Impact of the Pandemic on the Teaching and Research Staff at a Technological University in Spain: Deepening the Gender Gap

Marta Peña, Noelia Olmedo-Torre, Olga Alcaraz, Juan A. Chavez-Dominguez, José López and Luis Eduardo Mujica
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Marta Peña: Department of Mathematics, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, 08034 Barcelona, Spain
Noelia Olmedo-Torre: Department of Graphic and Design Engineering, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, 08034 Barcelona, Spain
Olga Alcaraz: Department of Physics, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, 08034 Barcelona, Spain
Juan A. Chavez-Dominguez: Electronic Engineering Department, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, 08034 Barcelona, Spain
José López: Department of Physics, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, 08034 Barcelona, Spain
Luis Eduardo Mujica: Department of Mathematics, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, 08034 Barcelona, Spain

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 11, 1-26

Abstract: The alteration of the educational model caused by the COVID-19 pandemic has not affected all university faculty equally. This work explores the academic, digital and gender inequalities caused by the pandemic on the teaching and research staff of a technological university for STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) disciplines in Spain, the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya—BarcelonaTech (UPC). The study considers an anonymous survey with a non-probabilistic voluntary sample ( n = 355). The results of the survey reveal that, over these months, the teaching and research staff of the university, regardless of gender, has significantly increased its academic activity due especially to the number of hours devoted to virtual teaching compared to its teaching dedication in a situation of normalcy. This study shows that the lockdown has strongly affected women who are more vulnerable to crisis. In particular, the negative impact on research has been higher in female faculty staff from the UPC, who already face disparities regarding promotion and, during lockdown, stated more difficulties with household work reconciliation. From the results of this study, it is possible to conclude that the COVID-19 pandemic has deepened the gender gap in the academic field.

Keywords: gender; higher education; pandemic; professional and academic labour; social vulnerability; teaching and research staff (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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