Flexible work arrangements and gender differences in research during the COVID-19 period in Zimbabwean higher learning institutions

This study sought to investigate the impact of COVID-19-induced flexible work arrangements (FWAs) on gender differences in research outputs during COVID-19. A mixed research methodology was used, focusing on higher learning institutions in Zimbabwe. Purposive sampling was applied to select 250 researchers from the 21 registered universities in Zimbabwe. The study's findings revealed that institutions of higher learning in Zimbabwe did not provide the necessary affordances to enable both male and female academics to work from home effectively. The study also established that FWAs were preferred and appreciated by both male and female academics. However, whilst both male and female academics performed their teaching responsibilities without incident, unlike males, females struggled to find time for research, thus affecting professional growth and development negatively for female academics. Cultural traditions were found to subordinate females to domestic and caregiving responsibilities unrelated to their professions. The findings raise questions on the feasibility of the much-recommended FWAs for future work on female academics' research careers. Thus, without the necessary systems and processes to support female researchers, FWAs can only widen the gender gap in research outputs. This study contributes to the Zimbabwean higher learning institutions' perspective on how FWAs' policies and practices could be re-configured to assist female researchers in enhancing their research outputs as well as their career growth.

Coping Orientation of Academic Community in the Time of COVID-19 Pandemic: A Pilot Multi-Country Survey Study

In this paper, we have mapped the coping methods used to address the coronavirus pandemic by members of the academic community. We conducted an anonymous survey of a convenient sample of 674 faculty/staff members and students from September to December 2020. A modified version of the RCOPE scale was used for data collection. The results indicate that both religious and existential coping methods were used by respondents. The study also indicates that even though 71% of informants believed in God or another religious figure, 61% reported that they had tried to gain control of the situation directly without the help of God or another religious figure. The ranking of the coping strategies used indicates that the first five methods used by informants were all non-religious coping methods (i.e., secular existential coping methods): regarding life as a part of a greater whole, regarding nature as an important resource, listening to the sound of surrounding nature, being alone and contemplating, and walking/engaging in any activities outdoors giving a spiritual feeling. Our results contribute to the new area of research on academic community's coping with pandemic-related stress and challenges.

Digitizing Education During COVID-19 Pandemic in Bahrain Higher Education Context

This study is an endeavor to probe and explore digitizing education during COVID-19 Pandemic in Bahrain. The study is explorative in nature conducted with quantitative survey approach and utilizing the snowball and purposive techniques in collecting data. The sample focuses on the Academic Staff at public and private universities in Bahrain during the COVID-19 pandemic. Microsoft Excel and SPSS analytical packages were used to evaluate the data. The main results revealed the influential role of Covid-19 on the topics explored. This study presumed to highlight some of the emergent issues faced during the pandemic and the future direction of digital education. This study is the first study to focus on COVID-19 and Digitizing Education in Bahrain. © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2022.

Optimising students' participation during emergency remote teaching in the Covid-19 pandemic

This study examined issues related to students' participation and online absenteeism among students at Zimbabwe's universities during COVID-19 induced online teaching and learning. More specifically, the study examined some of the ethical issues related to students' participation and assessment during online learning in selected universities in Zimbabwe. The study also examined some of the strategies that can be adopted to optimize students' participation during online learning to make online learning a more honest and interactive endeavour. To fully understand the challenges related to participation and online absenteeism, the study extrapolated the perspectives of students and academic staff who had adopted online learning since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. The research was a mixed-methods study, employing a descriptive-analytical approach which utilised three main methods of data collection. Firstly, semi-structured questionnaires distributed electronically among participants in the selected universities were used to collect research data. Secondly, follow-up online focus-group discussions (FGDs) were conducted to elicit participants' views on some of the ethical challenges posed by online learning and possible strategies for dealing with the challenges. Finally, follow-up telephone interviews were also conducted with lecturers with the same objective as the FGDs. The study's population consisted of 110 students and 77 academic staff randomly selected from six universities in Zimbabwe. Two of the selected universities were privately owned and four were public universities. The study showed some of the technological and pedagogical issues regarding students' participation and strategies for optimising students' participation during online learning. The study also shared some of the ethical challenges that arose from the adoption of online teaching and assessment systems and the policy, resource and training interventions needed to make online learning more interactive, while at the same time safeguarding academic integrity. The findings of this study, therefore, have implications for universities, learners and academic staff if online learning programmes are to be successful. Firstly, universities for instance, need to ensure that students and academic staff have the prerequisite technological resources to ensure that optimal active learning takes place. Secondly, to address the shortage of resources, universities should ensure that their libraries migrate from physical to digital libraries. Universities should also ensure that both academic staff and students receive the necessary training to access these digital libraries and the services they offer.

E-Readiness of the Universities During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Evidence from Bahrain

This study examines the E-readiness of the Universities during the Covid-19 pandemic in the kingdom of Bahrain. The study uses quantitative methods and purposive techniques in collecting data during the Covid-19 pandemic. The data were collected from public and private universities in Bahrain during the Covid-19 pandemic. The public and private universities in Bahrain turned to remote learning during the Covid-19 pandemic. The main results revealed the influential role of Covid-19 on teaching methods and the readiness of the Academic staff during the Covid-19 outbreak. This study highlights the impact of Covid-19 on the Academic staff's readiness in using and learning new skills to disseminate the courses' contents among students. The need of significant investment and IT governance infrastructure is essential for the digital transition in public and private universities in Bahrain. © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2022.

The many shades of violence against women: a call to action

Confronting gender-based violence is a key area of concern and one that calls for urgent action. These debates have become particularly relevant in light of the Covid-19 pandemic and the unveiling of underlying inequalities. Amongst the many unintended consequences of the pandemic lies the increased risk of domestic violence for vulnerable women who have been required to self-isolate. There is increasing evidence that we are facing more than one pandemic with quite worrying and widespread problems in global systems, whether they relate to public health or to human rights. As academics, we can contribute by theorizing with intersectionalities, translating research into practice, engaging with our local communities and creating non-stigmatized environment. But most of all, we can advocate for victims.

Hybrid and virtual work settings, the interaction between technostress, perceived organisational support, work-family conflict and the impact on work engagement

PurposeThe study assessed the impact of technostress creators, work–family conflict and perceived organisational support (POS) on work engagement for employees operating within the virtual and hybrid work settings. The idea is to redefine the antecedents of work engagement in work settings that are characterised by excessive technology and work–family conflict.Design/methodology/approachData gathered from 302 academics and support staff employees at a selected university in South Africa were utilised to assess the abovementioned relationships via variance-based structural equation modelling.FindingsThe combined effect of technostress, work–family conflict and POS on work engagement indicates that work–family conflict is a critical component in the relationship between technostress and work engagement. Although POS is seen as a job resource that lessens stress, the study found that the influence of work–family conflict is stronger than that of POS;hence, a negative influence is reported on work engagement. Despite the presence of support, overwhelming technostress creators and work–family conflict issues increase demands and influence work engagement negatively.Research limitations/implicationsThe results noted that, in hybrid and virtual work settings, managers can drive employee engagement by focussing on designing more favourable work–life balance (WLB) policies, providing adequate information communication technology (ICT) support, fostering aspects of positive technology and defining the boundaries between work life and family time.Practical implicationsThe managers need to realise the detrimental effects of both technostress and work–family conflict on work engagement in virtual and hybrid work settings. Expanding the personal and job resources of individuals in hybrid and virtual settings is critical to enable them to meet the additional work demands and to manage the strain imposed by technostress. Instituting relevant organisation support has proved to be inadequate to address the challenges relating to technostress and work–family conflict. Therefore, introducing WLB policies that assist employees to set clear boundaries between work and family time to avoid burn out and spillover is critical. This is especially important when dealing with technostress creators in the remote work setting. Additionally, providing adequate ICT support as well as training related to use of different devices and software should be part of the organisational culture.Social implicationsA manageable and reasonable workload should be maintained bearing in mind the complexity and ambiguity associated with the hybrid work setting. Managers should make allowances for employees to adjust managers' schedules to accommodate personal obligations, as well as adjust employees' workloads to accommodate family responsibilities. As for the coping strategy of technostress and work–family conflict, considering the positive effects of the supportive work environment is important.Originality/valueThis study provides a model on the interaction of the redefined antecedents (technostress and work–family conflict) of work engagement in high-tech environments such as virtual and hybrid work settings.

‘Cocooning' in prison during COVID-19: Findings from recent research in Ireland

The advent of COVID-19 prompted the enforced isolation of elderly and vulnerable populations around the world, for their own safety. For people in prison, these restrictions risked compounding the isolation and harm they experienced. At the same time, the pandemic created barriers to prison oversight when it was most needed to ensure that the state upheld the rights and wellbeing of those in custody. This article reports findings from a unique collaboration in Ireland between the Office of the Inspector of Prisons – a national prison oversight body – and academic criminologists. Early in the pandemic, they cooperated to hear the voices of people ‘cocooning' – isolated because of their advanced age or a medical vulnerability – in Irish prisons by providing journals to this cohort, analysing the data, and encouraging the Irish Prison Service to change practices accordingly. The findings indicated that ‘cocooners' were initially ambivalent about these new restrictions, both experiencing them as a punishment akin to solitary confinement, and understanding the goal of protection. As time passed, however, participants reported a drastic impact on their mental and physical health, and implications for their (already limited) agency and relationships with others, experienced more or less severely depending on staff and management practices. The paper also discusses the implications for prison practices during and following the pandemic, understanding isolation in the penological context, and collaboration between prison oversight bodies and academics.

Do the macro and global economic factors drive the nonperforming loans in GCC economies?

PurposeThe current study aims to investigate the determinants of nonperforming loans (NPLs) in the GCC economies during the period spanning 2000 to 2018. It also examines whether the worldwide financial crisis of 2007–2008, which brought the issue of non–performing loans to the greater attention of academics and policymakers, had a substantial impact on NPLs in this region.Design/methodology/approachThe sample consists of 53 conventional banks from GCC countries, and the basic data for the study is obtained from various sources such as Bankscope, IMF World Economic Outlook, World Bank and Chicago Board of Options Exchange Market Volatility Index. The estimations were done by dynamic panel data regression modeling using system generalized methods of moments.FindingsThe findings reveal that both, the non-oil real GDP growth rate and inflation have favorable effects on NPLs. On the other hand, domestic credit to the private sector and the volatility index have an adverse effect on NPLs. Furthermore, the period-wise analysis shows that the relevance and significance of the determinants of NPLs vary between the precrisis and postcrisis periods. It is also reflected through the intercept dummy, which is found to be significant, indicating that the financial crisis, as a global economic factor, had a significant impact on NPLs. A number of robustness tests are applied, which indicate that the results are mostly robust and consistent in terms of the significance of the explanatory variables and the direction of their relationship with the dependent variable.Practical implicationsPolicymakers and bank authorities must strive to maintain a healthy economy and implement macroprudential policies to improve the financial stability of banks and reduce credit risk.Originality/valueTo the best of the authors' knowledge, this is likely the first study that empirically investigates the influence of the financial crisis on NPLs in the context of GCC economies. In addition, the research spans 19 years to produce more conclusive results.

Bringing together podcasting, social work field education and learning about practice with Aboriginal peoples and communities

Social work content podcasting has increased exponentially in recent years, playing a new role in the emerging social work education debate surrounding online and remote delivery of social work content. Although podcasting itself is not now a new digital innovation, how and why social work educators and academics would embrace the use of podcasting is still debated and is often positioned as inferior to face-to-face classroom teaching. In the Australian context this is particularly important when non-Aboriginal students are engaging with Aboriginal understandings of place and ways of relating to Country, a challenging reflexive exercise without the added complexity that remote educational delivery can provide. The brief history of podcasting and its relationship to social work education provides a context for re-imagining the pedagogy of critical thinking, with a case example provided of a remote field placement with The Social Work Stories Podcast during the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020.

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With the Covid-19 pandemic, both schools affiliated with the Ministry of National Education (MoNE) and in higher education institutions have switched to online distance education in Turkiye, as in the rest of the world. One of the most critical factors in the effective and efficient exe-cution of this practice is academic staff readiness for e-learning. By including multiple variables, this study investigates, the e-learning readi-ness of the academic staff teaching at a state university. The study adopts the survey design, and its research group is formed by academic staff working in a state university in the 2019-2020 academic year. 308 out of 576 academic staff working at the university voluntarily participated in the research. The data were obtained though the "Personal Information Form" and the "E-learning Readiness Scale of Academic Staff." The findings show that the level of academic staff readiness for e-learning is at a medium level. Considering the gender variable, male lecturers have a higher self-efficacy in information and communications technologies use and self-confidence in e-learning. Furthermore, the e-learning needs of 24 to 31-year-olds are more compelling than those of 48 and above. Academic staff at the Faculty of Education are more ready to e-learn than those at the Faculty of Literature. It is concluded that academic title and education level do not make any difference in e-learning readiness. In accessing the internet, the self-efficacy perceptions in information and communications technologies use of the academic staff that uses laptop computers are more positive than those who use desktop computers. Those developing their computer and internet use skills with the help of others have stronger e-learning needs than those who developed them through university courses. Various suggestions are made in line with the findings of the research.

The Changes in the Daily Lives and Life Satisfaction of Female Academicians during the Pandemic Process

Purpose: The new type of coronavirus (COVID-19) disease has more serious consequences and risks by gender and plays a role in biological, socio-cultural and behavioral differences. This process is particularly severe in terms of the problems faced by women and some disadvantaged groups. The aim of this study is to determine the effect of changes in the daily lives of female academicians on life satisfaction during the COVID-19 pandemic process. Material and Methods: The sample of this descriptive study consists of 178 female academicians who have been actively working at a public university in the northeast of Turkey between Oct 1, 2020 and Feb 1, 2021. The data of the research were collected by "Personal Information Form" and "Contentment with Life Scale". Descriptive statistics (percentage, frequency, average), Pearson product-moment correlation analysis, t-test, and ANOVA test were used to evaluate the data. Results: It was found that 83.1% of the female academicians preferred to stay at their own homes and 52.8% of them did not receive support while fulfilling their daily responsibilities during the pandemic process in which female academicians had to work and learn at home. The total score of the Contentment with Life Scale of female academicians was found to be 20.15 +/- 6.95. Female academicians who participated in the study had moderate level of contentment with life. It was determined in the study that the increase in the time spent on academic development, academic studies, and themselves increased female academicians' life contentment and was statistically significant (p<0.05). It was found that increased time spent for housework decreased life satisfaction. Conclusion: It was determined that professional and individual development is quite significant in increasing life satisfaction in female academicians. That strategies that can increase female academicians life contentment should be developed and women who are sensitive and need to be protected should be supported more in this situation.

The two-step cluster analysis of pre-COVID-19 experience and cybersecurity concerns about online education for academic staff in Saudi universities

The purpose of this research is to learn about the attitudes of the academic staff of the medical, business, humanities, and science and engineering disciplines concerning online education during the COVID-19 pandemic at Umm Al-Qura University (UQU), Saudi Arabia. While research in online education focuses on learning experiences such as facilities, learning materials, and learning interests, several elements of online education in this research were investigated, including advantages, features, and cybersecurity. The research data were gathered through a survey containing three demographic items, four items on perceptions of online education, and seven questions on perceptions of cybersecurity. Responses obtained from 238 academic staff were used for statistical analysis. After the routine descriptive analysis analyses, the response data were subjected to unsupervised k-means centroid cluster analysis. Two clusters of academic staff differing in teaching disciplines, and pre-COVID experience in online education were identified. Cluster 1 had medical and business and humanities academic staff, predominated by those without pre-COVID experience in online education, and perceived online education and cybersecurity at neutral to a slightly low level. Cluster 2 consisted of science and engineering discipline academic staff predominated by those with pre-COVID online education experience and perceived online education and cybersecurity in the range of neutral to slightly high levels. The result of this study shows that academic staff in the medical, business, and humanities disciplines have less expertise with online education software and a low level of awareness about online education security. On the other hand, academic staff of science and engineering disciplines fields has more expertise with online educational technologies and a better level of understanding of online education security. © 2022 The Authors.

Curriculum Development for Online Teaching and Learning: Academics' Perspectives from A Rural-Based University in South Africa

This study sought to explore academics' perceptions of the development and delivery of curriculum for online teaching and learning in a rural-based university. Technology integration into teaching and learning in higher education is receiving more attention, thanks to the Coronavirus pandemic that has forced all facets of lives to look for alternative methods of operation instead of face-to-face contact. The pandemic saw most institutions of higher learning move their mode of curriculum delivery from face-to-face to multimodal learning using technology. This, however, was done without considering whether the existing curriculum that was accredited to be delivered face-to-face will perfectly fit into multimodal learning. The exploratory research design within the qualitative research methodology was applied in this paper. Purposive and convenience sampling techniques were applied to sample a rural university in Limpopo province of South Africa, and academics respectively. Semi-structured interviews and reflexive thematic analysis were employed for data collection and analysis for this paper. The study revealed there is a relationship between curriculum development and the mode of delivery used for teaching. Some of the academics indicated that a lack of technological skills poses a threat to adopting new technologies for teaching. In light of this, the study recommends ICT infrastructure investment and human resource capacitation for proper integration of technology for teaching and learning.

Fractured academic space: digital literacy and the COVID-19 pandemic

Purpose: The study focussed on information literacy practices, specifically on how higher education staff managed the transition from established and routinised in-person teaching, learning and working practices to institutionally mandated remote or hybrid working patterns during the COVID-19 pandemic. Design/methodology/approach: The qualitative study forms part of a broader research project, examining how information literacy and information practices unfolded during the COVID-19 pandemic. Phase Three of this project, which forms the subject of this paper, employed semi-structured interviews to explore the impact of COVID-19 on the workplace and, in particular, the role that technology and digital literacy plays in enabling or constraining information literacy practices necessary for the operationalisation of work. Findings: The complexities of the COVID-19 pandemic precipitated a fracturing of workplace information environments and worker information landscapes by disrupting all aspects of academic life. The study recognises that whilst the practice of information literacy is predicated on access to modalities of information, this practice is also shaped by material conditions. This has implications for digital literacy which, in attempting to set itself apart from information literacy practice, has negated the significant role that the body and the corporeal modality play as important sources of information that enable transition to occur. In relation to information resilience, the bridging concept of fracture has enabled the authors to consider the informational impact of crisis and transition on people's information experiences and people's capacity to learn to go on when faced with precarity. The concept of grief is introduced into the analysis. Originality/value: This study presents original research. © 2023, Emerald Publishing Limited.

Assessment of Psychometric Properties of the Malay Version of the Brief Resilience Scale (BRS-M) among Non-Academic Staff Working from Home during COVID-19 in Malaysia.

This study aims to validate the Malay version of the Brief Resilience Scale (BRS-M) in order for the scale to be available among the Malay-speaking population. Two hundred and ninety-eight non-academic staff completed the Malay version of the Brief Resilience Scale (BRS-M), Malay Copenhagen Burnout Inventory (CBI-M), and Malay Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale (M-DASS-21). To explore the factor structure of BRS-M, exploratory factor analysis (EFA) with the first group of 149 participants was conducted using FACTOR (v.11) software. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was conducted from the data of the second group of 149 participants using SEM_PLS software. The EFA revealed a two-factor model; Factor 1 ="Resilience" and Factor 2 = "Succumbing". The CFA indicated a sufficient internal consistency reliability (Cronbach's α = 0.806 and McDonald's omega, ω = 0.812) and a good fit with SRMR = 0.031. BRS-M, CBI-M, and M-DASS-21 displayed a satisfactory concurrent validity result. Household income and marital status had significant association with resilience level, with low household income (B40 group) being a predictor of lower resilience. The BRS-M demonstrated favourable psychometric properties in terms of reliability and validity to assess the level of resilience among non-academic staff in Malaysia.

‘Andizi': black women remaking the university in KwaZulu-Natal

This paper represents narratives from black women who work at the University of KwaZulu-Natal. Their stories unearth their impossible existence within the institution and deliberateness on their survival tactics through theorising Nguni concepts of Ukuzilanda, Ukufukuza, and Andizi. In a world that does not ‘trust' black women to have a voice, have feelings, and have a story, the dialogue amongst these academics sheds light on how their everyday resistance is their survival. The paper takes a self-study approach to record the moment and define survival in anti-black, anti-women employment space. The paper also explores how the Covid-19 pandemic revealed distrust that the world usually shows towards black women.

A Coaching Co-Design: Fostering Change, Innovation, and Collaboration

A model of coaching co-design for executive teams (ETC) based on a four-year program using diagnostic and dialogic organization development tools focused on fostering change, innovation, and collaboration. The study engaged a leadership team of 34 participants from a fast-paced global software and hardware gaming company. Using extensive proprietary data, the model offers practitioners and academics a guide for co-creating a team coaching design. Co-creating a cooperative learning process uses a framework of interventions for intentionally planning and aligning behaviors and practices to support dynamic capabilities to boost firm success, adaptability, and organizational performance. This model exemplifies conditions that can unleash shared personal and organizational power for practitioners and academics. The research was undertaken in an industry where innovation and execution were necessary skills for survival and growth. This duality of skills is referred to as ambidexterity.

"En, goed gevoel dat je je stad naar de vernieling hebt geholpen?” Een kwantitatieve analyse van het relationeel besef van burgemeesters in hun publieke reacties op de avondklokrellen

"Well, did you enjoy molesting your home town?”: a quantitative analysis of the relational awareness in mayors' public responses to the COVID-19 anti-curfew riots in the NetherlandsWhen several local mayors fiercely denunciated the violent riots that erupted after a curfew was imposed as a COVID-19 mitigant in the Netherlands, journalistic and academics critics soon warned that such responses often unjustly and counter-effectively depoliticize and delegitimize public protest. The commentators joined a choir of scholars who postulate that public authorities readily distance themselves from troublemakers, let alone acknowledge their grievances. However, our content analysis of mayors' public responses to the Dutch 2021 anti-curfew riots in 719 newspaper articles finds that office holders portray considerable relational awareness. We find that mayors communicate a complex leadership style that crucially combines strict law enforcement with interpersonal empathy.

Millennials' changing mobility preferences: A telecommuting case in Istanbul

Daily mobility behaviors, especially in cities with high traffic density, are among the most fundamental drivers of quality of life. Obligatory commuting necessitates individuals sacrificing their time, money, and geographic freedom to ensure their mobility. The personal cost of fatigue, stress, and environmental cost of carbon emissions is likewise substantial. The COVID‐19 pandemic led to a widespread shift to telecommuting. The pandemic has permitted an unprecedented opportunity to study Millennials' attitudes towards commuting and telecommuting. A semi‐structured interview method was used with Millennial (now the largest percentage of the workforce) white‐collar (disproportionately able to do their work remotely) workers living in the megacity of Istanbul to understand how telecommuting has altered consumer commuting habits, values, preferences, and well‐being. The results of this study show that Millennial white‐collar workers in Istanbul see compulsory commuting as a waste of time, a stress factor, and an unwanted task. The shift towards telecommuting lowered the Millennials' tolerance for traffic and long commutes and reveals willingness for immobility at peak hours and appreciation of spatial independence as a lifestyle that increases quality of life. The need for understanding transport decisions has never been more pressing with the growth of megacities and the climate change crisis. This research has important implications for white‐collar employees and their employers, as well as academics and public policy makers, who seek to understand mobility preferences and lifestyles of different generations and the environmental implications in a dynamic environment.