IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v15y2023i6p4999-d1094284.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Academics in Lockdown: A Gendered Perspective on Self-Esteem in Academia during the COVID-19 Pandemic Lockdown

Author

Listed:
  • Cyrill Walters

    (Stellenbosch Business School, Stellenbosch University, Bellville, Cape Town 7530, South Africa)

  • Linda Ronnie

    (School of Management Studies, University of Cape Town, Cape Town 7700, South Africa)

  • Marieta du Plessis

    (Department of Industrial Psychology, Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences, University of the Western Cape, Cape Town 7537, South Africa)

  • Jonathan Jansen

    (Department of Education Policy Studies, Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch 7602, South Africa)

Abstract

This qualitative research explores the experiences and sense-making of self-worth of 1857 South African women academics during the enforced pandemic lockdown between March and September 2020; the study was conducted through an inductive, content analysis process. Since worldwide lockdowns were imposed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, women academics, in particular, have reported a unique set of challenges from working from home. Gender inequality within the scientific enterprise has been well documented; however, the cost to female academics’ self-esteem, which has been exacerbated by the pandemic, has yet to be fully realized. The findings of the study include negative emotional experiences related to self-worth, engagement in social comparisons, and the fear of judgement by colleagues, which were exacerbated by peer pressure. Finally, the sense-making of academic women’s self-esteem as it relates to their academic identity was reported. Beyond being the first comprehensive national study on the topic, the study’s insights are more broadly useful for determining what support, accommodation, and assistance is needed for academic women to sustain performance in their academic and research duties at universities worldwide.

Suggested Citation

  • 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.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:15:y:2023:i:6:p:4999-:d:1094284
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/6/4999/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/6/4999/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Marjan De Coster, 2020. "Towards a relational ethics in pandemic times and beyond: Limited accountability, collective performativity and new subjectivity," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(5), pages 747-753, September.
    2. 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.
    3. Ea Høg Utoft, 2020. "‘All the single ladies’ as the ideal academic during times of COVID‐19?," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(5), pages 778-787, September.
    4. Heather Antecol & Kelly Bedard & Jenna Stearns, 2018. "Equal but Inequitable: Who Benefits from Gender-Neutral Tenure Clock Stopping Policies?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 108(9), pages 2420-2441, September.
    5. 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.
    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. 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.
    3. 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.
    4. 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.
    5. Zachary Ferrara & Carlos J. Asarta, 2023. "The Lived Experiences of Top Women Contributors to Leading Economic Education Journals," The American Economist, Sage Publications, vol. 68(1), pages 110-125, March.
    6. King, Molly M. & Frederickson, Megan, 2020. "The Pandemic Penalty: The gendered effects of COVID-19 on scientific productivity," SocArXiv 8hp7m, Center for Open Science.
    7. Thereza Raquel Sales de Aguiar & Shamima Haque & Keith A. Bender, 2022. "Athena SWAN gender equality plans and the gendered impact of COVID‐19," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(2), pages 591-608, March.
    8. 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.
    9. 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.
    10. Mario Macis & Mirco Tonin, 2017. "Gender Differences in Earnings and Leadership: Recent Evidence on Causes and Consequences," ifo DICE Report, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, vol. 15(02), pages 18-21, August.
    11. Aleem, Majid & Sufyan, Muhammad & Ameer, Irfan & Mustak, Mekhail, 2023. "Remote work and the COVID-19 pandemic: An artificial intelligence-based topic modeling and a future agenda," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 154(C).
    12. Jennifer C. Davis & Eric Ping Hung Li & Mary Stewart Butterfield & Gino A. DiLabio & Nithi Santhagunam & Barbara Marcolin, 2022. "Are we failing female and racialized academics? A Canadian national survey examining the impacts of the COVID‐19 pandemic on tenure and tenure‐track faculty," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(3), pages 703-722, May.
    13. repec:ces:ifodic:v:15:y:2017:i:2:p:19337555 is not listed on IDEAS
    14. Sharon Ee Ling Quah & Alexandra Ridgway, 2022. "The woman writer's body: Multiplicity, neoliberalism, and feminist resistance," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(1), pages 44-57, January.
    15. Rebecca A. Krukowski & Loneke T. Blackman Carr & Danielle Arigo, 2022. "Pandemic-Related Tenure Timeline Extensions in Higher Education in the United States: Prevalence and Associated Characteristics," Challenges, MDPI, vol. 13(2), pages 1-11, July.
    16. repec:ces:ifodic:v:15:y:2017:i:2:p:18-21 is not listed on IDEAS
    17. Benjamin Bennett & Isil Erel & Léa H. Stern & Zexi Wang, 2020. "Paid Leave Pays Off: The Effects of Paid Family Leave on Firm Performance," NBER Working Papers 27788, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    18. Albanesi, Stefania & Olivetti, Claudia & Petrongolo, Barbara, 2022. "Families, labor markets and policy," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 118038, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    19. Da Ke, 2021. "Who Wears the Pants? Gender Identity Norms and Intrahousehold Financial Decision‐Making," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 76(3), pages 1389-1425, June.
    20. Ursprung, Heinrich, 2019. "Endogenous maternity allowances as exemplified by academic promotion standards," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 1-11.
    21. Sarah Shandera & Jes L Matsick & David R Hunter & Louis Leblond, 2021. "RASE: Modeling cumulative disadvantage due to marginalized group status in academia," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 16(12), pages 1-20, December.
    22. Oriana Bandiera & Ahmed Elsayed & Anton Heil & Andrea Smurra, 2022. "Economic Development and the Organisation Of Labour: Evidence from the Jobs of the World Project," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 20(6), pages 2226-2270.

    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:gam:jsusta:v:15:y:2023:i:6:p:4999-:d:1094284. 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: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    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.