferences moving online , no longer being ‘ limited by geography ’ or financial means .”
In summary , the authors state that the 2020 global survey found that the pandemic has had a “ broad , deep and durable ” impact on Australia ’ s higher education sector . And while positives were reported , the impact of COVID-19 on Australian academics ’ workload , health and wellbeing was overwhelmingly negative , as was the pandemic ’ s impact on job security .
“ In the Australian context , despite comparative success in containing the devastating health effects of the virus , the impacts of COVID-19 appear magnified by government apathy towards sustaining a university workforce . New policy directions are required that revisit the government ’ s laissez-faire approach to the sector , and universities ’ reliance on international students ,” the authors conclude . ■
15