Experiences of Academics Working from Home during COVID-19: A Qualitative View from Selected South African Universities

Chux Gervase Iwu, Obianuju E. Okeke-Uzodike, Emem Anwana, Charmaine Helena Iwu and Emmanuel Ekale Esambe
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Chux Gervase Iwu: School of Business and Finance, University of the Western Cape, Cape Town 7535, South Africa
Obianuju E. Okeke-Uzodike: Faculty of Management Sciences, Durban University of Technology, Durban 4001, South Africa
Emem Anwana: Faculty of Management Sciences, Durban University of Technology, Durban 4001, South Africa
Charmaine Helena Iwu: Department of Sociology/Community Development, Cornerstone Institute, Cape Town 7441, South Africa
Emmanuel Ekale Esambe: Faculty of Business and Management Sciences, Cape Peninsula University of Technology, Cape Town 7530, South Africa

Challenges, 2022, vol. 13, issue 1, 1-18

Abstract: The continuing crisis caused by the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak has raised significant challenges for the higher education community globally. In South Africa, the government-forced lockdown measures and social distancing containment policy changed working arrangements across sectors and organisations. As a result, academics were forced to work from home (WFH), a task for which they were hardly prepared. Several researchers have engaged the WFH situation of academics to understand the relationship between WFH and productivity. As far as we know, very few studies have tried to describe academics’ WFH experiences in relation to the challenges, including determining possible ways of improving their satisfaction with working from home. We examine in this article the experiences of academics working from home across selected universities in South Africa. Using a qualitative approach and applying Atlas.ti for data analysis, our findings show that working from home in academia is a daunting task requiring extensive organisational, personal, and social adjustments. The population comprised all academics irrespective of any demographic or personality characteristic within the management faculty of the participating universities to secure the anonymity of the respondents. Five themes—inability to adapt, lack of a home office, loneliness and isolation, inability to balance family and work, and improving satisfaction with work from home—were identified as significant variables from the participants’ responses. Our analysis suggests that organisations need to customise approaches to engage with the experiences of academics who work from home during COVID-19 and to develop fit-for-purpose support for these academics. The study contributes to the growing research exploring the relationship between COVID-19 lockdown and work in higher education.

Keywords: academics; COVID-19; universities; South Africa; work-from-home (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: A00 C00 Z00 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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