IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/gender/v31y2024i4p1544-1559.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Care in times of the pandemic: Rethinking meanings of work in the university

Author

Listed:
  • Özlem Altan‐Olcay
  • Suzanne Bergeron

Abstract

In this paper, we challenge the meanings of work that marginalize academic activities associated with care and contribute to inequitable gender divisions of academic labor. We argue that the pandemic crisis and the revision of the meaning of “essential work” that accompanied it has served as a catalyst for such concerns to get a hearing. But while there has been significant attention paid to domestic care demands and their impact on academic labor, there is less focus on the caretaking work we do in the university even though the gender unequal distribution of teaching, mentoring and service work has also intensified in the pandemic. We argue that this is in part due to the institutional discourses and practices that continue to devalue many components of everyday academic labor. In order to challenge these limits, we extend ideas from Feminist political economy (FPE) to university settings in order to reframe academic labor and revalue care as an essential part of it. We offer two suggestions, connected to FPE methodologies, for gathering and reconceptualizing data on academic work to push the project forward. We conclude with the argument that this project of revaluing caring labor is essential for achieving goals of equity, faculty well‐being, and the sustainability of universities.

Suggested Citation

  • Özlem Altan‐Olcay & Suzanne Bergeron, 2024. "Care in times of the pandemic: Rethinking meanings of work in the university," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(4), pages 1544-1559, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:gender:v:31:y:2024:i:4:p:1544-1559
    DOI: 10.1111/gwao.12871
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/gwao.12871
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/gwao.12871?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Nancy Folbre, 2006. "Measuring Care: Gender, Empowerment, and the Care Economy," Journal of Human Development and Capabilities, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 7(2), pages 183-199.
    2. Meredith Nash & Brendan Churchill, 2020. "Caring during COVID‐19: A gendered analysis of Australian university responses to managing remote working and caring responsibilities," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(5), pages 833-846, September.
    3. Ronnie J. Steinberg & Deborah M. Figart, 1999. "Emotional Demands at Work: A Job Content Analysis," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 561(1), pages 177-191, January.
    4. Cassandra M. Guarino & Victor M. H. Borden, 2017. "Faculty Service Loads and Gender: Are Women Taking Care of the Academic Family?," Research in Higher Education, Springer;Association for Institutional Research, vol. 58(6), pages 672-694, September.
    5. Ilaria Boncori, 2020. "The Never‐ending Shift: A feminist reflection on living and organizing academic lives during the coronavirus pandemic," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(5), pages 677-682, September.
    6. Linda Babcock & Maria P. Recalde & Lise Vesterlund & Laurie Weingart, 2017. "Gender Differences in Accepting and Receiving Requests for Tasks with Low Promotability," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 107(3), pages 714-747, March.
    7. Mariya Ivancheva & Kathleen Lynch & Kathryn Keating, 2019. "Precarity, gender and care in the neoliberal academy," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(4), pages 448-462, May.
    8. Batsheva Guy & Brittany Arthur, 2020. "Academic motherhood during COVID‐19: Navigating our dual roles as educators and mothers," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(5), pages 887-899, September.
    9. KerryAnn O’Meara & Alexandra Kuvaeva & Gudrun Nyunt, 2017. "Constrained Choices: A View of Campus Service Inequality From Annual Faculty Reports," The Journal of Higher Education, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 88(5), pages 672-700, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Sorana-Alexandra Constantinescu & Maria-Henriete Pozsar, 2022. "Was This Supposed to Be on the Test? Academic Leadership, Gender and the COVID-19 Pandemic in Denmark, Hungary, Romania, and United Kingdom," Publications, MDPI, vol. 10(2), pages 1-13, April.
    2. Anna Maria Górska & Karolina Kulicka & Zuzanna Staniszewska & Dorota Dobija, 2021. "Deepening inequalities: What did COVID‐19 reveal about the gendered nature of academic work?," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(4), pages 1546-1561, July.
    3. Maria do Mar Pereira, 2021. "Researching gender inequalities in academic labor during the COVID‐19 pandemic: Avoiding common problems and asking different questions," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(S2), pages 498-509, July.
    4. Einat Lavee & Amit Kaplan, 2022. "Invisible work at work and the reproduction of gendered social service organizations," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(5), pages 1463-1480, September.
    5. Anna Carreri & Manuela Naldini & Alessia Tuselli, 2024. "Inequalities in Academic Work during COVID-19: The Intersection of Gender, Class, and Individuals’ Life-Course Stage," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 13(3), pages 1-20, March.
    6. Walters, Cyrill & Mehl, Graeme G. & Piraino, Patrizio & Jansen, Jonathan D. & Kriger, Samantha, 2022. "The impact of the pandemic-enforced lockdown on the scholarly productivity of women academics in South Africa," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 51(1).
    7. Susana Martínez-Restrepo & Laura Ramos-Jaimes & Alma Espino & Martin Valdivia & Johanna Yancari Cueva, 2017. "Measuring women’s economic empowerment: Critical lessons from South America," INFORMES DE INVESTIGACIÓN 015825, FEDESARROLLO.
    8. Brad M. Barber & Wei Jiang & Adair Morse & Manju Puri & Heather Tookes & Ingrid M. Werner, 2021. "What Explains Differences in Finance Research Productivity during the Pandemic?," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 76(4), pages 1655-1697, August.
    9. Anastasios Hadjisolomou & Fotios Mitsakis & Steven Gary, 2022. "Too Scared to Go Sick: Precarious Academic Work and ‘Presenteeism Culture’ in the UK Higher Education Sector During the Covid-19 Pandemic," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 36(3), pages 569-579, June.
    10. Nilmini M. Rathnayake & Pivithuru J. Kumarasinghe & Ajantha S. Kumara, 2022. "How Do Different Types of University Academics Perceive Work from Home Amidst COVID-19 and Beyond?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(9), pages 1-19, April.
    11. Arceo-Gomez, Eva O. & Campos-Vazquez, Raymundo M., 2019. "Gender stereotypes: The case of MisProfesores.com in Mexico," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 55-65.
    12. Dide van Eck & Eline Jammaers, 2021. "Chronicles of conflicting care in confinement: Documenting the work experiences of seven ‘patient zeros’," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(2), pages 735-748, March.
    13. Katherine Doerr, 2024. "“Flying under the radar”: Postfeminism and teaching in academic science," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(3), pages 710-726, May.
    14. Danielle Docka‐Filipek & Lindsey B. Stone, 2021. "Twice a “housewife”: On academic precarity, “hysterical” women, faculty mental health, and service as gendered care work for the “university family” in pandemic times," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(6), pages 2158-2179, November.
    15. Dorothea Bowyer & Milissa Deitz & Anne Jamison & Chloe E. Taylor & Erika Gyengesi & Jaime Ross & Hollie Hammond & Anita Eseosa Ogbeide & Tinashe Dune, 2022. "Academic mothers, professional identity and COVID‐19: Feminist reflections on career cycles, progression and practice," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(1), pages 309-341, January.
    16. Cyrill Walters & Linda Ronnie & Marieta du Plessis & Jonathan Jansen, 2023. "Academics in Lockdown: A Gendered Perspective on Self-Esteem in Academia during the COVID-19 Pandemic Lockdown," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(6), pages 1-14, March.
    17. Mila Getmansky Sherman & Heather E. Tookes, 2022. "Female Representation in the Academic Finance Profession," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 77(1), pages 317-365, February.
    18. Joanna M. Davies & Lisa Jane Brighton & Florence Reedy & Sabrina Bajwah, 2022. "Maternity provision, contract status, and likelihood of returning to work: Evidence from research intensive universities in the UK," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(5), pages 1495-1510, September.
    19. Pınar E. Dönmez, 2022. "The COVID-19 Pandemic, Academia, Gender, and Beyond: A Review," Publications, MDPI, vol. 10(3), pages 1-13, September.
    20. Lawson, Cornelia & Geuna, Aldo & Finardi, Ugo, 2021. "The funding-productivity-gender nexus in science, a multistage analysis," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 50(3).

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:gender:v:31:y:2024:i:4:p:1544-1559. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/journal.asp?ref=0968-6673 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.