Female Academics’ Resilience during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Intercultural Perspectives 3031341392, 9783031341397

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Charmaine Bissessar   Editor

Female Academics’ Resilience during the COVID-19 Pandemic Intercultural Perspectives

Female Academics’ Resilience during the COVID-­19 Pandemic

Charmaine Bissessar Editor

Female Academics’ Resilience during the COVID-19 Pandemic Intercultural Perspectives

Editor Charmaine Bissessar University of Guyana Turkeyen, Georgetown, Guyana

ISBN 978-3-031-34139-7    ISBN 978-3-031-34140-3 (eBook) https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-34140-3 © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. The publisher, the authors, and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, expressed or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. The publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. This Springer imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature Switzerland AG The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland

Preface

This book was conceptualized out of my own curiosity to discover how female academics fared during the pandemic. It evolved out of a need to give voice to our trials, tribulations, and triumphs individually and collectively. We offer “ourselves up”, not as sacrificial lambs but as females who embrace our communal traits and served others in whatever capacity expected of us during the pandemic. This invisible labour (cathexis) is sometimes overlooked and taken for granted. These chapters show that we, the female academics, are the real “superheroes” for thriving in an androcentric leadership profession. We demonstrate our resilience professionally, socially, psychologically, spiritually, and as intuitive academics.

Structure and Themes of the Book The book is divided into four parts based on specific themes. Part I contains five chapters. Part II comprises two chapters, Part III consists of five chapters. Part IV contains 1 chapter which synthesizes the 12 chapters. Part I, entitled “Resiliency and Female Academics”, contains autoethnographic and collaborative autoethnographic research on how the pandemic affected these female academics and how they used their coping mechanisms to their advantage. Each chapter offers strategies to be implemented to hone one’s resiliency. The chapters also provide recommendations for Higher Education Institutions to implement in order to enhance female academics’ experiences. Additionally, the authors make recommendations for future studies. Part II, under the heading “Resiliency and Mental Health, Care Well-being”, contains two chapters pertaining to burn out and another one dealing with the implications of Psychological Capital and Authentic Leadership for a supervisor and supervisee in the US Virgin Islands. Part III contains five chapters with the title “Resiliency and Leading, Teaching, and Learning”. The first three chapters are autoethnographic with two quantitative chapters. The three autoethnographic chapters encompass personal accounts of v

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leading during the pandemic. The authors share their coping mechanisms and what held them in good stead in the long run. Part IV, “The Nature and Practice of Autoethnography and Resilience,” consists of 1 chapter which merges the key themes discussed in the previous 12 chapters.

Synopsis of the Chapters Chapter 1 opens with a collaborative autoethnography narrative with the three collaborators (Bissessar, McCauley, and Phillips) and former colleagues who detail their experiences during the pandemic. They discuss their trial and triumphs focusing on their coping mechanisms. Coming from different contexts globally, they discover similarities in their experiences. However, they diverge as single academics versus married academics with added family responsibilities. Nevertheless, the theme of mothering whether professionally or personally is prevalent in this chapter. This chapter sets the stage for Chap. 2. In Chap. 2, Mahanta examines, post-hoc, four female academics’ resiliency during the pandemic. This mixed methodology study found that female academics in North Eastern India were overwhelmed with the added responsibilities placed on them. The effects of the digital divide added to their responsibilities. Furthermore, Mahanta examined the literature on gender disparity in India and demonstrated how this disparity was amplified during the pandemic. Roofe and Ferguson, in Chap. 3, “offer themselves up” to the reader. Using this chapter as a form of catharsis, they discussed ways in which they exemplified resilience in their personal and professional lives. They demonstrated that their strong spiritual beliefs benefitted them during the pandemic and allowed them to thrive within the restrictions of the lockdown. In Chap. 4, Bordoloi et al. explore their diverse experiences in India, Philippines, and Tanzania during the pandemic. This collaborative autoethnographic study shows the positive aspects of their professional and personal lives and the challenges faced. They discuss the closeness of the family and the quality time they had as a result of the pandemic. They indicate that their research activity flourished despite the pandemic and lamented the lack of physical attendance at conferences and workshops. They provide compelling fodder for future studies of a similar nature within the context of India, Philippines, and Tanzania. Fredericks et  al. gave a detailed perspective of black minorities living in the USA during the pandemic, in Chap. 5. Via the collective autoethnographic exploration, they found themes linked to emergency remote teaching/learning, work/life balance, time management, and mental health issues inter alia. They recommended that female academics should: (a) take care of self (mentally, physically, and spiritually); (b) capitalize on human resources and social capital; (c) reframe challenges into opportunities; and (d) enjoy the process. These recommendations point to the underlying theme of intentionality which formed an indelible thread among the chapters.

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Part II commenced with Chap. 6. Berry conducted a cross-sectional study to determine the impact of burn out on female academics’ resiliency in Jamaica during the pandemic. She concluded that female academics are more prone to burn out if they lack physical exercise and have a medical condition. Berry recommended that human resource policies should take into consideration issues resulting in burn out among female academics. Hamilton and Engerman, in Chap. 7, conducted a collaborative autoethnography and found that there were separate themes for the supervisee and the supervisor. The themes related to the supervisee (Hamilton) encompassed work/life balance, self-­ awareness, and awareness of the effects of mental health. The narratives from the supervisor (Engerman) yielded themes such as emotional intelligence, values, and leadership. The supervisee capitalized on these qualities during the pandemic to display both Psychological Capital and Authentic Leadership. In Part III, Chap. 8, Bissessar examines her role as the leader of the Centre of Excellence in Teaching and Learning at the University of Guyana where she plans and implements Teacher Professional Development Workshops. She self-­ interrogates as to what symbols she used as touchstones to demonstrate resilient leadership. She utilized Meredith et al.’s (2011) and Țiclău et al.’s (2021) conceptualization of resiliency and resilient leadership to examine her own resilient leadership. The findings indicate that the three resilient factors: individual (internal), unit (behavioural), and community (situational, external) levels were prevalent when she implemented Teacher Professional Development Workshops during the pandemic. In Chap. 9, Jaggernauth explored her own mettle and how it was tested during the pandemic. She used this chapter as a catharsis to understand herself and the three crises that affected her mental and physical health and wellbeing. She shared her approach to leadership and having to come to terms with burnout. She described the value of succession planning and mentoring her replacement in the same manner in which she was mentored. She discussed the “publish or perish” treadmill that academics face daily and the concept of presenteeism. Rampersaud-Skorka, in Chap. 10, described her self-interrogation and ruminations as she shared the five pillars that helped her cope during the pandemic. Rampersaud-Skorka purported the five pillars which augmented her resilience. These include: the self, communication, social support, reality, and networks. She shared herself and her life with us during the pandemic. Noting her leadership position, her long-distance relationship, and her ability to “blossom in a thunderstorm with little sunlight.” Moving away from leadership and focusing on students, Onyefulu, in Chap. 11, conducted a cross-sectional study of female post-graduate students’ resiliency during the pandemic in Jamaica. She concluded that COVID-19 resulted in positive and negative effects for female post-graduate students. Their spirituality increased as well as their time with their families during the pandemic. However, they suffered social isolation, fear, and anxiety. Onyefulu recommended that students be trained in various coping strategies. Walker, in Chap. 12, conducted a mixed methodology study and assessed the relationship between students’ perceptions of instructor’s use of self-disclosure and

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collective resilience within the virtual classroom. She concluded that no significant relationship was found between students’ perceptions of instructor’s use of self-­ disclosure. However, she found five main themes of evaluation of teaching: (a) evaluation of teaching, (b) collective resilience, (c) values of the instructor, (d) selfdisclosure, and (e) instructor responsiveness to students. In Part IV, entitled “The Nature and Practice of Autoethnography and Resilience,” Phillips and Bissessar conclude with Chap. 13 which provides a synthesis of the preceding 12 chapters. They discussed the themes and sub-themes found in all the chapters. They linked these themes and sub-themes to specific scholarly literature. These themes include managing multiple responsibilities, blurred boundaries, supporting others/supporting ourselves, and academic advancement. These three overarching themes contained sub-themes which were discussed. They ended by making recommendations for future-proofing female academics’ resiliency.

Conclusion Apart from its significance to researchers, educators, administrators, policy-makers, psychologists, and students, this volume demonstrates that these female academics’ indomitable human spirit can be capitalized upon when needed. It adds to the extant and limited literature on female academics’ resiliency during the pandemic. The female academic voices in this book are myriad and create a space to show how they “kept all the balls juggling” (managing multiple responsibilities), “taught them, mentor them, reach them, centre them” (supported themselves and others), “blossomed in a thunderstorm” (achieved academically), and embraced sisterhood and social connections. This book contains rich details of our lives as we navigated and negotiated the pandemic. To every female academic who thrived and continue to thrive despite adversity, hold strong (bon courage). Vincit qui se vincit Non ducor, duco Turkeyen, Georgetown, Guyana

Charmaine Bissessar

Acknowledgements

This book would not have been possible without the dedication and willingness of key individuals. I would like to first acknowledge the publisher for supporting this endeavour and realizing its significance to female academics (past, present, and future). I would like to thank the contributors for their readiness to “offer themselves up” for the benefit of others who are hesitant to do so. I would like to thank the contributors for their many peer reviews, revisions, and attention to detail in getting this book to its final stage. Indeed, our efforts have borne fruits and our resilience is evident in each of these chapters. I would especially like to acknowledge Mrs. Saundra Applewhite-Hernandez, from the University of Trinidad and Tobago, and Dr. Joy Wilson, from the University of Guyana, who gave of their time to peer-review chapters. Your efforts are appreciated. Elly Phillips would like to give thanks to Kate McCauley for involving her in the project and Charmaine for the incredible hard work in assembling everything. She said, “Thanks to both Kate and Charmaine for sharing their experiences with me and collaborating with a very satisfying piece of work.” She would also like to appreciate Jules, Ciaran, and Mia for helping to create positive memories of their “timing sheltering in place.” Kate McCauley would like to thank Dr. Charmaine Bissessar and Dr. Elly Phillips “for making the co-writing process so enjoyable. It was a real pleasure to complete an auto-ethnographic study with such open, honest, and supportive colleagues.” Shrutidhara Mahanta would like to acknowledge the anonymous reviewers and Charmaine Bissessar for their comments and suggestions to improve the chapter to its current form. She also appreciates the support of Anurag Bhattacharyya for enhancing the linguistic quality of her chapter. Sharon Jaggernauth indicated, “I would like to acknowledge my friend and confidant, Mrs Zaida Khan-Ventour, who encouraged me on this journey. She started this journey with me, and I finished it for both of us.” Tajirani Rampersaud-Skorka shared, “I cannot express enough thanks to the members of  my community  who supported me during the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Without them, I would not have been able to overcome the challenges presented. Also, special thanks to my husband  – Julian Skorka, my parents  – Ramdat and Dhanwanti Rampersaud, and the editor – Dr. Charmaine Bissessar, for their support and guidance as I documented my experiences for this book.”

Contents

Part I Resiliency and Female Academics 1

 Exploring Female Academics’ Resiliency During the Pandemic��������    3 Charmaine Bissessar, Kate McCauley, and Elly Phillips

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An Exploration of Female Academics’ Resiliency During COVID-19 with Special Reference to North Eastern Part of India����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������   27 Shrutidhara Mahanta

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Offering Up Ourselves: A Collaborative Autoethnographic Exploration of Two Female Academics During the COVID-19 Pandemic��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������   49 Carmel Roofe and Therese Ferguson

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An Exploration of Female Academics’ Resiliency During the COVID-19 Pandemic: With Reference to India, the Philippines and Tanzania������������������������������������������������������������������   71 Ritimoni Bordoloi, Cecilia Junio-Sabio, and Kezia H. Mkwizu

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From Challenges to Opportunities: Navigating the Pandemic as Black Women Early Career Faculty��������������������������������������������������   99 Afiya Fredericks, Dhymsy Vixamar-Owens, and Kelli Hill

Part II Resiliency and Mental Health, Care, Well-being 6

 The Impact of Burnout on Female Academics’ Resiliency������������������  123 Nola P. Hill-Berry, Donna-Marie Wynter Adams, and Peta-Gaye Thomas-Brown

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 Exploring Female Academics’ Wellness During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Implications for Psychological Capital and Authentic Leadership ����������������������������������������������������������������������  151 Dara Hamilton and Kimarie Engerman xi

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Part III Resiliency and Leading, Teaching, and Learning 8

An Autoethnographic Exploration of my Experiences in Planning and Implementing Teacher Professional Development during COVID-19: Implications for Resilient Leadership������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������  171 Charmaine Bissessar

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From Crisis to Crisis … to Resilience: An Autoethnographic Tale of Self-Discovery������������������������������������������������������������������������������  193 Sharon Jaggernauth

10 The  Pillars of My Resilience in the time of COVID-19������������������������  225 Taijrani Rampersaud-Skorka 11 Female  Postgraduate Students’ Resilience During COVID-19 in Jamaica ������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������  243 Cynthia Onyefulu 12 Can  the Use of Instructor Self-Disclosure Influence Collective Resilience in the Virtual Classroom During the COVID-19 Pandemic?������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������  273 Sheena Myong Walker Part IV The Nature and Practice of Autoethnography and Resilience 13 Exploring  the Iceberg: Autoethnography and Insights into the Hidden Experiences of Female Academics��������������������������������������  297 Elly Phillips and Charmaine Bissessar

Part I

Resiliency and Female Academics

Chapter 1

Exploring Female Academics’ Resiliency During the Pandemic Charmaine Bissessar

, Kate McCauley, and Elly Phillips

Abstract Academics in Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) faced difficulties during the pandemic when moving from face-to-face instruction to online learning and teaching platforms. In particular, female academics were challenged to find unique and innovative methods of merging their professional responsibilities with personal commitments amid COVID-19 restrictions. In response to Harris’s (Future proofing education: what’s next? [Video]. YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=6-­R9xC9G9T8, 2022) endorsement of the fact that resiliency could be part of the solution in future-proofing education systems, three female academics from different geographical locations question how they maintained their personal and professional resiliency, and how their resiliency compared before and after the pandemic. This collaborative autoethnographic study was based on an epistemological interpretivist paradigm and used in vivo and descriptive coding to place the researchers’ narratives into themes and sub-themes including personal issues of blurred work boundaries, isolation from friends and family, concern for others’ health and the sacrifice of family time. Professional themes included ‘compassion fatigue’ when meeting students’ needs, demands such as ‘mothering’ academics, and a desire for socialisation. It was found that resiliency was maintained both personally and professionally, but as a process rather than being measured in binary terms. Interestingly, it was strengthened when participants cultivated optimistic attitudes whilst taking the opportunity to ‘nest’ and practice ‘self-care’ leading each participant to be more resilient after the pandemic, than before. Strategies are suggested for future- proofing female academics’ resiliency as they transition to the new post-pandemic normal. Whilst research is available about how to maintain personal self-care and professional development, this study is unique as it identifies the benefits of professional self-care. Moreover, as an autoethnographic study, the findC. Bissessar (*) Faculty of Education and Humanities, University of Guyana, Turkeyen, Georgetown, Guyana K. McCauley Department of Educational Studies, Goldsmiths University of London, Shankill, UK E. Phillips Independent, Truckee, CA, USA © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 C. Bissessar (ed.), Female Academics’ Resilience during the COVID-19 Pandemic, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-34140-3_1

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ings speak for female academics whose voices are normally heard as researchers, but are not researched themselves. Keywords  Personal resilience · Professional resilience · Collaborative autoethnography · Mothering academics · Compassion fatigue

Introduction When the COVID-19 outbreak was declared a global pandemic in March 2020 (Mitchell et al., 2021) academics in Higher Education Institutions (HEIs), whether identifying as male, female or non-binary, were overwhelmed and overworked. They faced high levels of stress when creating technological tools and platforms for the classroom (Martínez-Garcés & Garcés-Fuenmayor, 2020) coinciding with COVID-19 restrictions, but also faced “compassion fatigue” (Litam et  al., 2021, p. 384) when alleviating student worry and concern. In this study, three female academics from different geographical locations draw on their experiences of balancing their personal and professional responsibilities during the COVID-19 pandemic. In this research, they question how they maintained their personal and professional resiliency, and how their resiliency compared before and after the pandemic. Working virtually together for several years, the participants came to this research with a joint interest to understand the effects of the pandemic as they adjusted to the new normal, prompted by Harris’s (2022) endorsement of the fact that resiliency could be part of the solution in future-proofing education systems. As a qualitative collaborative autoethnography (CAE), this research took an inductive approach to data collection and analysis. Each participant responded individually to the research questions by drawing on diary entries, emails, social media posts and journal extracts written during the pandemic. Each account was coded through thematic analysis and then cross-referenced between and among participants (Chang et al., 2013). Several themes and sub-themes emerged (Braun & Clarke, 2013) which were developed into further concepts and ideas. This approach enabled the researchers to identify overarching trends whilst ensuring that individual voices were not lost. Ethical considerations adhered to the British Psychological Society (BPS) Code of Human Research Ethics (2021) for independent researchers. As a CAE piece of research, this chapter provides space for the participants to express themselves and use narratives, reflections and thoughts as a form of catharsis when transitioning to the next normal. The results are not expected to be generalisable, but rather to bring light to the resiliency of female academics who balance home and work commitments. The findings in this study are symbolic of female academics whose voices are normally heard as researchers, but are not researched themselves.

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Literature Review Understanding Resiliency Definitions of resiliency often focus on recovery from a threat (Luthar, 2006) or involve the sustainability of purpose, goals, and meaning following adversity (Murray & Zautra, 2012). Whether pertaining to resiliency outcomes or processes, Isaacs (2018) stated that resiliency entails coping with adversity and learning from it. He referred to Masten (2001) who believed that even if people are not naturally resilient, the skill can be learned as “ordinary magic”, as it is the ordinary, and not an extraordinary human adaptive response to tragedy (Masten, 2001, p. 56). He (2018) proposed that the lack of resiliency is abnormal, but acknowledges that “some are more naturally resilient than others” (Isaacs, 2018, p. 5). The development of resiliency is explored further by Ungar (2013) who stated that “nurture trumps nature when it comes to predicting resilience” (p.  258). He stated that Masten’s (2001) “ordinary magic” (p.  56) concept requires an environment that optimises the conditions needed for survival and explained that those from chronically disadvantaged environments may appear not to be resilient due to a lack of motivation, low sense of agency, or a genetic predisposition to anxiety but that an “optimal environment will cause the majority… to flourish” (Ungar, 2013, p. 258). This idea that resiliency can be nurtured and developed is defended by Isaacs (2018) who wrote that it can be increased if optimism and the human need to hope is practised. This aligns with Ong et al.’s (2006) concept that to be resilient one should approach a crisis through a positive lens. Southwick et al. (2014) suggested that to be resilient is an active decision “like sobriety that must be frequently reconfirmed” (Southwick et al., 2014, p. 3). Similarly, Litam et al. (2021) suggested that resiliency can be cultivated if active decisions are made orienting individuals toward wellness and health. Pietrzak and Southwick (2011) believed that resiliency occurs at differing degrees and could be considered as a trait, process or an outcome, rather than being measured with a “binary approach” of whether it is present or not (Pietrzak & Southwick, 2011, p. 2). One can, therefore, conclude from this research that rather than agreeing on a single definition of resiliency, it is instead more important to identify how people experience, enhance and re-define it, depending on the context and situation.

Resiliency in HEI Settings When the COVID-19 outbreak was declared a global pandemic on March 11, 2020, by the World Health Organisation (Mitchell et al., 2021) HEIs adapted teaching and learning strategies to ensure the continuation of academic standards whilst emphasising the safety of students and faculty members (Universities UK, 2020). Teaching faculty who had experience with altering course materials and assessments for

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online, digital or small group delivery were encouraged to share good practices (McCauley, 2021) but in addition to gearing lessons towards digital delivery, teacher workloads were greatly impacted by student stresses and concerns (BPS, 2022, para 1). Besser et  al. (2020) researched the experiences of 1200 Israeli undergraduate students from five universities who abruptly transitioned to online learning during the pandemic. Martin et al.’s (2013) Adaptability Scale and an online questionnaire gauged student adaptability and levels of coping which indicated that traditional face-to-face instruction was preferred to online learning. Besser et al. (2020) found that the sampled students had increased feelings of stress and isolation “as well as negative mood… and lowered levels of concentration and focus, motivation and performance” (Martin et al., 2013, p. 12). Unlike Besser et al. (2020), Verawardina et al. (2020) and Liu et al.’s (2020) studies indicated that students responded well to the use of online learning, with their research suggesting that it eased disruptions to education caused by COVID-19. For instance, Verawardina et al. (2020) espoused that online learning has economic advantages in Indonesia because students can shorten learning time by engaging directly with academic materials. However, they acknowledged a “digital divide” between university students based in rural areas, as opposed to those in urban locations (Verawardina et al., 2020, p. 391). Moreover, they emphasised that HEI teachers need to encourage the socialisation of students. Faculty at Northwestern University in America noted that students had additional financial worries, time constraints and health concerns during the pandemic and so they implemented a series of mentoring initiatives to ease these concerns (Babcock et al., 2020). Zoom calls were also implemented to help home-schooling parents, in which members of the leadership team read stories to the children, allowing working mothers to have “thirty minutes of downtime” (Babcock et  al., 2020, p.  62). Babcock et al. (2020) found that learners benefited from feeling that faculty members understood their circumstances, albeit teaching faculty also needed connection, support, community and resources during the pandemic. In a 2022 study, The British Psychological Society found that 60% of surveyed university staff either ‘disagreed’ or ‘strongly disagreed’ that their workload was manageable during the pandemic (BPS, 2022, para 1). Support for HEI teaching faculty was also investigated by Martínez-Garcés and Garcés-Fuenmayor (2020), who believed that many academics faced high levels of stress when creating technological tools and platforms for the classroom. Delgado-Gallegos et  al.’s (2021) study evaluated the vulnerability of academics in Mexico during the pandemic. They measured anxiety, preparedness and resilience of 220 participants using online questionnaires and adapted COVID-19 stress scales. The researchers commented that out of the HEI teachers who were sampled, “the most affected participants were the ones doing online teaching due to the transformation of in-person teaching to a virtual classroom and the growing demands of the students and schoolwork” (Delgado-Gallegos et al., 2021, p. 7). This reviewed literature indicates that the stress and anxiety experienced by students and teachers can be minimised if preparations and support are available from HEIs (Babcock et al., 2020; Besser et al., 2020; Liu et al., 2020; Verawardina et al.,

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2020). Flexible modes of study are helpful when transitioning from face-to-face learning (UNESCO, 2020; QAA, 2020) and can potentially have economic advantages of living in urban areas with consistent internet access (Verawardina et al., 2020). However, it is important to prioritise the socialisation of students (Verawardina et al., 2020) through digital means. Furthermore, proper planning and communication are important (Babcock et al., 2020; Liu et al., 2020) which ultimately leads to heavier workloads for teaching faculty (Babcock et  al., 2020; Delgado-Gallegos et al., 2021; Martínez-Garcés & Garcés-Fuenmayor, 2020).

 hallenges Faced by Female Academics During C the COVID-19 Pandemic Stress and Anxiety-Isolation Stress and anxiety were experienced by many HEI academics during the COVID-19 pandemic, whether identifying as male, female or non-binary (Babcock et al., 2020; Delgado-Gallegos et al., 2021; Martínez-Garcés & Garcés-Fuenmayor, 2020) due to the quick need to alter classroom content and delivery whilst struggling with “compassion fatigue” (Litam et al., 2021, p. 384) from offering extensive student support. Furthermore, Gao and Sai (2020) argued that there is a need for research on single females’ responses to the pandemic, however, given that they are often dealing with isolation and loneliness as social distancing measures affect physical and psychological well-being. Inevitably, single female teachers miss out on spontaneous conversation with colleagues if working virtually, but are also isolated from family and community if living alone during the pandemic (Bissessar, 2022; Gao & Sai, 2020).

Blurred Boundaries Kasymova et al. (2021) identified the term academics who mother (AWM) as those who have teaching and/or scholarly responsibilities in an HEI and who perform child- rearing responsibilities attributable by cultural and social norms to mothers (p. 420). Whilst many fathers took full responsibility for childcare provision during the pandemic, literature suggested that following the closure of schools, mothers shouldered a larger share of increased childcare and home-based schooling responsibilities (Andrew et al., 2020; Del Boca et al., 2020; Hupkau & Petrongolo, 2020). During the pandemic, AWM found themselves faced with a multitude of professional constraints and limitations as they considered their family’s needs (Ali & Ullah, 2021; Azim & Salem, 2022; Gonçalves, 2019) and navigated blurred boundaries between home and work.

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Congruently, CohenMiller and Izekenova (2022) conducted a study using photovoice to capture the lived experiences of 68 AWM in nine countries and found that there were six common themes among the participants: blurred boundaries between work and personal life; ingrained gender roles; overwhelming responsibilities and emotional burnout; decrease in research output; and a struggle to balance children’s needs. Additional studies have shown that female academics were overwhelmed with increased responsibilities and were unable to publish, complete grant proposals or engage in scientific research as extensively as their male counterparts (Ali & Ullah, 2021; Andersen et al., 2020; Gabster et al., 2020). To counteract this dearth of academic research output, Motherscholar Collective et  al. (2021) conducted focus groups and interviews to determine and meet the needs of AWM. Created by mothers with young children to counteract the constraints faced by mothering scholars during the pandemic, this organisation empowered its members through collaboration in meaningful action research. The authors suggested that similar groups can be implemented in other HEIs to provide support and allow AWMs to grow and develop academically. In their study, Kasymova et al. (2021) documented how American AWM had to reorganise work commitments and childcare throughout the pandemic. Data were collected through 131 online surveys and 20 qualitative interviews with female-­ identified academics who were recruited from a social media group. Their findings suggested that during the pandemic the pressure on AWM was immense and discovered that there was an inability to meet institutional expectations and a sense of unsuccessfully juggling work and family life. They proposed that HEIs should acknowledge the struggles faced by AWM and offer flexible solutions like additional childcare and leave policies (Kasymova et al., 2021). This review of literature has highlighted that, regardless of gender, teaching faculty have experienced feelings of stress and anxiety during the pandemic often due to heavy workloads (Babcock et al., 2020; Delgado-Gallegos et al., 2021; Martínez-­ Garcés & Garcés-Fuenmayor, 2020) and “compassion fatigue” (Litam et al., 2021, p. 384) when supporting struggling students. Often underrepresented in academic research (Ferree & Zippel, 2015; Fotaki, 2012; Kemp et  al., 2013; Stout et  al., 2007), female academics faced additional struggles during the pandemic, including battling isolation if living alone (Gao & Sai, 2020) or shouldered the majority of parenting responsibilities (Kasymova et al., 2021) from child-care and household duties to overseeing home-based schooling (Andrew et al., 2020; Del Boca et al., 2020; Hupkau & Petrongolo, 2020). Researchers call for HEIs to offer solutions like paid accessible child care (Kasymova et al., 2021) and the introduction of more flexible working hours (Azim & Salem, 2022). This study will contribute to the wider body of research by exploring the experiences of three female academics from different geographical locations as they balanced their personal and professional responsibilities during the COVID-19 pandemic. This qualitative collaborative autoethnography will question how they maintained their personal and professional resiliency, and how their resiliency compared before and after the pandemic.

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Methodology Autoethnography Autoethnography draws on a researcher’s own experience as a basis for scholarly analysis (Poulos, 2021). Collaborative autoethnography extends this study to a group, enabling a broader exploration of a phenomenon (Chang et al., 2013). The universal, communal experience of COVID-19 makes this topic a good fit for an approach explicitly incorporating the lived experiences of multiple researchers (Kemp et  al., 2015). Research teams, particularly female-identifying, have used CAE to explore experiences during COVID-19 (e.g. Azim & Salem, 2022; Leigh et al., 2022; Vakil et al., 2022).

Participants Prior to this research, we had been colleagues for several years, although during the pandemic we taught virtually for several HEIs. We had extensive experience teaching online before the pandemic. We have shared (as academics, women, and parents) and divergent (cultural, geographic, and  parenting/empty-nester) identities that may be illuminated by the comparison and contrasting of accounts. Table 1.1 shows the demographic information of the three academics/participants in this study. They are living away from their native land. They vary in age and stages of their career. Two are mothering academics with one  being a single mother of an adult son.

Table 1.1  Researchers’ characteristics Geographical Researcher information EP British living in the US

Home situation Living with husband, son and dog. Son was 12 years old at the start of the pandemic Living alone. Son is 25 and lives in Trinidad. Does not have any relatives in Guyana

CB

Trinidadian living in Guyana

KM

British Living with two American living primary school aged in Ireland children, husband and dog. Family members live in another country

Age Academic role Mid-­ Online postgraduate psychology 40s programme: senior lecturer, programme director for part of the pandemic period Mid-­ Senior lecturer. Director for the 50s Centre of Excellence in Teaching and Learning and interim director Educational Onlining Support Services Mid-­ Lecturer and research 40s supervisor for two Britishbased universities during the pandemic

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Data Collection Data collection began on an invitation to the project team and then each member assembled individual accounts, based on prompts created by CB: 1. How did I maintain professional resilience during the pandemic? 2. How did I maintain personal resilience during the pandemic? 3. How does my professional and personal resilience compare before and during the pandemic? Responses were based on memory and other contemporaneous documentation like photographs, journal entries, social media posts and emails which enabled cross-­ referencing, elaboration and the establishment of a timeline. Initial accounts varied in structure from a set of bullet-pointed recollections to narratives with photos. Once individual accounts were created, group collaboration began. We read each other’s accounts, which inspired reflection and elaboration. Then, we added to the narrative by posing further questions (Chang et al., 2013). For instance, CB asked EP to elaborate on work relationships that she accessed during a challenging period. EP asked CB and KM about the divergence between our previous experiences of online teaching and the unexpected difficulties that arose.

Analytic Strategy Chang et al. (2013) recommended blending individual and group analysis and then combining this with thematic analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2013). These decisions allowed the emergence of ideas from multiple individual perspectives to develop, reinforce, and challenge interpretations among the research team (McDonald et al., 2022). An inductive approach was used, giving the data-driven analysis the potential to reveal new topics (Braun & Clarke, 2013). Each researcher created her codes and initial themes based on her account regarding notable concepts in the data. The driving consideration during this stage was ‘how does this relate to resilience?’ which was a broad question allowing a wide range of concepts to be identified pertaining to the overall research questions. Each researcher used her strategies within the analysis. KM looked for opportunities to apply newly generated codes and assessed their frequency. Although it would be inappropriate to solely conduct a qualitative analysis using frequency (Cohen et al., 2018) this was a useful tool to identify commonly occurring codes, whilst also grouping less frequent codes. EP generated higher-level codes after initial coding and used that to group data to form a basis for themes. CB examined all the narratives, and coded the data semantically and latently before creating a conceptual framework of the recurring themes. She used Saldaña’s (2021) descriptive and in  vivo coding as a means of generating themes which is recommended for ethnographic studies.

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Each researcher constructed a brief account of the key themes with excerpts from her narrative. Once our initial ideas were captured, we reviewed each other’s accounts, coding and initial writing. This inspired a further round of coding and writing when revisiting our analyses with novel ideas. These individual analyses, ideas and codes were shared via Google Documents to identify general themes, with particular attention to convergences and divergences among accounts (Smith & Osborn, 2003). Whereas CB found three overarching themes with sub-themes, EP and KM found five themes, with overlaps and recurring ideas. These ideas are reflected in the researchers’ responses to the three research questions. We were able to view, comment on, and respond to each other’s ideas and observations whilst making changes to the shared documents when collaboratively developing ideas.

Ethical Considerations There is a lack of clarity regarding ethical guidelines for collaborative autoethnography. As this research involves human participants, it requires ethical evaluation. We followed the guidelines in the BPS Code of Human Research Ethics (2021) for independent researchers. We reviewed the project carefully, using the proforma provided by the BPS, and created information and informed consent sheets to set the terms for the research, which we agreed to and signed (see Appendix A). We recognised that as this project relates to a difficult time, we could ask to remove or anonymise text we would rather not share publicly. Additionally, we emphasised that we could withdraw specific data from the publication and edit or change written representations of ourselves in the research. We each completed and signed informed consent to formalise our agreement with the terms of the research.

Findings Three themes were identified when reviewing researcher coding, reflecting the three research questions. Each theme contained several sub-themes, outlined in Table 1.2.

Personal Challenges This theme reflects how each participant combined work with her social networks. There were blurred boundaries when giving up family time to manage professional demands and workloads. Additionally, we were isolated from family and friends and often worried about their health and well-being. These issues are explored below.

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Table 1.2  Themes and sub-themes Theme Personal challenges

Professional challenges

Opportunities

Sub-themes Blurred work boundaries Sacrificing family time Isolation from family and friends Concern for family and friends’ health Coping with students’ needs Desire for socialisation Demands on mothering academics Self-care Nesting

Blurred Work Boundaries We struggled to balance home and work commitments even though this was not apparent at the time. CB indicated, “I let the line between work and home become blurred as I allowed my professional life to not only encroach upon but control my personal life.” KM also shared similar issues, “...it was acceptable to contact teachers on the weekends or during the evening.” We allowed this blurring, however, because we were responding to perceived demands from others, without realising the toll this took. The very nature of working from home contributed to this blurring. EP shared: The main thing that changed was having the family at home all the time and the adjustments that were required, so it’s difficult to pry apart the ‘professional’ from the personal. In fact, at the time, I was intrigued by this blurring of boundaries and did mull over ways to investigate it.

Congruently, EP noted one of her male colleagues demonstrating the blurring of home and work whilst caring for his infant during phone calls. It stood out because previously men were less likely to allow their family to encroach upon work (e.g., the viral ‘BBC Dad’ interview, Chappell, 2017), but during COVID-19, their inability to separate roles due to working from home may have contributed to normalising the merging of personal and professional responsibilities. To minimise this blurring in the future, KM indicated that after the pandemic she worked to set healthy boundaries between home and work. She stated that she was “more resilient… due to my ability to put my workload and private life into perspective” and wrote of “being reluctant to volunteer for extra work as I value being home with my husband and children instead of multi-tasking in the hopes of furthering my professional practice.” We experienced increasing professional demands and the lack of physical distance from our workplace contributed to these difficulties. Managing this blurring required recognition and deliberate action.

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Sacrificing Family Time Frequently, family time and needs were sacrificed. KM discussed home-schooling her children during the day because of her husband’s demanding job, and then teaching online in the evenings. “Ultimately, I slept in later than normal from staying up late to complete work. This also reflected on the children’s sleeping habits, as our ‘school hours’ started later each day.” KM was happy to shape her day around her husband’s heavy workload. However, her own students were frequently overwhelmed with similar pressures: HEI students had little time to complete assignments because they struggled with home-­ schooling their children or they had additional responsibilities due to their own professional settings adjusting to online provision. A number of my students stopped submitting work if they got COVID, too.

The various demands were like dominos, falling onto us, as academics. EP described: One of the difficult things I found was a sense of supporting so many other people. We had a lot of students coming to the programme because the lockdowns and work from home had provided more time for them to pursue other life objectives or they’d re-evaluate choices due to the massive disruption, but I think many people also overestimated their own resources to manage.

Moreover, CB found that her work commitments became all-encompassing due to student and faculty demands. However, as a single mother of an adult child and separated from her immediate family during the pandemic, she did not feel the same need to balance her work commitments with her home life as KM and EP. Isolation from Family and Friends All researchers were physically distant from some family  members, but perhaps having partners and child(ren) close helped EP and KM. CB’s sadness and isolation came through very strongly and showed how the differences in individual situations could be critical. CB shared: I remember the first Christmas I ever spent away from home was devastating for me. I was upset, depressed, and lonely. I spent a quiet and somewhat sad Christmas in 2020.

KM also stated, “National travel restrictions meant that we were not able to fly to visit family members for two years… I built up anger that my father, who had previously suffered a stroke, may be nearing the end of his life and I was being kept from visiting him because of government restrictions.” EP voiced similar concerns, as she lamented: We have been unable to see family in person for over 2½ years at this point – we live in California and our family is mostly in Europe. However, we, like many people, established new routines and now have a group chat with my husband’s family, which we might not have otherwise done.

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These comments exemplify the primacy of human connections and highlight the significant and necessary role that human connection plays in one’s life. While technology provided some ways to cope with these changes, it could not address all of them. There was an ongoing emotional burden due to this separation. Concern for Family and Friends’ Health All researchers experienced concerns about their family and friends’ health. KM and CB lamented that they were unable to attend family funerals. CB shared, “The Sisyphean struggle for me was not seeing my family for two years. My father’s declining health and my uncle’s death made this struggle more poignant.” Likewise, KM wrote about three family members who died of COVID-19-related complications. “We were not allowed to attend their funerals but also we were not able to visit my elderly parents for 18 months due to travel restrictions.” She stated that the daily restrictions, lack of connection with friends and family and worry of infection were of constant concern. EP was concerned for her son’s resilience: I have worried about my son’s resilience and well-being. He was 12 when the pandemic started and is now 14. Most of his middle school (bar about 6 months in the beginning) has been ‘strange’. However, again, I think he’s seen positives as well as struggles. I have seen him develop a conscientious attitude to work and both value his time with friends even when he’s complained about having to be back at school!

She believes her son was able to positively embrace the changes that COVID-19 brought with it. Being concerned about the well-being of family and friends ranged from worrying about everyday home-schooling challenges to experiencing multiple bereavements. It is noticeable, however, that our concerns were often directed outward and influenced by our relationships with others. As in the previous sub-theme, these were ongoing concerns without an available solution.

Professional Challenges The pandemic frequently increased our workload and so our professional challenges affected our personal lives. This was exacerbated by pressures to cope with demanding and novel student needs whilst feeling a lack of social connection in the workplace. Furthermore, we explored our roles as mothering academics, finding a balance between personal (mothering) and professional (academic) responsibilities.

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Coping with Students’ Needs As in our accounts, we encountered difficulties meeting the emotional and practical needs of others in our professional lives. EP and KM struggled with new situations but CB described flourishing professionally, and that meeting the needs of others seemed to benefit her. She stated, “As I read my reflection, I realise how much I used my career as a crutch to buttress my need for human contact and my alienation from family and friends.” In particular, CB showed concern for teaching colleagues who needed assistance. She said, “It was difficult dealing with the technophobes and their anxiety towards emergency remote education.” Overall, there were asymmetries in who gave and received support, and who seemed more entitled to flexibility and help. EP noted: Students were ‘entitled’ to a lot of support, extensions, and compensations (such as uncapped re-sits) whereas academics were largely expected to work to pre-pandemic standards AND provide sympathy, understanding, flexibility and support.

In contrast, EP felt limited in obtaining help in her new role as programme lead. She spoke of feeling “somewhat guarded” because she was new to the leadership post but also responsible for colleagues’ well-being. We felt extra pressure on our professional practice when dealing with students’ physical, emotional, and mental health. Working with teacher trainees, KM commented about students who struggled to meet their course requirements due to restrictions at placement schools. This led to daily student questions that were out of her area of knowledge. In addition, EP shared: Many experienced ongoing challenges with work, family, sickness, taking care of children, and I struggled with the need to try to support and help them, even while I was dealing with similar issues (a son at home, for instance).

Blurred boundaries between personal and professional commitments led to a higher degree of connectivity and interactivity than normal. KM felt that her resiliency was aided, at times, by helping students alleviate their workloads. She said, “I took on extra work knowing it would ease some of their strain.” She took a positive outlook when framing the demands on her, whereas EP felt unfairly treated in this asymmetrical relationship: It was a bizarre situation where everyone was dealing with similar issues, but some people also were still responsible for supporting others at the same time, which I felt increased the burden – probably across all professionals such as teaching, medicine and other ‘caring’ and service roles.

Often, the challenges caused by the pandemic were novel, which meant we did not always have solutions at hand, while students tended to look to faculty to solve their difficulties, which were also increased by the various social, medical and work pressures caused by the pandemic.

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Desire for Socialisation Our accounts identified the desire for increased socialisation with peers during lockdowns. For instance, CB stated: It was not so much the learning losses but the loss of that physical discussion with our students and peers in the corridors, car parks, by the water coolers, in the lady’s room inter alia. The human part of us was being constrained and constricted.

Whilst they could not compensate for face-to-face human interactions, she facilitated virtual professional development workshops which allowed her to meet weekly with peers to learn, share, and reflect in a virtual community of practice. Similarly, this was reflected in EP’s narrative: Because I was in a new role AND an existing online situation, there wasn’t the same sense of professional community and sharing of issues, meaning I often felt quite isolated in dealing with them, although online tools like Teams did help somewhat.

EP and CB felt professionally isolated from peers; CB specifically missed face-to-­ face connections. She shared about her first Christmas away from her family: Many days, the only people I came into contact with were taxi drivers, shop attendants and my landlady. I felt socially isolated and longed for more socialisation.

EP had to build relationships with colleagues in her new professional role, relying on technology. Again, this shows the interaction of many factors (changing job roles and the pandemic, and possibly personal preferences for social connection) influenced how we dealt with the situation. CB shared that having returned for her first face-to-face training session, she found herself having to be reacquainted with human interactions. She joked that being in the back of the room she wished she could have increased the volume and the size of the screen so she could hear and read the content better. It was as if she had to, once again, readjust to the next normal.

Demands on Mothering Academics Through our accounts, we noticed how frequently our mothering experiences emerged in our personal and professional lives. With children at home, KM and EP experienced a decrease in research output, unlike CB, a mother of an adult son. While not mothering a child at home, CB saw herself as conducting virtual hand-holding with her peers initially, perhaps reflecting a widening of her ‘mothering’ role to colleagues. She stated: Albeit, my son is 25 years old and lives in Trinidad, I felt that I was still a mothering academic; mothering the technophobes and digital immigrants as they navigated and negotiated the LMS Moodle and Zoom.

EP and KM had the added responsibility of working whilst home-schooling children due to school closures. KM stated, “Schools were closed for months in Ireland

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so my two children were given self-guided homework to complete and online tutorials…working and home-schooling was time-consuming, but we spent more family time together.” EP also discussed overseeing her son’s school work whilst teaching online, “My son did school at my desk for the first few months of home-schooling (the end of his sixth-grade year)...” Both also wrote about instilling the importance of new routines to help children cope during the pandemic. EP said: We had family routines, particularly early on, for instance, as a family sitting down and watching various TV series. Our son was lucky that he could do some of his activities, with his music lessons shifting online. He continued his fairly new sport of fencing, which we hosted in our garage.

KM agreed that routine and structure became integral both for her as an AWM, and for her children during the pandemic. All three researchers experienced increased professional workloads during the pandemic. CB stated that she was “available to colleagues 24/7 via email, WhatsApp and cellular phone”; essentially ‘mothering’ her colleagues by setting up week-long training sessions to help them understand online pedagogy. KM’s workload was impacted by chasing student work for those who failed to submit assignments due to their work-related stress and pandemic-induced anxieties. Additionally, students were encouraged to schedule live meetings with tutors rather than correspond via concise emails. “This led to an extra workload out of normal school hours to accommodate meeting student teachers and their mentors.” This connects with previous observations about who is permitted to make demands and requires flexibility in this timeframe. Previous experience working in online education impacted the researchers differently during the pandemic. KM mentioned, “this helped my reliance when working online as it was very natural for me to interact with students and colleagues as systems were already in place.” While familiarity with online modes was potentially a strength, it was also a weakness due to the lack of flexibility in embracing new situations. EP felt it created stress and led to a disconnect between her previous experience and her students’ new expectations. Furthermore, CB commented about colleagues being unwilling to accept the new normal of teaching online instead of face-to-face. EP shared: The sense of what online students were seeking also changed. I have taught online for around 10 years.... Students coming into the programme seemed to expect the kind of virtual learning that they were hearing about [and] there seemed a desire to use the programme to replace the social activities that were lacking.

Previous experience provided an experiential resource for all of us, but this interacted with changing student expectations, shaped by the well-publicised switch to synchronous virtual learning, which was incompatible with how online learning has traditionally been offered. On reflection, EP suggests that the benefits of previous online learning experiences were potentially unhelpful, when they led to a lack of flexibility in adjusting to new demands, such as increased faculty availability and replacement social experiences for students.

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Opportunities Positive themes emerged during the pandemic for the participants, including an awareness of the need for self-care and a focus on the importance of ‘nesting’ in the home.

Self-Care KM and EP frequently referred to personal self-care in their accounts, whilst CB instead focused on finding opportunities for professional development as a way of caring for her professional self. EP mentioned having time to do yoga, reading and walking once other responsibilities, such as school drop-offs, were removed. She said, “My husband set up our guest room as an exercise room, adding my yoga mat and eventually an exercise bike that he managed to get before there was a huge run on equipment!” Similarly, KM shared that she spent time outside walking her dog. She said: We also purchased second-hand gym equipment and exercised at home. I still haven’t returned to group exercise for lack of time, but also fear that the fee will be lost if classes are cancelled due to the ongoing pandemic.

CB found it harder to “balance my professional and personal lives” due to slipping boundaries and perhaps, a lack of family in geographical proximity. She indicated that, “The increased professional workload meant that I had little time for myself and self-care.” She segued: I took and still take little time for self-care and to practise positive personal resilience. It is still a struggle for me and one that I am hoping I will be able to overcome by the end of this year.

However, she was successful in professional growth, new responsibilities and attendance at various webinars and conferences. She explained: Within my professional life, I was able to [virtually] present in South Africa (I had to get up at 3am but it was worth it), present a keynote speech in Jamaica, present at a conference in the USA and many other places which would have taken time, effort, and money. Therefore, during the pandemic the world really became a global village.

CB’s account suggests that part of the resilience response is personal meaning-­ making, where she focused more on gains than losses. During the pandemic, we exhibited growth in either our personal or professional lives, which then related to our home situations. EP proposes that there is potentially an element of ‘professional self-care’, involving professional development, time for research and engaging with colleagues that both she and KM found difficult to attain. Perhaps this relates to a mothering perspective of putting others first, whether individuals feel entitled to take time for themselves, and what is prioritised in these situations.

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Nesting All three researchers engaged in nesting activities. CB shared: I also started building a house in Guyana, close to the Demerara River. I was and still am involved in all aspects of construction. In anticipation of the end of the pandemic and decorating my home, I bought two mint green seahorses to place on my office desk.

KM and EP both wrote of making their home life more eventful by ordering family take-out meals once a week during the pandemic. Additionally, KM made time for home improvements by decorating and painting rooms. She added, “Now that restrictions have been lifted, I continue to take on art projects when I have free time and value the process of creating art more than before the pandemic.” By choosing to decorate rooms in her home instead of engaging in additional professional activities she reflects the act of a mothering academic by prioritising the improvement of her family’s surroundings. KM also became resourceful when celebrating family events during the pandemic: I became much more creative at home during times like my children’s birthdays. There was no way to have parties or go shopping for presents, so items were ordered online and delivered weeks in advance. I designed party games to play in the garden and the four family members actively celebrated together since we couldn’t go out.

In examining the activities involved in nesting according to the narratives, CB perceived symbolic interactionism as evident in the types and meanings of activities in which the researchers engaged during the pandemic. For all three researchers, resilience was perceived to exist along a continuum. In EP’s case, for instance, it was a choice to get out cocktail glasses to enjoy margaritas; making family take-out meals for special occasions. For both EP and KM the importance of family time and activities increased and so they made the every day special, whenever possible.

Discussion and Conclusions This study sought to determine how three female academics maintained and/or augmented their personal and professional resilience, both during and after the pandemic. When analysed auto-ethnographically, our personal accounts reflected themes of blurred work boundaries, isolation from friends and family, concern for others’ health and the sacrifice of family time. Professionally, researchers struggled with meeting students’ needs, the perceived demands on them as ‘mothering’ academics, and their desire for socialisation. The opportunities for self-care and nesting were beneficial to all participants, however. When comparing and contrasting the participants’ accounts it becomes apparent how themes intertwined and overlapped across both personal responsibilities and professional commitments. Similar conclusions were drawn by CohenMiller and Izekenova (2022) who found that 68 AWM were challenged with the normalised blending of home and work. There was

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a lack of clarity about expectations, while managing the needs of many people with calls on the participants’ time, energy and attention. In answering the research questions, these personal and professional blurred boundaries were integral to understanding how the participants maintained their resiliency. Each participant found that resiliency occurred at different degrees as a “process or an outcome” (Pietrzak & Southwick, 2011, p. 2) rather than being measured in binary terms. Interestingly, in each case their resiliency was strengthened during the pandemic when they fostered positive and optimistic attitudes; all three participants referred to ‘opportunities’ within the pandemic taking time to ‘nest’, whilst KM and EP enjoyed family experiences and CB engaged in professional development as a method of self-care. Isaacs (2018) believed that resiliency can be developed if optimism and the human need to hope are practised. As in Ong et al.’s (2006) research, the participants approached their experiences through a positive lens and combatted work-related stress by taking opportunities to focus on their wellness and health (Litam et al., 2021). As well as adopting a positive mental attitude, their resiliency was maintained and nurtured during the pandemic by creating welcoming environments. They found ways to ‘build’ during this time, whether redecorating, embracing their creative sides or reworking/building home spaces. However, there were different interpretations of each participant’s need to improve the home environment. When analysing data, CB suggested we were trying to control our emotions and what was happening at the time by using these activities as a crutch, safety net or anchor to allay our anxiety and fears. EP proposed that the reduced options and narrow horizons available increased a focus on what was nearby. What was notable was that we engaged in action rather than stagnation, and all participants derived satisfaction from improving their environments and nesting as decorating, rearranging and building were therapeutic. CB suggested that through nesting, the participants were attempting to control their home environments as a means of compensating for not being able to control what was happening globally. She stated that a house symbolises shelter, protection, warmth, and family and that the participants subconsciously felt that they needed protection and shelter from the vicissitudes of the pandemic. According to CB, to exercise their resilience they needed tangible validation of their desire not to be defeated during the pandemic. Her interpretation suggests that these actions and the obvious need to show strength and grit exemplify that these women are forces to be reckoned with personally and professionally. Additionally, it points to components of resilience as a process, trait, and outcome. It reflects their emotional resiliency to build and nurture professionally and personally in tangible and intangible ways. Viewing the pandemic through a positive lens by identifying personal and professional opportunities was integral to maintaining resiliency for all participants. For example, EP and KM valued spending more quality time with family than had occurred before the pandemic. However, it is important to recognise that whilst being near family members had its benefits, there were also considerable difficulties when integrating home and work demands. In line with other research (e.g. Ali &

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Ullah, 2021; CohenMiller & Izekenova, 2022; Hupkau & Petrongolo, 2020), female academics’ family responsibilities increased drastically during the pandemic. Additionally, individual situations played a role, so KM’s duties increased more than EP’s as her children were younger, as others have identified (CohenMiller & Izekenova, 2022; Motherscholar Collective et al., 2021). Although they valued the opportunity to spend time with their families, as exemplified in Kasymova et  al. (2021)’s study, as mothering academics they needed to consciously find ways of juggling home and work demands. CB also aided her resiliency by viewing the pandemic through the lens of opportunity. In the absence of being with family members as single and ‘isolated socially’, her resiliency was furthered by burying herself in work; using it as a balm to soothe her aching need to see her family and the lack of human contact/connection. This is similar to the findings by Gao and Sai (2020) who concluded that single academics faced further issues during the pandemic such as isolation and lack of socialisation. This furthers the concept that while AWM could be considered a homogeneous group, individual situations make a huge difference, meaning it is difficult to generalise about the needs of all. CB had more time to increase her ‘professional output’ which aided her resiliency, whereas KM and EP had little time for ‘professional self-care’ as AWM. The participants’ resiliency was challenged by several personal and professional situations. For example, in line with Litam et  al. (2021) ‘compassion fatigue’ occurred when participants mothered their students and faculty members in the hopes of alleviating their stress and worry (p. 384). Moreover, beyond emotional support, the researchers did not always have the knowledge or resources that were required to find solutions when helping in unusual COVID-led situations. Participants often bore more responsibility within the home, too. For example, KM’s workload increased to enable her partner to meet professional demands. As with EP, ultimately this meant that their professional contributions to academia became less than their male counterparts. Unlike CB whose professional life flourished, they had little time for academic writing during the pandemic. This finding substantiates earlier findings (Ali & Ullah, 2021; Andersen et  al., 2020; Gabster et al., 2020) that mothering academics were not able to engage in publishing, writing grant proposals and scientific research. All participants identified that their resiliency was furthered when they utilised personal and professional self-care. While the need for personal self-care is commonly shared (NIMH, 2021) and professional development is commonly incorporated in academic life, for example, to maintain programme accreditation (BPS, 2019), the idea of ‘professional self-care’ is new. In this study ‘professional self-­ care’ was seen when the academic was able to maintain interest, enthusiasm and motivation for academic life; whether through teaching or research. As this is a less common concept in literature, it indicates that there is scope for future studies in this area. It is evident from the data that each participant’s professional and personal resiliency was stronger after the pandemic than before. The pandemic led participants to rise to new challenges even with the grind of an ongoing set of demands. This led to

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a wearing down over time, rather than a collapse. Literature on resilience mentions it as a process when citing examples of long-lasting events such as war and homelessness (e.g. Southwick et al., 2014). This research seems to differ from previous research, however, in that we are considering our responses to the trauma of COVID-19, rather than adapting afterward. We asked questions about how we formulate, observe, and construct the concepts we are studying. Furthermore, we recognised ways in which we maintained our resilience, in hindsight, despite not being specifically focused on resilience during the pandemic. Finally, we noted our sense-making as a  way of shaping our perceptions. Importantly, we asked to what extent resilience exists, versus it being something epistemic that comes into being through observation. This seems key. Finding time, effort, and energy to complete this study proved to be challenging given our personal and professional commitments. However, we capitalised on the benefits of the Internet and used Google Documents to revise, share, critique, learn, and touch base with each other. It was a learning curve for each of us as we navigated and negotiated our new roles. However, what the culmination of this chapter has shown is that we have used our inner reserves of resiliency and stayed the course. Two of the researchers are mothering academics with young children, however, for a few months, we pooled our intellectual capital and created a tangible representation of our dedication to academia. This chapter has proven that we can create a small team of collective mothering scholars to add our voices to the extant literature. As we raise our voices in the communal and individual sharing of our reflections, self-interrogations, and musings, we add this chapter as part of the evidence that we can nurture our professional and personal resiliency and transition to the next normal.

Recommendations for the Future Strategies for Future-Proofing Female Academics’ Resiliency Based on our shared experiences, we feel that there are several strategies for future-­ proofing the resiliency of female academics. These are included below. • It is recommended that professional self-care should be prioritised, to complement personal self-care and professional development. • [Virtual] communities of practice should be formed to lend professional support and the sharing of ideas. Colleagues can initiate and conduct research whilst peer-reviewing each other’s work. This will allow for camaraderie and reduce feelings of isolation (Bissessar, 2022; Motherscholar Collective et al., 2021). • HEIs should continue to provide support for mothering academics who wish to conduct research in the form of paid accessible childcare, leave policies (Kasymova et al., 2021) and reduced work in the form of course and committee release (Azim & Salem, 2022).

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• HEIs should provide added support for students who are struggling, so that ‘compassion fatigue’ (Litam et al., 2021, p. 384) is reduced for female academics. Disclaimer  The views, opinions and/or findings contained in this chapter are those of the authors and should not be construed as an official position, policy or decision by their affiliate institutions.

References Ali, R., & Ullah, H. (2021). Lived experiences of women academics during the COVID-19 pandemic in Pakistan. Asian Journal of Social Science, 49(3), 145–152. Andersen, J. P., Nielsen, M. W., Simone, N. L., Lewiss, R. E., & Jagsi, R. (2020). Meta-research: Is Covid-19 amplifying the authorship gender gap in the medical literature? arXiv. Retrieved from https://europepmc.org/article/ppr/ppr346690 Andrew, A., Cattan, S., Dias, M. C., Farquharson, C., Kraftman, L., Krutikova, S., Phimister, A., & Sevilla, A. (2020). How are mothers and fathers balancing work and family under lockdown? (IFS briefing note BN290). Institute for Fiscal Studies. Azim, K., & Salem, W. (2022). The liminality of multinational Muslim mother scholaring during COVID-19: A feminist collaborative autoethnography. Peabody Journal of Education, 1–16. https://doi.org/10.1080/0161956X.2022.2054634 Babcock, A., Cummins, L., & Dinneen, R. (2020). Mentoring in the time of COVID: Reflections for one university. Learning Assistance Review, 25, 61–69. Besser, A., Flett, G., & Zeigler-Hill, V. (2020, October 19). Adaptability to a sudden transition to online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic: Understanding the challenges to students. Scholarship of Teaching and Learning in Psychology, 8, 1–21. Bissessar, C. (2022). The role of virtual community of practice in alleviating social and professional isolation during emergency remote teaching. Equity in Education and Society, 1–12. Retrieved from https://journals.sagepub.com/eprint/CS2AYZWJGFGEJ9RXZFY5/full BPS. (2022). Psychology Staff overworked and under supported in light of Covid-19, reveals new findings. British Psychological Society News, 20 June. https://www.bps.org.uk/news-­ and-­policy/psychology-­staff-­overworked-­and-­under-­supported-­light-­covid-­19-­reveals-­new-­ findings. Accessed 29 June 2022. Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2013). Successful qualitative research: A practical guide for beginners. SAGE. British Psychological Society. (2019). Standards for the accreditation of undergraduate, conversion and integrated masters programmes in psychology. BPS. British Psychological Society. (2021). Code of human research ethics. BPS. Chang, H., Ngunjiri, F., & Hernandez, K.-A.  C. (2013). Collaborative autoethnography. Left Coast Press. Chappell, B. (2017) Overtaken by events: Kids burst onto scene of live BBC TV interview. NPR. org. Available at: https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-­way/2017/03/10/519641281/overtaken-­ by-­events-­kids-­burst-­onto-­scene-­of-­live-­bbc-­tv-­interview. Accessed: 3 June 2020. Cohen, L., Manion, L., & Morrison, K. (2018). Research methods in education. Routledge. CohenMiller, A., & Izekenova, Z. (2022). Motherhood in academia during the COVID-19 pandemic: An international online photovoice study addressing issues of equity and inclusion in higher education. Innovative Higher Education, 47, 1–23. Del Boca, D., Oggero, N., Profeta, P., & Rossi, M. (2020). Women’s work, housework and childcare, before and during COVID-19 (CESifo Working Paper No. 8403). Center for Economic Studies and Ifo Institute. Delgado-Gallegos, J., Padilla-Ricas, G., Zuniga-Violante, E., Aviles-Rodriquez, G., Arellanos-­ Soto, D., Villareal, H., Cosio-Leon, M., Romo-Cardenas, G., & Islas, J. (2021, May). Teaching

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McDonald, J.  K., Stefaniak, J., & Rich, P.  J. (2022). Expecting the unexpected: A collaborative autoethnography of instructors’ experiences teaching advanced instructional design. TechTrends, 66(1), 90–101. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11528-­021-­00677-­7 Mitchell, N., McCauley, M., O’Brien, D., & Wilson, C. (2021). Mental health resilience in the Irish Defence Forces during the COVID-19 global pandemic. Military Psychology. https://doi.org/ 10.1080/08995605.2021.2007728. Accessed 10 June 2022. Motherscholar Collective, Myles-Baltzly, C. C., Ho, H. K., Richardson, I., Greene-Rooks, J., Azim, K. A., et al. (2021). Transformative collaborations: How a motherscholar research collective survived and thrived during COVID-19. International Perspectives in Psychology: Research, Practice, Consultation, 10(4), 197–214. Murray, K., & Zautra, A. (2012). Community resilience: Foster recovery, sustainability and growth. In M. Unger (Ed.), The social ecology of resilience: A handbook of theory and practice (pp. 337–345). Springer. National Institute of Mental Health. (2021). Caring for your mental health. Retrieved July 27, 2022, from https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/caring-­for-­your-­mental-­health Ong, A., Bergeman, C., Bisconti, T., & Wallace, K. (2006). Psychological resilience, positive emotions and successful adaptation to stress in later life. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 91(4), 730–749. Pietrzak, R., & Southwick, S. (2011). Psychological resilience in OEF-OIF veterans: Application of a novel classification approach and examination of demographic and psychological correlates. Journal of Affective Disorders, 133(3), 560–568. Poulos, C. N. (2021). Essentials of autoethnography. American Psychological Association. QAA. (2020). Adapting to COVID-19: Smaller, Specialist and Newer Providers of Higher Education. Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education. Saldaña, J. (2021). The coding manual for qualitative researchers (pp. 1–440). Sage. Smith, J. A., & Osborn, M. (2003). Interpretative phenomenological analysis. In J. A. Smith (Ed.), Qualitative psychology (pp. 51–80). Sage. Southwick, S., Bonanno, G., Masten, A., Panter-Brick, C., & Yehuda, R. (2014). Resilience definitions, theory and challenges: Interdisciplinary perspectives. European Journal of Psychotraumatology. https://doi.org/10.3402/ejpt.v5.25338 Stout, P.  A., Staiger, J., & Jennings, N.  A. (2007). Affective stories: Understanding the lack of progress of women faculty. NWSA Journal, 19(3), 124–144. UNESCO. (2020). Education emergencies coronavirus school closures solutions. UNESCO Innovation, Creativity and Change, 11(4), 275–298. Ungar, M. (2013). Resilience, trauma, context, and culture. Trauma, Violence and Abuse, 14(3), 255–266. Universities UK. (2020, July). Principles and guidance for collaborative teaching partnerships during the pandemic. Universities UK. Vakil, J.  B., Weng, Z., & Lin, H.-C. (2022). Collaborative autoethnography of dissertating students: Providing support and motivation within a virtual workspace during the COVID-19 pandemic. In Handbook of research on practices for advancing diversity and inclusion in higher education (pp. 220–238). IGI Global. https://doi.org/10.4018/978-­1-­7998-­9628-­9.ch011 Verawardina, U., Asnur, L., Luthfini Lubis, A., Hendriyani, Y., Ramadhani, D., Parma Dewi, I., Darni, R., Juni Betri, T., daSusanti, W., & Sriwahyuni, T. (2020). Reviewing online learning facing the Covid-19 outbreak. International Research Association for Talent Development and Excellence, 12(3S), 385–392.

Chapter 2

An Exploration of Female Academics’ Resiliency During COVID-19 with Special Reference to North Eastern Part of India Shrutidhara Mahanta

Abstract  The COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown increased female academics’ household as well as professional responsibilities. They needed to adjust to the newly evolved emergency online education along with the household chores. In this chapter, I intend to examine the challenges that female academics faced in balancing their academic and personal lives. This explanatory sequential mixed methodology study was implemented with 40 female academics, 20 from various higher educational institutions in north-eastern India, and 20 from other parts of India via convenience sampling. A semi-structured questionnaire (Google Form) was sent to the female academics via email and WhatsApp messenger. Moreover, in-depth interviews were conducted with four selected respondents from north-eastern India, based on the findings of the first phase of data collected through Google Form to explore their experiences deeply. A few statistical techniques like the percentage, mean, standard deviation, and chi-square were used to analyse the quantitative data. The qualitative data were analysed deductively and inductively. The findings show that female academics were overwhelmed with the increased household chores due to the lockdown. Implementation of Emergency Online Education (EOE) and consequently, issues related to  the digital divide placed them in stressful situations. However, female academics in joint families needed to handle more household chores resulting in less time for academic activities. On the other hand, the presence of domestic helpers played a significant role in balancing their academic and household responsibilities. Interestingly, the female academics of the NE region were more conversant with the issues related to the digital divide as compared to those of other parts of India. The specific issues and challenges faced by female academics can be re-examined by the stakeholders of higher education and policies should be created to support and empower them. Keywords  Female academics · Gender inequalities · Digital divide · Emergency online education · COVID-19 pandemic

S. Mahanta (*) Dibrugarh University, Dibrugarh, India © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 C. Bissessar (ed.), Female Academics’ Resilience during the COVID-19 Pandemic, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-34140-3_2

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Introduction The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic adversely affected all areas of our lives (United Nations Educational, Scientific, & Cultural Organization [UNESCO], 2021a). It brought extraordinary educational disruptions for about 1.5 billion students and youths across the globe due to the closure of educational institutions (UNESCO, 2021a; Zhao et al., 2020). To maintain the strict Government norms of social distancing, the teaching-learning process changed radically from the conventional face-to-face mode to emergency online education (EOE). Everyone witnessed a shift to the online mode of education from conventional face-to-face education and had to accept and adjust to this new mode of teaching and learning, with restricted facilities and preparedness (Mahanta, 2020). Academics made tireless and innovative efforts to adjust to this challenging situation (UNESCO, 2021b). A lack of student participation, class control and management, a  lack of digital knowledge, and working from home were key issues that teachers faced during EOE (Mahanta, 2020). In addition to those issues, female academics had added responsibilities regarding work-family balance during the pandemic (Uddin, 2021). Females had the added burden of household chores (Brenan, 2020). In this study, I explored how female academics of the North Eastern region of India, adapted to this new paradigm EOE with the increased household responsibilities.

Literature Review Emergency Online Education Emergency Online Education (EOE) is the rapid response to the crisis that arose as a result of the pandemic, and it can be considered an alternative to face-to-face classes. A suitable digital device and, strong internet connectivity along with electricity are the fundamental requirements for EOE (Mahanta & Sharma, 2022). There are certain flaws, it lacks direct communication and the human touch (Dhawan, 2020). More specifically, non-verbal communication is missing in EOE. However, non-verbal communication plays an important role in classroom communication (Ali & Ali, 2011). As a result, teachers face challenges in managing their classes (Mahanta, 2020). Non-verbal communications like eye contact, mimics, facial expressions, and gestures are not only important for class control, especially in the HE sector, students consider eye contact as a source of motivation, concentration, enthusiasm, and a tool for maintaining attention (Zeki, 2009).

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Digital Divide In society, people do not have equal access to digital technologies such as computers, smartphones, tablets, internet facilities, and so on (UNICEF, 2020). This gap is called the digital divide. During the pandemic, concerns about the digital divide became significant as the internet and digital devices were the only means by which people obtained access to all kinds of services (Baker et al., 2020). Less than half of the world’s population has access to internet connectivity (UNICEF, 2020); on the other hand, only one-fourth of Indian households have internet connectivity (Pitroda, 2020; Sudevan, 2020). Thus, access to digital devices, technology, and materials needed for EOE is desperately unequal in global as well as Indian contexts (Pitroda, 2020; Sudevan, 2020). Nielsen (2006) posited three stages of the digital divide, namely the economic divide, the usability divide, and the empowerment divide. Thus, the digital divide includes a  lack of skills and motivation to conduct an activity online other than Internet access (Gómez, 2018). Nearly 40% of the world’s population has lower digital literacy skills; about 90% of users do not contribute to social networking sites, 9% of them contribute occasionally, and a very small number, 1% of the users contribute frequently (Nielsen, 2006). Therefore, it is important to consider all three aspects when discussing the digital divide.

Gender Inequality Gender equality is not only a fundamental human right, it is indispensable for a sustainable and comprehensive world (United Nations [UN], 2022). However, there is sufficient evidence that gender discrepancies exist across different societies globally (Jacobsen, 2013; United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund [UNICEF], 2020). Gender inequality and traditional gender roles are still valid in western society (Cerrato & Cifre, 2018). Even, in a developed country like America, where the female population comprises nearly half of the workforce, females still bear a larger share of household responsibilities (Brenan, 2020). In the East, the gender gap in Japan is the largest among advanced economies (Khare & Gupta, 2022) due to gender inequality in career opportunities, females can earn less than males (Yamaguchi, 2019). Gender inequality is also present in Chinese societies where married women receive less wages in comparison to others. Thus, the inclusion of married women into the workforce exacerbated gender wage inequality over the past 30 years in China (Brussevich et al., 2021). Moreover, gender inequality has an intense effect on the lives of children in Eastern and Southern Africa. Boys are enjoying their full potential over girls in most aspects of life (UNICEF, 2022a). Thus, females experience the effects of gendered societies across the globe since they are unequally yoked.

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In India, gender inequality is high, and females are the most disadvantaged group in society (UNICEF, 2022b). However, in recent years, the Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) of females (27.3%) has been higher than the GER of males (26.9%) in the Higher Education sector (All India Survey on Higher Education [AISHE], 2019– 2020). There is an overall increase of more than 18% in female enrolment in higher education from 2015–16 to 2019–20 (Gohain, 2021). Accordingly, there is a significant growth in female graduates from colleges and universities (University Grants Commission, 2019). However, the irony is that the number of male faculty members (62.9%) is higher than the number of female faculty members (37.1%) (AISHE, 2019–2020). Moreover, female representation at the top-level management of the higher education (HE) sector is insignificant; most of them are restricted to middle-­ ranking positions, like chairpersons or directors of different bodies, deans, and controllers of examinations, among others. A few have occupied the ranks of registrar but hardly have become the highest level managerial position, namely vice-­ chancellor (Gandhi & Sen, 2020). Among 431 universities in India, only 13 universities have female vice-­ chancellors, and out of these, six were women’s universities (Banchariya, 2022; Kumar, 2015). Even in career advancement from assistant professor to professor, the ratio of women decreases (Banker & Banker, 2017). Research studies (Banker & Banker, 2017; Chesterman et al., 2005; Gandhi & Sen, 2020) identified reasons for fewer females in leadership as negative attitudes toward the capacity of female candidates by the male-dominated ‘interview network’, a lack of family support at home, a lack of ambition among females (ambition in female is not considered a healthy practice by society), and some typical female responsibilities and duties, for example, a  lack of career focus, not exploring various opportunities available to them due to household chores, more job-oriented than career-oriented, and, considering mobility as an issue due to family commitments. These issues of female job holders, including female academics, are multi-dimensional and extremely embedded in the perception of gender by society and the societal socio-cultural structures (Stamarski & Son-Hing, 2015). Gender inequality in the physical world is also prevalent in the digital world (Tyers-Chowdhury & Binder, 2021). In many countries, including G20 countries, females have fewer access to digital technologies and the internet than males; consequently, their use of technology and the benefits derived from its use are much less as compared to males (Kuroda et  al., 2019). In India, females’ accessibility to a mobile phone is 15% less than males and females are 33% less likely to use mobile internet services. In the year 2020, 25% of all adult females possessed a smartphone, this is in comparison to 41% of adult males (Seth, 2022). Thus, gender inequalities are present in society (Brenan, 2020), and the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated such inequalities (Chauhan, 2021). Due to the closure of offices and educational institutions, household chores have increased. Simultaneously, EOE along with the non-availability of domestic helpers has multiplied females’ household responsibilities (Dogra & Kaushal, 2022). At the same time, additional unpaid responsibilities have been raised to maintain social distancing norms, proper sanitization, and automatically, the maximum burden of these

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newly raised unpaid work falls on the females of the family due to the gendered division of domestic and care work (Chauhan, 2021).

Resiliency Resilience is an inner disposition present in individuals and is responsible for bouncing back in any adverse situation (Cassidy, 2016). It is a process by which one can overcome difficult or challenging life experiences, especially through mental, emotional, and behavioral flexibility, adapt, and adjust to external and internal demands (American Psychological Association [APA], 2022). In 1973, the first research work on resilience was published (Garmezy). Until then, research on resilience underwent numerous phases. Initially, researchers focused on the vulnerable child, then gradually they began to recognize the external factors that promote resilience (Fleming & Ledogar, 2008). Resilience may be observed as a trait, a process, or an outcome (Southwick et al., 2014). Generally in research, a binary approach considering whether resilience is present or absent is studied. Nevertheless, resilience exists within an individual to different degrees across multiple domains of life (Pietrzak & Southwick, 2011). An individual with strong resilience in the  workplace or an academic setting may not possess that much adaptation ability in his/her personal life (Southwick et al., 2014). Several factors like the ways of viewing the world, the availability and quality of social resources and, specific coping strategies contribute to how well people adapt to adverse situations (APA, 2022). In this chapter, female academics’ experiences during the pandemic and how the situation influenced their personal and professional lives are examined. Moreover, the resilience of female academics in the north eastern region is explored to determine how they balanced their academic and household responsibilities. Thus, the study’s objectives are: 1. To examine the changes in the personal and professional lives of female academics due to COVID-19. 2. To explore the experiences of female academics due to the implementation of the EOE during COVID-19. 3. To investigate the resilience displayed by the female academics due to the changes in their personal and professional lives and, the implementation of EOE during COVID-19. Based on the aforementioned objectives, I have framed the following research questions: 1. Were the household activities increased for female academics during the lockdown? 2. Did the increased household activities lead to mismanagement in daily schedules? 3. Did mismanagement in the daily schedules of female academics affect their professional lives?

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4. Did female academics find EOE less interesting? 5. Was EOE very stressful for female academics? 6. How did female academics become resilient in this changing environment?

Methodology Research Design To conduct effective research, a suitable research design is a must (Creswell, 2003). In recent years, mixed methodology research design gained attention from researchers in social sciences and health disciplines (Mistry et al., 2016). In this research, a systematic integration of quantitative and qualitative approaches was conducted to answer the research questions (Teddlie & Tashakkori, 2010). The methodical amalgamation of the qualitative and quantitative approaches within a particular study is an emerging trend in research (Almeida, 2018; Berman, 2017; Creswell, 2003). Initially, Greene et al. (1989) identified five purposes – triangulation, complementarity, development, initiation and expansion for use in mixed methodology research. This is added by several others and the number of possible purposes for mixing both qualitative and quantitative approaches is extensive (Schoonenboom & Johnson, 2017). However, the overall purpose of this research methodology is to improve and strengthen the study (Almeida, 2018; Greene & Jori, 2010). Consequently, researchers choose a particular type of mixed methodology design based on the design which best answers the research questions (Schoonenboom & Johnson, 2017; Techo, 2016). The explanatory sequential mixed methodology research design has been adopted in this study. This research design is used when the researcher is interested in analyzing quantitative data followed by qualitative data (Ivankova et al., 2006). Thus, qualitative data is used in the analysis and explanation of the results from the quantitative data analysis (Edmonds & Kennedy, 2017). In the present study, the researcher used online surveys to gather quantitative data and interviews to gather qualitative data. The online survey and telephone interviews were conducted during June–July 2022.

Sample Forty female academics, 20 from various higher education institutions of the eight states of north-eastern (NE) India, and 20 from other parts of India were selected using the convenience sampling method. The convenience sampling method is a non-probability sampling and the sample is drawn from that part of the population that is easily accessible to the researcher (Elfil & Negida, 2017; Jager et al., 2017).

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The convenience sampling method is popular because of its user-friendly nature (Lavrakas, 2008). It is cost-effective, data can be collected quickly, and most significantly, sometimes probability samples are ill-suited to examine questions related to participants’ behavioral and psychological constructs (Jager et al., 2017). The convenience sampling technique is also suitable for the researcher to observe habits, opinions, and viewpoints in the easiest possible manner (Edgar & Manz, 2017). Moreover, six respondents were selected from the NE region to be interviewed. They were selected based on their responses to the survey.

Instrumentation Design of the Instruments A semi-structured questionnaire containing 20 items was prepared using Google Forms and sent to female academics through WhatsApp and email. The questionnaire consisted of close- and open-ended questions. Open-ended questions are essential in research as they provide freedom and space to the respondents (Cullen, 2022). The extra details provided by the respondents were helpful to understand the issues in-depth (Fuchs & Bošnjak, 2014), and this leads to more accurate information and actionable insight for the study. The questionnaire contained three sections. In the first section, general instructions were provided to the respondents for completing the questionnaire. The purpose of the data collection was also mentioned in this section. In the second section of the questionnaire, demographic details of the respondents were asked along with information regarding two more variables, namely living conditions and the status of availability of a helper at home. The third section of the questionnaire comprised the main aspects of this study, namely changes in the personal and professional lives of the female academics due to COVID-19 and the experiences of the female academics due to the implementation of the EOE. Except for two items, all the items in this section were on the Likert scale and had options ranging from strongly agree (5) to strongly disagree (1). The respondents were asked to rank 12 statements regarding changes in their personal and professional lives and their experiences on EOE. The two last items were open-ended items seeking their feelings regarding these two aspects. Reliability and Validity The standardization of research tools is important to ensure the integrity and quality of any study (Altheide & Johnson, 1994; Mohajan, 2017). Both reliability and validity were tested to standardize the questionnaire. After preparing the items in the questionnaire, it was sent to three experts with more than 15  years of academic experience to assess the accuracy of the items. Accordingly, the suggestions given

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by the experts were incorporated, and thus, the face validity of the questionnaire was tested. The test-retest method of testing reliability was adopted in this study. The final form of the questionnaire (Google Form) was emailed to a sample of 15 female academics. After 20  days, the same Google Form (G-Form) was again emailed to the same group. Within 4–5  days, all the respondents completed the G-Form. Therefore, two independent sets of responses were collected from the same group of samples. Then, the reliability coefficient was calculated from these two independent sets of data and it was found to be 0.67. Moreover, Cronbach Alpha was conducted with the first set of data and the value of Cronbach α coefficient was .72. These processes established the good reliability of the questionnaire. The semi-structured interviews were conducted with four selected respondents from the NE region to explore their experiences in-depth. Data Collection and Analysis Qualitative and quantitative analyses were done according to the nature of the information. The participants were asked to rank a few statements (items) as given in Fig. 2.1 and Table 2.2. All the statements were on the Likert scale, and those were analyzed by calculating the percentage, mean, and standard deviation. The means of some items were calculated to determine the overall level of agreement or non-­ agreement. Moreover, to determine the association among the variables, a Chi-­ square test was conducted. The qualitative data collected through the G-form were analyzed through a deductive approach to identify the key themes necessary for this study. Then, narrative analysis under the inductive approach of qualitative data

Changes in Personal and Professional Life 50 45 40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0

45 37.5

35 35

32.5 25

22 15.5

20

15 7.5

2.5

2.5

2.5

2.5

Due to lockdown Increased household Mismanagement in daily household activities were activities led to schedules affected increased mismanagement in daily productivity of my schedules professional life Strongly agree

Agree

Can not say

Fig. 2.1  Changes in personal and professional life

disagree

strongly disagree

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analysis was done to highlight important aspects of the female academics’ stories that best resonate with the purpose of this study.

Ethical Issues The study was approved by the Ethical Committee for Biomedical and Health Research (ECBHR) at Dibrugarh University, Assam (Date: 03/08/2022). The purpose of the research was mentioned in the first section of the questionnaire and the second phase of the data collection process was explained to the participants.

Findings Demographic Information of the Respondents Collection and description of the characteristics of the research participants are undeniable in every research as they provide a better understanding of the participants’ background (Connelly, 2013). Table  2.1 represents the detailed information. In this study, I collected data from 40 female academics, 50% from NE and the other 50% (10% each from North, South, East, West, and, Middle India) from the other parts of India. Most (37.5%) of the respondents belonged to the 45–49 age group followed by 27.5% of respondents from the 35 to 39 age group. The majority (60%) of respondents have completed their Masters and Ph.Ds.

Living Conditions and Availability of Domestic Helpers People living alone and those living with a partner should be analysed separately as their characteristics and needs are different (Gaymu & Springer, 2012). Moreover, female employees managed their daily lives with the help of domestic helpers (Basnet & Sandhya, 2020). Therefore, I collected information to determine whether the changes in the personal and professional lives of the female academics had any relationship with the variables like living conditions (living alone or living with family) and availability of helpers at home. Table 2.2 reflects the information given by the respondents regarding these two variables. Table 2.2 reveals that the maximum (32.5%) number of respondents were living with their husbands and children. Another significantly large (27.5%) number of respondents were living with husbands, children, and in-laws. Fifteen percent of the respondents were living alone and 12.5% of respondents were living with husbands,

36 Table 2.1 Demographic information

S. Mahanta Aspects related to the demography Respondents’ of the respondents n % Locality North India 4 10% North-east India 20 50% South India 4 10% West India 4 10% East India 4 10% Middle India 4 10% Age 25–29 years 1 2.5% 30–24 years 5 12.5% 35–39 years 11 27.5% 40–44 years 6 15% 45–49 years 15 37.5% More than 50 years 2 5% Education Masters 7 17.5% Masters & M.Phil. – – Masters, M.Phil., & Ph.D. 6 15% Masters & Ph.D. 24 60% Masters, M.Phil. Ph.D. & Post Doc. 1 2.5% Masters, Ph.D. & Post Doc. 2 5%

Table 2.2  Status of living conditions and domestic helper Variables Living condition Living alone Living with husband Living with husband and kids Living with dependent (parents) Living with husband, kids and dependent (in-laws) Living with husband, kids, and dependent (parents) Living with kids Living with kids, mother-in-law Living with sister Availability of helper at home I was self-dependent I had full-time helper/helpers who was/were staying with me My helper/helpers could not come as they were on a part-time basis

Respondents’ n

Respondents’ %

6 2 13 – 11 5 1 1 1

15% 5% 32.5% – 27.5% 12.5% 2.5 2.5 2.5

13 12 15

32.5% 30% 37.5%

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children, and parents. The highest percentage (37.5%) of respondents’ domestic helper or helpers could not continue working due to the lockdown as they worked on a part-time basis. A significant number (32.5%) of respondents were independent and another significant number (30%) of the respondents had full-time helpers at their home.

Changes in Personal and Professional Lives The data collected from the female academics regarding the changes they faced during COVID-19 and lockdown through Google Forms are presented in Fig. 2.1. Most (70%) of the participants agreed that household activities were increased during the lockdown, whereas 27.5% of the respondent disagreed with this statement, and 2.5% were not sure about it. The majority (60.5%) of the participants opined that increased household activities led to mismanagement in their daily schedules, whereas 24.5% and 15% of the respondents disagreed and were neutral about this statement respectively. According to the responses, 57.5% of the female academics agreed that mismanagement in daily schedules affected their professional lives; while a significant number (35%) did not agree with this statement. However, a contradictory result was found in this study. A female academic opined that her productivity in her professional life was not affected by mismanagement of schedules; but, when she was requested to express her feelings, she stated: I don’t like to be in the kitchen for the entire time, which happened to me during the lockdown. Also, I had to devote more time to my kid, for which I am not unhappy. However, because of these, I could not manage proper time for my studies related to my teaching and research. (Female, NE Region)

Experiences of Emergency Online Education The respondents were asked to rank two statements having four sub-statements each regarding their experiences on EOE. The mean scores and standard deviations (SD) of the statements were calculated to determine the female academics’ overall agreement and non-agreement regarding the statements. Table 2.3 shows the mean scores and SD of the statements related to EOE. As shown in Table 2.3, it can be inferred that female academics found EOE less interesting as compared to face-to-face classes as the mean scores of all the sub-­ statements indicated that there was less student participation (mean scores of 3.9), one-way communication (mean scores of 3.8), mechanical feeling (mean scores of 4.1), and lack of eye-to-eye contact with the student (mean scores of 4.3) were significant. However, the female academics found the EOE not stressful for them due to the unavailability of personal computers or tablets as the mean score related to this sub-statement was 2.3, which was not significant. Additionally, they found EOE

38 Table 2.3  Mean and SD of the statements related to EOE

S. Mahanta Total no. of respondents (N) = 40 EOE was less interesting due to: Less student participation One-way communication It gives a mechanical feeling Lake of eye-to-eye contact with students EOE was stressful due to: Unavailability of own computer or tablet Lack of digital literacy Hesitation to use technology Low network bandwidth

Mean SD 3.9 3.8 4.1 4.3

3.5 3.3 3.7 3.8

2.3

2.0

3.6 3.5 3.2

3.8 3.1 2.9

stressful as the mean scores of the sub-statements of this section lack of digital literacy and hesitation to use technology were 3.6 and 3.5 respectively; and stressful to some extent as the mean score of the sub-statement low network bandwidths is 3.2.

Association Among the Variables I also wanted to explore if there were any associations between the independent and dependent variables of this study. Pearson’s chi-square was used to determine whether there is a statistically significant difference between the independent variables namely locality, age, education, living conditions, and availability of a helper at home with the dependent variables under study (changes in personal and professional lives and, experiences of EOE). It was found that age and education did not have any association with the changes in personal and professional lives and experiences of EOE as in all cases, p-values were >.05. But, for the variables locality, living conditions, and availability of helpers in a few cases, associations were found, Table 2.4 reflects those associations. Thus, it may be inferred that there is a significant difference among the respondents regarding the statements about a lack of digital literacy, unavailability of computers or tablets, and a  hesitation to use technology as far as their locality is concerned. There were also significant differences in the statements about “increased household activities led to mismanagement in daily schedules and mismanagement in daily schedules affected my professional life as far as their living conditions is concerned” and regarding the statements “increased household activities led to mismanagement in daily schedules as far as their helper status at home is concerned.” Moreover, a few interesting results were revealed in this study. All the female academics “living alone” were not overburdened by household chores, whereas almost all (90.9%) female academics “living with husband, kid/kids and in-laws” were overstressed by the household chores, childcare, and elderly care. Furthermore,

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Table 2.4  Association among few variables Changes in personal and professional life and experiences of EOE Locality Lack of digital literacy Unavailability of own computer or tablet Hesitation to use technology Living condition Increased household activities led to mismanagement in daily schedules Mismanagement in daily schedules affected my professional life Availability of helper at home Increased household activities led to mismanagement in daily schedules a

Pearson chi-square

df p-value

32.150a 29.8000a 26.472a

20 .042 20 .043 20 .033

50.310a

28 .006

28.305a

14 .013

15.069a

8

.038

95.0 % have expected count less than 5. The minimum expected count is .03

all the respondents who disagreed with the statement “Increased household activities during the lockdown led to mismanagement of my daily schedule” were blessed with one or more than one full-time helper at home. This result is consistent with the findings by Singh and Pattanaik (2020), who concluded that most of the urban households in India, especially working women, were highly dependent on domestic helpers, either part-time or full-time.

Female Academics of NE Regions I found that the variable locality shared some association with the variable experiences on EOE (Table  2.4). Therefore, I attempted to study the opinions of female academics concerning locality i.e. in the NE region and the other parts of India (OPI) concerning the sub-statements under experiences on EOE during COVID-19. From Fig. 2.2, it can be inferred that for the sub-statements under experiences of EOE, less student participation, one-way communication, mechanical feeling, lack of eye-to-eye contact with students and, low network bandwidth, opinions given by the female academics of NE and other parts of India were almost identical in numbers, they differed only by one or two cases about the agreement of the statements. However, only one female academic from NE regions agreed that experiences of EOE were stressful due to the unavailability of her computer or tablet, whereas five respondents from other parts of India agreed with this statement. Moreover, only two female academics from NE regions agreed that experiences of EOE were stressful due to a lack of digital literacy, whereas seven female academics from other parts of India agreed to this. In fact, 20% more female academics from other parts of India agreed that experiences of EOE were stressful due to their hesitation to use technology as compared to female academics of NE regions. Thus, it can be

40

S. Mahanta Locality and Experiences of EOE 25 20

20 16

18

17

18

17

15

17

16

15 15

15 12

12

5

10

9

10

7

7

11 8

7

5

4 2

3 3

2

2

1

0

0

AgreedNE Region

Agreed OPI

1

Disagreed NE

2

3

Disagreed OPI

Fig. 2.2  Locality and experiences of EOE

inferred that issues related to the digital divide were more prominent among female academics from other parts of India in comparison to female academics of NE regions.

Examination of Resiliency of Female Academics of NE Regions Although two open-ended questions were placed in the Google Form, only one question “What were the most significant issues that you face during the lockdown?” was considered. Six female academics from NE regions were selected based on their responses to this question. Then, an interview was conducted with these six female academics of the NE region to explore how they balanced their personal and professional lives during the pandemic and coped with EOE. The two questions were “Why did you think this/these are the significant issue/issues that you faced during lockdown” and “How did you overcome this/these issue/issues?” The responses of the female academics were recorded and then coded with the help of content analysis. The researcher created five themes namely household chores, lack of personal touch, issues with class management, digital divide, and less emphasis on professional life after reviewing the various codes/phrases identified by her during content analysis. Afterward, the responses made by all the female academics on the open-ended question of the Google Form were reviewed and

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categorized based on the created themes. Table 2.5 represents the identified phases and codes along with created themes, and frequencies. Furthermore, one female academic indicated that there were blurred boundaries between home and work. She expatiated: Space and environment for complete focus were missing as there was the intersection of workplace-related activities and household chores, to cite an example, the buzzing of a pressure cooker so that my aged mother can take food at the exact scheduled time to take the post-food medicine clashed with the pin drop silence required for classroom delivery, but that was unavoidable... However, I think it was a grand opportunity for me to show to the students that we are human beings too with family responsibilities and not a robot which some of them think by taking advantage of our current availability of 24/7 after the post-­ cyber culture changes in the domain of Education and Teaching. I am giving this particular example to make a point, and I request the researcher of the survey to use it with my name mentioned. (Response made by Dr. Mousumi Kandali, NE region)

Table 2.5  The themes and codes identified from the statements Themes

Frequent phrases and codes Reason for issue/issues that you faced Household All kinds of household work, Absence of a helper, cooking, chores cleaning, etc. household activities, and, shopping Lack of Less student participation/interaction, mechanical feeling, lack of personal touch physical interaction, and monotony of work, cannot see my students, felt like talking to a machine Issues with Difficult to know whether students understand the concept clearly class or not, overlapping household responsibilities with class management schedules, lack of proper infrastructure, and lack of isolated space to conduct online classes at home, students conduct, lack of eye-to-eye contact and non-verbal communication with the students, and overlapping wards online classes with own classes Digital divide Difficulties in using the computer, digital illiteracy and low internet bandwidth on both teacher and student side, feeling stressed to handle online platforms Less emphasis Looking after children and elderly care, Less time for academic on professional activities due to wards care and education, cannot concentrate on life research as no one was there to take care of my children, my top priority was the comfort of my family, never motivated to learn digital devices earlier as I was already overburdened with managing all the household chores from shopping to cooking, looking after children’s health, and their education How did you overcome Adjustment Tried to keep myself happy, stopped panic buying, reduced the process food menu, distributed few household work among my husband and kids, tried to stay without bothering about the household work, played music during cooking and cleaning, randomly assigned questions to the students, asked them to write their answers in the chat-box, I decided to sit in my study table at least for 10–15 min

Frequency (n = 40) 28 21

19

16

13

16

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S. Mahanta

Discussions In this chapter, female academics’ experiences during the pandemic, how the situation impacted their functioning, and their resilience were explored. This study revealed that household chores, lack of personal contact/touch, issues with class management, the digital divide, and less emphasis on professional life are the main issues specified by female academics. Seventy percent of the respondents were overburdened due to household chores and the majority (60.5%) of them were unable to manage their daily schedules due to increased household activities. Traditionally, females need to do the household chores, and the unavailability of domestic helpers due to the lockdown increased their responsibilities even. This finding corroborates the conclusions made by Dogra and Kaushal (2022) in which they found that the non-availability of domestic helpers during COVID-19 multiplied females’ household responsibilities. More than 50% (57.5%) of the female academics agreed that mismanagement in their daily schedules hampered their academic activities. Similar conclusions were found by Singh et al. (2020) who stated that disruption of daily schedules negatively affects individuals’ professional activities. The findings of this study revealed that female academics found EOE less interesting as compared to regular face-to-face classes as it lacked a personal touch. This finding validates Dhawan’s (2020) conclusions that in online education, direct communication and human touch were lost. Moreover, female academics were not able to manage their classes smoothly in EOE as they missed non-verbal communication with their students. Similar findings were achieved by Zeki (2009) who concluded that non-verbal communication was important for classroom management as it could be used as a tool to motivate students to learn, raise concentration, and maintain attention. Furthermore, female academics found the EOE stressful due to a lack of digital literacy and they were hesitant to use digital devices. The finding of this study aligns with the study conducted by Broos (2005). He found that females have more negative attitudes towards computers and the Internet. The unavailability of proper internet facilities was another factor that disrupted the EOE, which is common in both Indian and global contexts (Pitroda, 2020; Sudevan, 2020; UNICEF, 2020). Consequently, it may be inferred that two among the three stages of the digital divide namely lack of skills and lack of motivation were present among the female academics of this study. However, the other stage, access, was not present as all the respondents were economically empowered. Gender inequality can be seen in many different areas of social life, and education is one of these areas (Alabay et al., 2017; Cerrato & Cifre, 2018). This study revealed that female academics in the joint family suffered the most as compared to female academics in nuclear families or living alone or living with parents. This result is similar to the findings of Chauhan (2021), who found that married women experienced the highest increase in unpaid household chores. Interestingly, full-­ time helpers at home helped female academics to maintain their professional life.

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This result is consistent with the findings by Singh and Pattanaik (2020), who concluded that most of the urban households in India, especially working women, were highly dependent on domestic helpers, either part-time or full-time. Another significant finding of this study is that females paid less attention to their professional life as they were more concerned about looking after their children and their education, elderly care, and management of household chores. This finding corroborates studies by Banker and Banker (2017) and Gandhi and Sen (2020). They also found that married female academics focused less on their professional life which resulted in less career advancement. It was found that the female academics in the NE region were digitally more advanced than female academics in other parts of India. The sampled female academics from other parts of India were selected from various metro cities in India, while only two female academics from the NE region were selected from the only Metro city of this region, namely Guwahati (Capital of Assam), and all the other samples were selected from urban and semi-urban areas of the NE region. The reason for this may be the higher work involvement of females in the five states of the North-East, namely Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, and Nagaland (Mazumdar & Sindhu, 2010), and higher female literacy rates in seven states other than Arunachal Pradesh (MDONER, 2022) as compared to the Indian national average. Therefore, it may be inferred that a higher literacy rate implies higher digital literacy. However, few (32.5%) female academics adjusted to the changes in their personal and professional lives and EOE as time passed. They implemented different techniques to reduce their stress level. If one tried to change her behaviors, others initiated some innovative techniques to adjust to the situation. A few of the participants used music to help them cope with the issues during the pandemic. This finding aligns with conclusions by Bezek (2010) who found that during adversity, people differed in their ways of adjusting and, thus their demonstration of resilience was different.

Conclusions The findings of this study showed that COVID-19 and the  lockdown increased females’ existing burden of household chores. This affected the academic lives of female academics and females in extended families suffered more. However, the presence of domestic helpers played a significant role in balancing the household and academic responsibilities of female academics. The participants were, on one hand, able to accept the reality with positivity, while they also expressed apprehension towards the negative implications. They successfully adapted to the changes that occurred due to the pandemic. It should be noted that the female academics of the NE region have more expertise in handling digital devices. This result is significant in the sense that there seem to be more female academics in the NE region

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engaging in ICT-based projects, including Governmental agencies. Further research in this area may open up a new direction for socioeconomic planning and social prediction.

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Khare, P., & Gupta, P. (2022, August 29). Japan’s continuing struggle with gender parity. The Hindu. https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-­ed/japans-­continuing-­struggle-­with-­gender-­ parity/article65823317.ece Kumar, C. (2015, June 5). Only 13 of India’s 431 universities have women VCs. TOI: Education. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/47547616 Kuroda, R., Mariana L., Janelle, S., & Michelle, S. (2019). The digital gender gap. W20 Japan, EY-GSMA. https://www.gsma.com/mobilefordevelopment/wp-­content/uploads/2019/02/ Digital-­Equity-­Policy-­Brief-­W20-­Japan.pdf Lavrakas, P.  J. (2008). Encyclopaedia of survey research methods. SAGE. https://doi. org/10.4135/9781412963947 Mahanta, S. (2020, April). Shifting to online learning: Equity, access, and inclusion in the secondary education at the time of COVID-19; a case study in Dibrugarh district of Assam, India. [Paper Presented]. Teaching-learning in the time of pandemic: Role of online learning. International Online Conference, Guwahati, India. Mahanta, S., & Sharma, R. C. (2022). Challenges, prospects, and strategies of emergency online education at the secondary level in Assam state of India during the Covid-19 pandemic. Education and Self Development, 17(4). https://doi.org/10.26907/esd.17.4.04. Accepted May 2022. Mazumdar, V., & Sindhu, P. (2010). Women’s status in north-eastern India. Indian Journal of Gender Studies, 7(2), 318–322. https://doi.org/10.1177/097152151001700210 MDONER. (2022). Webpage of Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region. https:// mdoner.gov.in/ Mistry, R. S., White, E. S., Chow, K. A., Griffin, K. M., & Nenadal, L. (2016). A mixed methods approach to equity and justice research: insights from research on children’s reasoning about economic inequality. Advances in Child Development and Behavior, 50, 209–236. https://doi. org/10.1016/bs.acdb.2015.11.003 Mohajan, H. (2017). Two criteria for good measurements in research: Validity and reliability. Annals of Spiru Haret University, 17(4), 56–82. https://mpra.ub.uni-­muenchen.de/83458/1/ MPRA_paper_83458.pdf Nielsen, J. (2006). Digital divide: The 3 stages. https://www.nngroup.com/articles/ digital-­divide-­the-­three-­stages Pietrzak, R.  H., & Southwick, S.  M. (2011). Psychological resilience in OEF-OIF veterans: Application of a novel classification approach and examination of demographic and psychosocial correlates. Journal of Affective Disorders, 133, 560–568. https://doi.org/10.1016/j. jad.2011.04.028 Pitroda, S. (2020, September 3). Digital India’ is not prepared for digital education. The Indian Express. https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/digital-­education Schoonenboom, J., & Johnson, R. B. (2017). How to construct a mixed methods research design. Köln Z Soziol, 69(2), 107–131. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11577-­017-­0454-­1 Seth, A. (2022, January 23). The gendered digital divide: Nonpartisan-perspectives. Times of India. https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/blogs/nonpartisan-­perspectives Singh, P., & Pattanaik, F. (2020). Unfolding unpaid domestic work in India: Women’s constraints, choices, and career. Palgrave Communications, 6, Article 111. https://doi.org/10.1057/ s41599-­020-­0488-­2 Singh et.el. (2020). Impact of COVID-19 and lockdown on mental health of children and adolescents: A narrative review with recommendations. Psychiatry Research, 293, 113429. https:// doi.org/10.1016/j.psychres.2020.113429 Southwick, S.  M., Bonanno, G.  A., Masten, A.  S., Panter-Brick, C., & Yehuda, R. (2014). Resilience definitions, theory, and challenges: Interdisciplinary perspectives. European Journal of Psychotraumatology, 5(1), Article 25338. https://doi.org/10.3402/ejpt.v5.25338 Stamarski, C., & Son-Hing, L.  S. (2015). Gender inequalities in the workplace: The effects of organizational structures, processes, practices, and decision makers’ sexism. Frontiers in Psychology. https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg

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Sudevan, P. (2020, May 11). Why e-learning isn’t a sustainable solution to the COVID-19 education crisis in India? The Hindu. https://www.thehindu.com/sci-­tech/technology. Techo, V.  P. (2016). Research methods-quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods. Retrieved November 17, 2021 from https://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.1.1262.4886. Teddlie, C., & Tashakkori, A. (2010). Overview of contemporary issues in mixed methods research. In A. Tashakkori & C. Teddlie (Eds.), SAGE handbook of mixed methods in social & behavioral research (pp. 1–42). SAGE. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781506335193.n1 Tyers-Chowdhury, A., & Binder, G. (2021). What we know about the gender digital divide for girls: A literature review. UNICEF. https://www.unicef.org/eap/media/8311/file/What%20 we%20know%20about%20the%20gender%20digital%20divide%20for%20girls:%20A%20 literature%20review.pdf Uddin, M. (2021). Addressing work-life balance challenges of working women during COVID-19 in Bangladesh. International Social Science Journal, 71(239–240), 7–20. https:// doi.org/10.1111/issj.12267 United Nations. (2022). Sustainable development goals. https://sdgs.un.org/ United Nations Educational, Scientific & Cultural Organization. (2021a). Global education coalition. https://en.unesco.org/covid19/educationresponse/globalcoalition United Nations Educational, Scientific & Cultural Organization. (2021b). World Teachers’ Day: Discussing the challenges teachers faced during the pandemic. https://en.unesco.org/news/ world-­teachers-­day-­discussing-­challenges-­teachers-­faced-­during-­pandemic United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund. (2020). Unequal-access. https://www. unicef.org›turkey›press-­releases›unequal-­access United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund. (2022a). Eastern and Southern Africa: Gender equality. https://www.unicef.org/esa/gender-­equality United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund. (2022b). India: Gender equality. https:// www.unicef.org/india/what-­we-­do/gender-­equality University Grants Commission. (2019). Draft development of women’s studies centres in Indian universities and colleges. https://ugc.ac.in Yamaguchi, K. (2019). Japan’s gender gap. International Monetary Fund. https://www.imf.org/en/ Publications/fandd/issues/2019/03/gender-­equality-­in-­japan-­yamaguchi Zeki, C.  P. (2009). The importance of non-verbal communication in classroom management. Procedia Social and Behavioral Sciences, 1, 1443–1449. https://doi.org/10.1016/j. sbspro.2009.01.254 Zhao, J.  H., Wu, P.  Z., & Kong, J. (2020). Guidance for students  – Online education during COVID-19 pandemic. https://iite.unesco.org/wp-­content/uploads/2020/06/Guidance-­for-­ Students.pdf

Chapter 3

Offering Up Ourselves: A Collaborative Autoethnographic Exploration of Two Female Academics During the COVID-19 Pandemic Carmel Roofe

and Therese Ferguson

Abstract  Academic resilience is considered to be an important characteristic trait for academics in higher education. It reflects the ability of the academic to adapt positively and be successful despite adversities. Academics in higher education have many professional and academic obligations that come with operating in a university context, obligations that many found to be unduly amplified during the COVID-19 pandemic. This chapter examines the ways in which resilience was exhibited by two female academics during the COVID-19 pandemic. An autoethnographic approach was used to describe and analyse our journeys during the pandemic and the primary forces that enabled our resiliency and continuity during a period of disruption, intensified professional and personal demands, and seeming stasis. As both researchers and participants, we utilised interactive interviews, alongside our written narratives. Based on our exploration, we found that our faith, our social networks, and our internal quests for professional and self-actualisation enabled our resiliency. The sharing of our stories imbued with emotion and spirituality, serves as a  catharsis for each of us. It also adds impetus to our continued journey as academics during this time of uncertainty and disruption. Additionally, through the honest and transparent sharing of our experiences, we  hope that our voices serve to encourage those with similar experiences during this period and empower females in the academe. Keywords  Academic resiliency · Motivation and faith · Adaptability and spirituality · Work/life balance · Collaborative autoethnography

C. Roofe (*) · T. Ferguson The University of the West Indies, Mona, Jamaica e-mail: [email protected]; [email protected] © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 C. Bissessar (ed.), Female Academics’ Resilience during the COVID-19 Pandemic, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-34140-3_3

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Introduction Can we do something? Perhaps interviewing each other. This is a wild thought, but I love the Call. (Carmel, October 7, 2021, Email Communication)

The Call to which Carmel referred was a Call for Research Papers on the theme ‘Intercultural Perspectives of Female Academics’ Resiliency during the Pandemic’. Thank you for sharing this. I love it! The good thing is, the abstracts are due end of December, and then there is no specific timeline until/unless her proposal is accepted for the Special Issue. So, I believe we can undertake this. Interestingly, for the longest time I have wanted us to do something focusing on 'us' in academia but was not sure (i) what focus and form this might take and (ii) how we would fit it in but this Call seems to answer (i) and provide flexibility with respect to (ii). Let me know when you would want to meet and discuss further but I am in favour. (Therese, October 8, 2021, Email Communication)

And so began our sojourn into the exploration of our resiliency as female academics during the pandemic, along with our journey into the use of, what for each of us, was a new approach to research, autoethnography. Resiliency is an important component of what makes academics in higher education successful amidst the increasing demands (Yang et al., 2022). The job description of the higher education academic continues to evolve to include increased demands for the academic to attract funding while engaging in teaching and research activities. Academics also have personal lives with personal responsibilities that must co-exist with their professional and academic lives. Personal responsibilities may include caring for an elderly parent, being the breadwinner of the family, parenting children and managing volunteering and outreach roles in clubs and societies, communities, and religious groups, etc. Coupled with this is the constant change to policies and procedures in university contexts because of the increased competitiveness of higher education. These issues become more complex for individuals who work in higher education contexts in developing countries. These complexities have been further exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. During the pandemic there have been shutdowns and no movement resulting in isolation, depression, anxieties, changes to routine, halting of research activities, and a decrease in funding opportunities (Kalloo et al., 2020; Leal Filho et al., 2021). Much research has been ongoing documenting the effect of the pandemic on higher education institutions with a focus on students and funding (Bartusevičienė et al., 2021; Kalloo et al., 2020; Singh et al., 2021). However, there does not seem to be much attention given to research on the academics themselves and how they have navigated the period of the COVID-19 pandemic. Additionally, the literature that speaks to the experiences of academics in general in the Caribbean context, as well as the challenges experienced during the pandemic, needs further development. Academics in higher education are expected to manage change and be successful. According to Yang et al. (2022), many juggle the increased demands and pursue their goals with persistence and determination. Academics are expected to be adaptable and bounce back quickly from adversities or difficulties such as the COVID-19 pandemic (Beale, 2020). This requires resilience in various forms. Resilient

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academics will manage and sustain engagement throughout the pandemic amidst uncertainties and the plethora of changes brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. Many academics, however, may succumb to the pressures and adversities and become frustrated and unsuccessful. This chapter examines the resiliency of two female academics (ourselves) during the COVID-19 pandemic. It provides answers to the questions: (1) What adversities have two female academics faced during the pandemic? (2) In what ways have these two female academics exhibited resilience? It is important to examine the resiliency of academics in higher education institutions, especially during periods of crisis to understand their experiences and empower academics on how to thrive and not just survive amidst difficulties. Additionally, research of this nature aids in addressing the issue of ‘invisibilizing’ the roles and needs of academics during the COVID-19 pandemic (Cohrssen et al., 2022, p. 3). While our perspectives are not generalizable to all female academics, we do feel that our perspectives can offer insights into the factors that can contribute to resiliency amongst female academics given our experiences with managing multiple academic responsibilities (teaching, research, and  administration), having familial responsibilities, occupying additional roles (e.g., church), and working in a traditionally male-dominated sphere whilst navigating a global pandemic. Our perspectives are also important given the gap in the research concerning Caribbean-­based experiences.

Literature Review Understanding Resilience Research on resilience is usually conducted and discussed through the lens of adversities that impact psychosocial development and through life events such as being raised with lower socioeconomic status (Luthar & Cicchetti, 2000; Masten, 2001). Researchers have also argued whether resilience is an outcome (Rutter, 2007) or a process (Olsson et al., 2003). Resilience as a process focuses on understanding the mechanisms that mediate risk so that an individual may adapt or develop successfully (Doty, 2010). Similarly, Fonagy et al. (1994) and Richardson (2002) suggested that resilience is part of the normal psychological development process implemented when an individual is faced with difficulty. In contrast, an outcome-focused approach to resilience seeks to understand the degree of resilience and risks. Through the lens of an outcome-focused approach, Rutter (2007) operationalized resilience as a positive outcome despite a negative experience being faced. In agreement with both the outcome-focused approach and a process-focused approach, Masten et al. (1990) defined resilience as “the process of, capacity for, or outcome of successful adaptation despite challenging or threatening circumstances” (p. 426). Resilience, therefore, allows one to maintain mental and emotional stability in times of challenges.

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Fleming and Ledogar (2008) argued that external factors such as culture, one’s environment, and the system or context within which one operates typically are motivators that prompt resilience. Cicchetti and Curtis (2006) also noted that exposure to difficult environments and circumstances such as malnutrition and crime within the early years of life can affect the neurobiological systems and brain structure and development and become motivators of resilience. Consequently, Herrman et al. (2011) argued that there is an interplay among environmental–systemic factors, biological factors and personal factors in determining resilience. This, they argued, is because harsh environments affect brain functions which resultantly influence which personal traits are developed and exercised. Therefore, personal traits such as self-efficacy, self-esteem and internal locus of control will contribute to the resilience of the academic along with demographic factors such as age, gender, and social contact (Herrman et al., 2011).

Academics, Resilience, and the Pandemic While the issue of resilience and academics in higher education is understudied, there is a growing body of research that has begun to emerge because of the COVID-19 pandemic (Beale, 2020; Filho et al., 2021). For instance, Newlin and Anthony (2022) conducted interviews to understand resilience among rural South African female academics during the pandemic. The research participants posited that their work hours increased due to work-related meetings and upskilling workshops, all while attempting to balance work with home and family responsibilities. Participants expressed how they experienced pressures from home and work; they began to experience depression, anger, and trauma, among other negative emotions. In addition, participants expressed the limited support they received from institutions as they were assigned to disadvantaged institutions that have limited resources and had a culture of gender inequality, which by extension, impacted the level of support female academics received. The study revealed that the women academics exercised their protective factors, mostly in the form of psychological adjustments to endure the challenges. Bahar Moni et  al. (2021) conducted a study on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on women in higher education. They sought to ascertain the relationship between demographic variables and academic resilience in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. The findings revealed that women’s output rapidly decreased during the pandemic as women were deemed to be positioned as primary caregivers in their homes while working from home. Conversely, men’s academic output increased during the same period. Analysing the influence of resilience and work-related burnout among Mexican university professors during COVID-19, García-Rivera et al. (2022) noted that resilience is a process and suggested that resilience, as a personal attribute, can reduce the probability of professors experiencing burnout; stress, and loss of motivation for work and exhaustion. The findings of García-Rivera et  al.’s (2022) study  are

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consistent with a study by Méndez et al. (2020) on the relationship between academic resilience and burnout. Méndez et al. (2020) found that there is a significant relationship between educators’ academic resilience and professional burnout. They noted that educators were more inclined to avoid burnout due to their high level of academic resilience. Other studies in higher education, such as Fullerton et  al. (2021), sought to understand resilience and resilience measurement by examining internal or personality traits of resilience which included but were not limited to self-esteem, self-­ efficacy, adaptability, and mental toughness, which supports contemporary concepts of resilience and highlights personal factors as determinants of resilience. Similarly, Raghunathan et al. (2022) conducted a study on resilience in education during COVID-19 with the understanding that resilience is a trait within a system. For this study, a survey was used to gather data from teachers across India, Fiji and Malaysia to ascertain their perspective on the features of resilience they deem essential for an education system to prevail. The findings presented three dimensions of resilience: internal, external, and interpersonal resilience. In the case of internal resilience, teachers across the three countries gained new technological and pedagogical skills; they learned how to teach effectively in a virtual space and use other technologies to assist their online teaching, learned how to respond to distracted students in the virtual classroom, along with balancing their home and family life while working from home. Interpersonal resilience referred to how teachers engaged with and supported learners and their parents while external resilience is defined as the trust and support teachers received from schools through mechanisms such as policies, communication and administrative support that allowed teachers to positively adapt to challenges. Such interpretations as conveyed in the study of teachers can be applied to the teaching dimension of the work of academics in higher education. Therefore, one can conclude from the literature reviewed that internal, external and interpersonal resilience are interconnected components of the overall resilience of higher education. The extent to which an academic is skilled in these areas will affect the outcomes in periods of crisis. Additionally, one also needs to consider the interplay among these components for academics in developing country contexts during a pandemic.

Women in Academia In higher education, research highlights that although women comprise a significant number of those working in academia, “women continue to fail to progress through the academic hierarchy in significant numbers and enter senior leadership positions” (Aiston & Jung, 2015, p. 205). Aiston and Jung (2015) shared that the academy has traditionally been an arena that prioritises “masculine practices and norms” (p.  205) through its organisational culture, structures, networks, and mentorship practices. Luke (2000), as cited in Raddon (2002) stated that higher education has

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historically privileged men as “speakers of truth and knowledge” (p. 392). In their study of male and female academics in South India, Bakthavatchaalam et al. (2020) shared that females felt their institutions valued males more and prioritised their career progression despite similar or same levels of research productivity. Thus, women can be marginalised in the academy. Further to these ingrained cultural and institutional factors, particular demands such as parenting are amongst those that can hinder academic women from progressing in academia or progressing in a timely manner. Rothblum (1988), pointing to several voluntary resignations at a particular institution, outlined the factors cited by resignees as including, an unsupportive environment, unsupportive colleagues, heavy teaching demands, stress from the pressures of academia and family responsibilities. Additionally, researchers have shared the narratives of others as well as of themselves that highlight the tensions and/or incompatibilities that can exist between social and gender roles such as motherhood and professional roles within academia (e.g., Castle & Woloshyn, 2003; Raddon, 2002). Accordingly, drawing from the literature, some cited a ‘gender’ gap with respect to research productivity among men and women in academia (e.g., Stout et  al., 2007; Todd et al., 2008), with researchers highlighting that female academics publish less than male colleagues. For instance, in their research involving 306 women academics from both public and private higher education institutions in the Philippines, Dapiton et al. (2020) found that parenting has rendered female academics vulnerable concerning their research productivity. Similarly, in Fothergill and Feltey’s (2003) survey of mothers in full-time tenure track academic positions at a university in the Midwest United States, 71% of the mothers felt that their career was less productive (though not non-productive) due to their mothering roles. Horodnic and Zait’s (2015) research on motivation and research productivity amongst Romanian university academics in the fields of economics and business administration found, as one aspect of their various findings, that men were more productive than women. Of interest, though, is the fact that other studies highlight contradictory patterns. Both Fox (2005) and Ward and Wolf-Wendel (2004) cited several studies that showcase, for instance, that married women publish as much or more than women who are unmarried and that having children does not impact female scholars’ productivity. Although there are conflicting research findings regarding women’s productivity in academia, it is clear that women do experience challenges as academics and/or that their productivity in academia may be affected by factors such as parenting, housework, other caregiver roles (e.g., elderly parents), and inequitable workload allocations (Castle & Woloshyn, 2003; Dapiton et  al., 2020; Fothergill & Feltey, 2003; Stout et al., 2007; Todd et al., 2008; Ward & Wolf-Wendel, 2004), as borne out by literature from various countries worldwide. Thus, researchers have recommended various measures such as undertaking collaborative work where competing tasks and demands on time may make it impossible to undertake individual scholarship (Castle & Woloshyn, 2003); drawing on family and other social support systems (Castle & Woloshyn, 2003); and institutional support such as childcare schemes (Fothergill & Feltey, 2003).

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Despite the challenges with which female academics contend, some studies focused on the factors accounting for their resilience in the academy. Isaacs (2014) focused on the difference in resilience levels between male and female academic deans in a state university system. Of the 35 academic deans who responded to their survey, they found that female deans had higher levels of resilience. They presumed that, based on the fact that women experience more challenges in the workplace and the academy, as documented in the literature, “the accumulation of these challenges has enhanced resilience for women, or it may just have been necessary for women to be more resilient to compete for the position at each level” (Isaacs, 2014, p. 118). In their study of female academics in the field of engineering and those in non-­ engineering fields, Smart Rickman et al. (2011) found that factors such as supportive social networks and family encouragement were important factors for both groups of women. Bakthavatchaalam et  al. (2020) utilised a qualitative study to understand the factors influencing the research productivity of male and female academics in South India. They found that for female academics, factors such as family support (both before and after marriage); female academics’ ability to focus and concentrate on their work; the support of male academics; a shift in parents’ views of the value of education and career for their daughters; and increased confidence levels amongst women due to sociocultural changes in the country were amongst the main factors accounting for their resilience in the academy despite the challenges they faced. Bakthavatchaalam et al. (2020) also pointed out that “female academics have to make greater efforts to start and be resilient to continue their academic career. This might be one of the reasons for them to be very focused and dedicated, as they have little room to make mistakes” (p. 177). These factors facing women in the academy may have been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic given the demands and challenges incumbent with supporting children in online schooling during the pandemic, the commingling of work and home spaces, and the increased time demands associated with increased workloads during the period (e.g., Bahar Moni et al. 2021; Newlin & Anthony, 2022).

Methodology To engage with our experiences as academics during the COVID-19 pandemic, we utilised a qualitative research approach to, explore and understand our personal experiences, thoughts and feelings in addressing the questions: (1) What adversities have two female academics faced during the pandemic? (2) In what ways have these two female academics exhibited resilience? Specifically, we decided to use (for the first time!) an autoethnographic approach. Ellis et al. (2011) described autoethnography as “an approach to research and writing that seeks to describe and systematically analyze (graphy) personal experience (auto) to understand cultural experience (ethno)” (p. 379). Thus, whilst traditional ethnographers begin with the ‘other’, the starting point for autoethnographers is the ‘self’ (Hogan, 2022). Custer (2014) elaborates on the cultural experience, citing that

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this can speak to social and cultural institutions. Ellis et al. (2011) further wrote that autoethnography “is one of the approaches that acknowledges and accommodates subjectivity, emotionality, and the researcher’s influence on research, rather than hiding from these matters or assuming they don’t exist” (p. 381). Bochner (2017) expanded on this idea indicating that the holistic individual can be integrated into the autoethnographic approach – persons’ intellectual as well as emotional, spiritual, and moral selves. Given that our focus is on resiliency during a period of disruption, intensified professional and personal demands, and seeming stasis, we felt this approach to be an apt one given the emotions that were experienced during this period and given the therapeutic nature of autoethnography (Custer, 2014; Hogan, 2022; Raab, 2013). Additionally, given autoethnography’s focus on using the personal to understand the cultural, we also felt that our personal experiences could help us to understand the forces that enabled resiliency within the higher education institutional culture in which we operated, and, academia in general. Finally, we consider our autoethnography a collaborative autoethnography, given that we collaboratively shared our stories and analysed our experiences (e.g., Devnew et  al., 2017), and sought to explore commonalities and differences (McPhail-Bell & Redman-McLaren, 2019) in what we encountered as female academics during the pandemic.

Participants The participants in this research are the co-authors of the research. Thus, as is the norm, as the autoethnographers we are also the research participants (Hogan, 2022). I (Carmel) am a Senior Lecturer in the area of Curriculum Studies and have worked full-time in academia for approximately 16 years. I (Therese) am a Senior Lecturer in the field of Education for Sustainable Development at the university and have worked in academia for approximately 15 years. Both of us have been friends, colleagues, and Christian sisters since 2015 when we joined our current department just 2 months apart. As professionals, our relationship has always been such that we embrace collaborative efforts (with each other as well as with other colleagues). Thus, a collaborative autoethnographic approach was a natural fit for us.

Data Collection As both researchers and participants, we utilised two primary means of data to explore the resiliency exhibited during the pandemic. Firstly, we utilised document data in the form of personal journal entries. We worked together to develop prompts that could be used to guide these entries, with each of us writing three to four entries. Secondly, we utilised interactive interviews with one another (Ellis et  al., 2011; Ellis & Bochner, 2003), alongside our written narratives, to explore the resiliency

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exhibited. Examples of our prompts and interview questions are included in Appendix A. These interviews lasted approximately an hour to an hour and a quarter, were carried out using Zoom and were transcribed verbatim. Although these data were not collected during the first months/year of the pandemic, we find these useful given that autoethnographers rely on hindsight to draw insights from experiences and make connections (Bochner, 2017). Raab (2013) also suggested that the best time for clarity of perspective and insight is when some distance has passed from the experience being explored.

Data Analysis To analyse our data, we utilised the Three C’s coding approach (codes, categories, and concepts) outlined by Lichtman (2013). This saw us reading through the data individually several times with our research questions in mind. We then collaboratively worked to assign codes, short words and/or phrases that reflected the essence of the data (Saldaña, 2015). These included emotion coding (feelings related to the research focus), descriptive coding (the basic topics of the various data), and in vivo coding (drawn from the actual words we utilised in our narratives and/or interviews) (Cooper & Lilyea, 2022). Thereafter, we moved similar codes into categories and then generated themes from these categories, reviewing and refining these in relation to our research questions. From these themes, we then generated assertions, defined by Miles et al. (2019, p. 93) as “declarative statement[s] of summative synthesis, supported by confirming evidence from the data”. These are similar to the “bullet points” of “major patterns, themes, trends, and findings” (Miles et al., 2019, p. 93).

Ethics Although the autoethnographers are the ‘subjects’ of the research themselves, the approach still carries with it particular ethical considerations and issues given that we are not able to conceal our identities or protect our privacy (Cooper & Lilyea, 2022; Devnew et al., 2017). For the participants themselves, the honesty, transparency and emotional nature of the process can leave them feeling “vulnerable, exposed, and open to criticism” as Pourreau (2014) herself chronicled. Thus, for ourselves, we each discussed what was required by us in the use of such an approach and consented to the process. Additionally, we also agreed to stipulations to ensure the protection of our privacy. For instance, each of us selected the student research assistant we felt most comfortable with to transcribe our data and ‘see’ the totality of our experiences. Equally important is that given the autobiographical nature of the inquiry, the injunction to do no harm is critical given that in revealing ‘our’ stories, others (family members, friends, and colleagues) may be portrayed. Thus, we each shared our inquiry and approach with individuals whose identities could not be

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fictionalised in our presentations (e.g., family members), and obtained their consent to do so (Raab, 2013). Additionally, to ensure that we ‘did no harm’ to these individuals, we ensured that our presentation focused primarily on our feelings and experiences as opposed to the feelings and experiences of others who featured in our research (Cooper & Lilyea, 2022). Finally, we realised that some elements of our stories could not be shared in public forums such as in this article or conference presentations to protect those who could easily be identified through their personal relationships with us (Devnew et al., 2017).

Trustworthiness To enhance the trustworthiness of the research, we employed thick description, attempting to describe our experiences in sufficient detail so that readers can consider and explore their usefulness in comparable contexts (Lincoln & Guba, 1985). We also engaged in member checking by reviewing the data to check for accuracy and to ensure it resonated with the experiences we wished to convey.

Findings In this section, we share the findings from our exploration. We present these shared findings according to each research question in the form of assertions derived from the main themes of our analysis. The findings will speak to the main ways in which adversities were experienced in our lives and highlight the ways in which the pandemic exacerbated some pre-existing challenges and created some new ones. They will also highlight the factors that we feel contributed to our resilience during this time of heightened anxiety and pressure in our professional and personal realms.

 hat Adversities Have Two Female Academics Faced During W the Pandemic?  dversities Were Experienced in the Personal, Social, and Academic A Spheres of Life Adversities were experienced in all realms of our lives during the pandemic. In the academic sphere, male aggression in the workplace, the distortion of work-life balance, a disproportionate amount of time spent on academic work and duties, increased workload, and internal questioning as to the purpose and meaning of academic work were some of the challenges faced.

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Carmel expressed: I disliked the process of putting together the CV for promotion and trying to remember all the things that I did. This was a lengthy, tedious process. Each time I had to address something on the CV I murmured inside as the process made me feel as though I was trying to beg for something of which I was not deserving. No one said those words but just the way things were done, said, meetings attended and the scrutiny of the CV by senior academics within my faculty. I felt downtrodden. (Carmel, Journal Reflection)

In examining the feelings Carmel expressed about applying for promotion during the pandemic, there was the sense that such feelings were heightened because of the increased pressure of the pandemic, the disproportionate time this process takes, and going through this process in an online space that made the process seem impersonal. With respect to our personal lives, both of our mothers experienced health challenges during the pandemic, resulting in increased pressure at work, anxiety, and physical tiredness: The worry about my mom, alongside the worries about having to be in public medical spaces (doctor’s offices, hospitals, etc.) during the pandemic, all added stresses to an already stressful time. As the only child here for my mom (in Jamaica), this meant that everything fell on my shoulders … I was still able to complete all of my substantive professional duties during this time – with work concentrated in the early mornings, evenings, weekends, alongside any ‘normal’ moments during the day. But everything made me feel tired and drained. I feel tired and drained just writing about and recollecting it (Therese, Journal Reflection)

I (Carmel) encountered anxieties regarding my daughter’s schooling and her external examinations, as well as concern about her emotional well-being during this time. The dates for the examinations kept changing. I became so concerned and worried for her. There was so much uncertainty. She did Sciences and she had labs so practicals became a concern. Her mental well-being became a concern as she was so worried” (Carmel, Journal Reflection)

Roles such as wife, mother, and daughter of an elderly parent exacerbated the adversities faced as these brought heightened responsibilities during the pandemic. Whether it was striving to find meaningful time with our spouse, worrying about our child’s educational progress and examinations during the disruption in the education sector brought about by the pandemic, or caring for parents experiencing illness during this time, this affected us emotionally and mentally, and required additional time in the various circumstances. Regarding the social aspect of our lives, another key issue that we both faced was the seeming ‘loss’ of our church communities and the associated longing for our church communities given the transitioning of our church services and gatherings from face-to-face to online formats as a result of the pandemic. Whether a stereotype or not, we both noted as females our need for relationships and connection. I loved attending church and being able to be near/with persons who love God as much as I do and recognize the grace, mercy and salvation offered to us by Christ. This is something that energized me weekly. Additionally, attending district (small group) meetings, Bible

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C. Roofe and T. Ferguson study and prayer sessions where possible was also something that I enjoyed as a significant and regular part of my life. The pandemic disrupted this a great deal. My church quickly and proficiently moved to an online platform but it was not the ‘same’ as being able to be with my fellow brothers and sisters ‘in the same space’, to see their joy, their love, hear their laughter, shake hands and hug them on a Sunday and at other times … It did make me feel sad though and as if part of my life was ‘missing’ (Therese, Journal Reflection) As a Christian, I look forward to Sundays as a timeout from my work week just to fellowship with other believers. However, the pandemic prevented us from going out to worship. While I enjoyed worshipping online this was not the same as the humanness associated with live vibrant interaction was missing … Additionally, as a female, I value connection and community. I also like to think and sometimes overthink and need someone to share ideas off the bat with (Carmel, Journal Reflection)

As expressed through these findings, we experienced a range of emotions associated with the various dimensions of our lives resulting from the pandemic. Though the emotions expressed seemed similar they affected us in different ways based on our unique circumstances. Therefore, the ability to name and label the emotions associated with varying adversities serves to assist academics with solutions for overcoming them.

I n What Ways Have These Two Female Academics Exhibited Resilience?  esiliency Was Characterized as the Presence and Power of God R in One’s Life One of the central questions that we asked each other as we engaged in this exploration was how we each characterised the notion of ‘resiliency’. A central tenet for both of us was that our faith underlined our notion of resiliency, with the concept underpinned by God’s presence and power in our lives. We each used words other than ‘faith’ to define the concept, words such as “strength”, “determination”, “bouncing back”, “overcoming”, “moving forward” and “improvement”: When I think of resilience I think of strength. I think of determination. I think of an individual who’s able to bounce back from something or persevere through something. So, yeah, that would be how I define or conceptualise that idea of resilience (Therese, Interview).

I (Therese) further elaborated: I think number one is my faith, my belief in God and  my belief in Jesus Christ as my Saviour. When I think about how He brought me into a relationship with Him, and the purpose and meaning that He has for my life, I cannot waste that. When I think about the sacrifice that He made for me, I cannot waste that. I cannot take it for granted. I cannot despise any … or reject any open doorway or pathway or opportunity He offers me and I have to always, for me I always keep that in mind. This is what my life is about and everything that I do has to be for Him. And in addition to that, just the fact that it is Him that gives me strength because I know for myself that I am weak. Right? I am weak. And, any resilience that I have, any strength, any determination that is from Him (Therese, Interview).

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These aforementioned notions are characteristics of our state of being during the pandemic. Grounding these expressions was the intersection of faith that embolden resilience during the pandemic. For each of us, our belief in God and the fact that our Christian faith permeated our reason for being, enabled us to persevere in various facets of our life as the pandemic strengthened. As I (Carmel) succinctly shared, “I relied heavily on my faith. I prayed more, listened to worship music more. Stayed by myself more” (Journal Reflection). Our roles as academics were not exempt from this. Indeed, we each saw our academic work as one of the ways in which we sought to honour God and bring glory to God: but that aspect of my life, my faith, that really is integral to my role as an academic because everything that I do, whether it is as an academic, whether it’s as a daughter, whatever it might be, I try to do it in a way that brings glory to God (Therese, Interview).

 esiliency Through Social Networks: Professional and Personal R Self-actualisation In part connected to our faith was this desire for professional and personal self-­ actualisation. For me (Carmel), through my education and career, I then wanted to leave a legacy for my daughter. For me (Therese), I had grown up with a father who worked in international organisations and then later in academia and a mother who was involved in banking. My upbringing was one of comfort and ease. When my father passed away at a fairly young age in today’s society, I sought to make him proud. He had lived to see me submit my doctoral dissertation but not for the oral defence. Everything from that viva onwards was (in part) to honour and build on his legacy, and to further his achievements through my own. Additionally, for both of us, we had internal motivating factors that made us want to succeed in our personal and professional pursuits. Interestingly, for both of us, part of this was tied up in our names – a central part of our identity. Carmel referenced Mount Carmel in the Bible known as a high mountain but quite picturesque and also a place where the prophet Elijah demonstrated determination and the power of God as he opposed and overcame 850 false prophets whilst Therese mentioned her naming after St. Thérèse of Lisieux – also known as the Little Flower. Whilst this connotes fragility, St. Thérèse was a powerful woman of prayer. For both of us, our names foretold our intimacy with God, our inner beauty as well as our potential to be ‘powerful’ in all that we did, a potential that we felt called to fulfil. As further expressed below these narratives gave us a sense of identity, determination, and coping mechanism in the face of a pandemic. My name is Therese and it’s French and it means little flower and normally you think of a little flower you think of, you know, fragility … but … St. Thérèse was a woman who prayed constantly and that’s what she’s known for and so, knowing that that is my name, that is the character that I need to embody and that I am called to embody. So my name … and just wanting to … so just that drive for meaning, umm I think those would be the key things that help me to keep moving on (Therese).

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C. Roofe and T. Ferguson I think based on my name, I always say. I think I got my name Carmel for a reason because I've had to face so many obstacles. And today I can say I feel like I've always risen to the challenge and learned the lesson from them and become better as a result of them … I will do what I need to do, to not make myself be harmed as much as I can, but to make myself better, not let it get the better of me (Carmel).

In addition to our faith, our various social networks – family, friends, our church communities, and mentors (past and present), as some examples  – offered the encouragement and support that was needed to persevere despite the challenges brought on by the pandemic. My mom is the one who makes life so much easier for both me and my husband. I mean, if a flight needs to be booked, she’s the one who does it. If something needs to be dropped off and we don't have the time, she is the one who does it. So, she is always providing that support, doing that tangible support, doing stuff for us, for me to make our lives easier and then the prior support umm from my father. Just this constant encouragement that I could do anything. That I could excel. That I could achieve. And my husband, just that prayer support. I mean, he makes me feel like I am the most accomplished person on the earth and I know that’s far from the truth but that’s just how he makes me feel (Therese, Interview).

Work/Life Balance We each listed the various roles that we occupied in our lives. These included family roles such as wife, mother, parental caregiver, aunt and sibling; professional roles such as lecturer, researcher, administrator, programme coordinator, programme leader, mentor and roles on external committees; and other social roles such as Sunday school teacher, faith builder (Christian mentor), and church newsletter writer. The parenting role, as I say, I think maybe for me, that's probably the most that I carry through everything. And will say no to something as a result of that. Prior to the pandemic, it had me going at a faster pace and having to juggle every single thing to the minute detail … During the pandemic, I found that the side that was heightened was the emotional. So, during the pandemic, I had to really dig deep to support my daughter emotionally (Carmel). I found that work was everywhere going into the evenings, early mornings, weekends and so forth and I would drag my family in which really isn't what you are supposed to be doing, right? I think it sort of changed during the pandemic, and probably a bit before that I would say where I started questioning, “Well, what am I actually doing? What am I prioritising?” Umm, and I started to try and rework and get my priorities in order, the way they should be … I think during the pandemic that heightened it because obviously, you started seeing persons getting ill, umm, persons getting sick, persons dying and you realise how fragile, how valuable life is and how precious the moments that you have with your loved ones are and so as a result of that, even though I am not always successful I have been making more of an effort and having more success with trying to have evenings and weekends for family (Therese).

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As female academics juggling various roles, this impacted our work-life balance with an inordinate number of hours being devoted to academia, including our evenings and weekends. This limited the amount of time that we were able to spend with our family  – spouse, child, parents and siblings  – as well as our friends. Consequently, we found ourselves feeling physically and mentally tired, which further detracted from the quality time that we were able to devote to our loved ones. Additionally, the time to simply ‘have fun’ was limited because of how we pushed ourselves.

Need to Centre Ourselves The pandemic brought much into focus about ourselves as female academics – the ways in which we were pushing ourselves to succeed, the sacrifices that we were making with respect to our family lives, and the toll on our physical and mental health. I think one of the main adversities faced during the pandemic was an internal questioning of whether I am really meant to be an academic or whether there was something ‘more’ that God wanted me to do with my life. The pandemic and the accompanying sickness, death, and loss of livelihood that I was seeing around me – amongst colleagues, friends, Jamaica, and globally, revved up my constant ongoing questioning as to whether what I was doing was truly meaningful (to God) – what God wanted me to be doing with my life – or whether I was simply ‘biding’ time. I characterise this as a psychosocial adversity as it was challenging what I was devoting so much of my time to – teaching, research, publications, outreach, etc. (Therese, Journal Reflection).

It resulted in us reprioritizing our time and focusing on what we realised was truly important in our lives. This adversity caused me to reprioritize my professional life, with respect to the time spent on the activities. I still worked, and worked hard, but I found myself putting my life (God, husband, mom, and friends) first more and then work and other things after. And, the amazing thing was, I did not feel as if I was no longer glorifying God or as if I was short-­ changing work because I was still productive and still doing what I was required to do and more (Therese, Journal Reflection). Like with my daughter, we spent more time having conversations and the conversations were at whatever point or at night (Carmel, Interview).

We end by summarising our findings in the following poem, consistent with some autoethnographic practices. We strive, we strive, we strive Publication quantity Publication quality Teach them, reach them, mentor them, centre them

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C. Roofe and T. Ferguson Meeting, committee, board (but never bored) And yes, we soared But wait … Pandemic, disruption, uncertainty, stress, death Pause, stop, recalibrate Through our faith Strength, resilience, power from above Allowing us to revive So much more than survive Mounting up with wings like eagles And soaring to new heights With God as our guide, we truly thrive

Discussion This study sought to understand the adversities two female academics faced during the pandemic and how they exhibited resilience during the period. The findings suggest that, as female academics, we experienced adversities in personal, social and academic spheres of life. While these adversities are noted as a natural part of the challenges of any academic journey (Martin & Marsh, 2006, 2008; Overstreet & Braun, 1999) these adversities were heightened due to the pandemic and stereotypical roles associated with being females in a Caribbean context. Like the findings from Aiston and Jung (2015), women make up a significant amount of the academics in Caribbean higher education, hence, the challenges they face will have an important impact on the higher education sector. As in the study by Bakthavatchaalam et al. (2020) where females felt their institutions valued males more and prioritised their career progression, we expressed that there were ways in which we felt men in our institution were given more positive attention to progress through promotion while the female is heavily scrutinized. This is also borne out in Aiston and Jung’s (2015) perspective that through traditional institutional structures, systems and culture, masculine practices and norms are prioritised. Despite these adversities faced, we exhibited resilience while juggling various professional, personal, and social roles to create a work-life balance. Consequently, Isaacs (2014) has noted that the increased challenges/adversities faced by women as compared to men have led to females being considered to be more resilient as compared to men. This was evident in how we juggled the various roles and overcame the various adversities we faced. While juggling these various roles we noted that the crisis of the pandemic created an opportunity for increased awareness about what matters as the purpose of life and the need to undertake a more deliberate approach to ensuring a positive work/life balance. The impetus for our resilience came from the fact that we had a deep recognition of the power of God in our lives as the one who controls our lives. We understood His power as resilience and that undergirded every decision and action we undertook. Our approach to exhibiting resilience was therefore characterized by what Fullerton et  al. (2021) noted as

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personal internal factors as determinants of resilience and which Raghunathan et al. (2022) referred to as internal resilience. Interpersonal resilience was also demonstrated by us through addressing matters relating to the mentorship of our students and caring for family members (Raghunathan et al., 2022). While as female academics, we expressed that we were resilient in balancing all roles we cannot ignore the literature (e.g., Fothergill & Feltey, 2003; Dapiton et al., 2020) that speaks to the fact that roles such as parenting, and caregiving can make females vulnerable with respect to their research productivity. Such literature also recommends females undertaking collaborative work and drawing on family and social networks of support to be resilient. Drawing on such support is also substantiated by the findings of this study. Furthermore, findings from Bakthavatchaalam et al. (2020) noted that sociocultural changes were the main factors that accounted for resilience in academia among a group of female academics in India despite the challenges they faced. Therefore, one can conclude that females can be resilient based on internally driven mechanisms, support from family and support from social structures in the institution and their networks regardless of the adversities faced.

Conclusion and Recommendations We are two academics who, as with all academics in general, must negotiate and balance our various teaching, research, administrative and outreach roles alongside our personal lives. Further, we are specifically female academics who, in common with many (if not all) female academics, find our academic lives somewhat more demanding due to the need to navigate a traditionally male-dominated environment; engage in academic roles beyond the expected ones, such as our shared call to mentor graduate students; and the need to balance our academic workloads alongside the roles associated with who we are as females  – mother, wife, daughter  – and other social and ministry roles. Much of this is borne out by the literature that we have shared. The associated tensions and stresses were exacerbated by the disruption, uncertainties and additional demands brought about by the pandemic. Indeed, the pandemic brought to the forefront some of these issues that were not necessarily resident in our conscious selves as we had previously engaged with our everyday professional and personal responsibilities with a sense of ‘normalcy’ in our actions. For us, then, this exploration has created a heightened awareness about how we work and how we create balance in our lives. What then are our recommendations, based on our experiences that may be of use to female academics sharing similar or dissimilar challenges in their institutional contexts? Recommendations have been provided in the literature such as more explicit acknowledgement by higher education institutions regarding the particular realities and needs of female academics and responsive policies (e.g., on-site day-care facilities, ‘stopped’ tenure clocks for female academics, etc.) (e.g., Dapiton et al., 2020; Fothergill & Feltey, 2003). Our thoughts, though, some of which have

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been inspired by the literature (e.g., Castle & Woloshyn, 2003) as well as our experiences, include the following: • Forming support groups and/or networks specifically for female academics so that collegial support from those in the best position to empathise with our realities can be facilitated. This will require opportunities for building trust so that individuals can be vulnerable in sharing. A group such as this would be useful in times of crisis, as, for instance, female academics who are also mothers could share challenges as well as possible sources of support and solutions to h­ ome-­schooling challenges. Such sharing will aid in creating awareness and developing one’s ability to empathize with each other during difficult circumstances. • Instituting and enabling official mentorship programmes led by more experienced women for women so that expertise can be shared in a productive way that benefits women specifically. • Since females seem to value community and connection non-academic engagements that promote self-understanding and valuing of self, need to be promoted in institutions as opportunities for strengthening spiritual connections and understanding of our unique selves. • Engaging in more collaborative research undertakings with other females to further research productivity in a way where a manageable ‘load’ is shared. • Hosting writing groups and/or residential writing retreats for women that allow them the physical and mental space to focus on their publications away from their substantive academic and personal obligations and responsibilities. • Focusing on core teaching and research interests so that limited and precious time is not lost to those that may be more peripheral. We believe that these suggestions offer recognition of the resilience which characterises many female academics, draws on a number of the mechanisms that enable this resilience such as social networks and mentoring and can offer additional mechanisms to further support this resiliency. Additionally, whilst these recommendations apply to ‘normal’ times, they are even more useful for times of crisis given the enhanced need for emotional and professional support during such times of increased demands, anxieties and fears.

 ppendix One: Prompts/Interview Questions Used A to Collect Data 1. Describe any adversities you have faced during the COVID-19 pandemic? 2. Why do you describe them as adversities? 3. What role does being female play in these adversities? 4. How did these affect your (a) personal life (b) professional life? 5. How did these adversities make you feel? 6. How do you define resilience? Do you consider yourself resilient?

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7. How did you overcome the adversities? 8. Describe the specific attributes you possess that help you overcome?

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Newlin, M., & Anthony, M. (2022). Resilience of female academics in rural South African higher education amid the COVID-19 pandemic. African Journal of Gender, Society & Development, 11(1), 131–157. https://doi.org/10.31920/2634-­3622/2022/v11n1a7 Olsson, C. A., Bond, L., Burns, J. M., Vella-Brodrick, D. A., & Sawyer, S. (2003). Adolescent resilience: A concept analysis. Journal of Adolescence, 26, 1–11. Overstreet, S., & Braun, S. (1999). A preliminary examination of the relationship between exposure to community violence and academic functioning. School Psychology Quarterly, 14, 380–396. Pourreau, L. (2014). Analyzing flying chameleons: Using autoethnography to explore change in the female educator. The Qualitative Report, 19(51), 1–22. Raab, D. (2013). Transpersonal approaches to autoethnographic research and writing. The Qualitative Report, 18(21), 1–18. Raddon, A. (2002). Mothers in the academy: Positioned and positioning within discourses of the ‘successful academic’ and the ‘good mother’. Studies in Higher Education, 27(4), 387–403. Raghunathan, S., Darshan Singh, A., & Sharma, B. (2022, January). Study of resilience in Learning environments during the Covid-19 Pandemic. In Frontiers in Education, 6, 552. Frontiers. Richardson, G.  E. (2002). The metatheory of resilience and resiliency. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 58(3), 307–321. Rothblum, E. D. (1988). Leaving the ivory tower: Factors contributing to women’s voluntary resignation from academia. Frontiers, 10(2), 14–17. Rutter, M. (2007). Resilience, competence, and coping. Child Abuse & Neglect, 31(3), 205–209. Saldaña, J. (2015). The coding manual for qualitative researchers. Sage Publications. Singh, A., Singh, H., Yerramsetty, D., & Pandeya, D. (2021). Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Caribbean medical students: A cross-sectional study. Annals of Medicine and Surgery, 67, 1–7. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amsu.2021.102515 Smart Rickman, L., van Dellen, M., & Wood, W. (2011). How women cope: Being a numerical minority in a male-dominated profession. Journal of Social Issues, 67(3), 492–509. Stout, P.  A., Staiger, J., & Jennings, N.  A. (2007). Affective stories: Understanding the lack of progress of women faculty. NWSA Journal, 19(3), 124–144. Todd, Z., Madill, A., Shaw, N., & Bown, N. (2008). Faculty members’ perceptions of how academic work is evaluated: Similarities and differences by gender. Sex Roles, 59, 765–775. Ward, K., & Wolf-Wendel, L. (2004). Academic motherhood: Managing complex roles in research universities. The Review of Higher Education, 27(2), 233–257. Yang, S., Shu, D., & Yin, H. (2022). “Teaching, my passion; publishing, my pain”: Unpacking academics’ professional identity tensions through the lens of emotional resilience. Higher Education, 84, 235–254. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-­021-­00765-­w

Chapter 4

An Exploration of Female Academics’ Resiliency During the COVID-19 Pandemic: With Reference to India, the Philippines and Tanzania Ritimoni Bordoloi, Cecilia Junio-Sabio, and Kezia H. Mkwizu Abstract  The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated the gender gaps in the professional environment owing to the disproportionate burden of maintaining household care and responsibilities (which are unpaid and unseen). During the pandemic, the differentiation of economic activities in both the workplace and home emerged due to the mandate of Working-From-Home (WFH) policies. WFH turned out to be a positive social transformation in mitigating the prevailing social discrimination of the economic activities of females in general. Collaborative autoethnography was deployed to explore female academics’ experiences of resiliency in Higher Educational Institutions (HEIs) in three countries; namely India, the Philippines, and Tanzania. The interview questions were collectively constructed by the three participants. There were two questions. What are the challenges you faced, as a female academic, during the COVID-19 pandemic? Do you think you have shown resilience in your personal and professional roles as a female academic during the COVID-19 pandemic? The qualitative data were analysed using content analysis. The findings revealed that female academics did not have “personal space” for managing their professional workload during office hours while WFH during the pandemic. The most difficult consequences of WFH included maintaining the “balance between home and office”, “keeping office work going amidst uncertainties”, and “social, psychological, technological, personal, and professional challenges.” It is also important to address how female academics cope with crises and, how they can avail WFH to help balance their personal and professional lives. The authors suggest that Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) should support female academics by having favourable policies to manage and balance work demands and family life.

R. Bordoloi (*) Krishna Kanta Handiqui State Open University, Guwahati, Assam, India C. Junio-Sabio Asian Institute for Distance Education, Manila, Philippines K. H. Mkwizu Open University of Tanzania, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 C. Bissessar (ed.), Female Academics’ Resilience during the COVID-19 Pandemic, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-34140-3_4

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The chapter is unique because it contributes to the experiences of resilience from female academics during the pandemic in three countries two of which are in the Asian continent and one in Africa motivated by a collaborative autoethnographic approach. Keywords  Resilience · Female academics · COVID-19 pandemic · Working-­ from-­home · Collaborative autoethnography

Introduction In the wake of the COVID-19 global pandemic, most educational institutions worldwide were forced to close, thereby creating adversity within international communities of learners and educators, including female academics. From the sustenance of society to performing various roles in the private and public spheres, females have significantly contributed to social change (Ganguly et  al., 2020). Internationally, women’s roles in the family and the larger society needs to be acknowledged by all (Ganguly et al., 2020). Improving their socio-economic status, and quality of life are pertinent to the overall development of women. However, this begs the question as to whether women access the same opportunity as men. It seems that in developing and underdeveloped countries, women suffer more and are discriminated against more than men economically, educationally, socially, politically and psychologically. Studies revealed that during the COVID-19 situation, there was less attention on resilience from the perspective of female academics in the international community for countries such as India, the Philippines, and Tanzania. Hence, this chapter’s main objective is to explore the experiences of female academics’ efforts in mitigating the effects of the lockdown. An attempt has been made to answer the two research questions. What are the challenges faced as a female academic, during the COVID-19 pandemic? What coping strategies did female academics employ to manage their personal and professional lives? This chapter highlights the experiences and background information of female academics in those countries during the global pandemic using the collaborative autoethnography approach. This chapter is significant because it can inform higher education stakeholders and relevant people in authority when they create post-pandemic working policies for female academics.

Literature Review The COVID-19 pandemic forced education providers and staff, including female academics, to work from home as evident in various studies (Ganguly et al., 2020; Urio et al., 2021). These studies found that flexibility towards the personal and professional lives of females was affected by prevalent social situations, culture, social

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norms, socio-economic situations of the family, and other social and environmental factors. Similarly, the situations created by the COVID-19 pandemic influenced the normal lives of human beings and posed social challenges. In a patriarchal society, working females who are involved in the informal economic sector face many challenges in terms of ensuring their families have normal lives (Ganguly et al., 2020). In addition, female academics who provided their work services from home faced many challenges due to issues like the digital divide, and an overload of family responsibilities.

Deconstructing Resiliency Henderson and Milstein (1996) commented that from a social science perspective, the term resilience refers to the ability to recover from negative life experiences and become stronger while overcoming them. Masten (2014) conceptualised resilience as the capacity of a dynamic system to adapt successfully to disturbances that threaten the viability, function, or development of that system. Resilience is the process of adapting well in the face of adversity, trauma, tragedy, threats, or even significant sources of stress (American Psychological Association, 2014). While past literature (Masten, 2014) has commonly conceptualised and defined resilience within the terms of capacity or process and adapting to adversity, this chapter defines resilience as women academics’ ability to adapt to change; for example, during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Female Academics in India Female academics in India experienced challenges during the pandemic. Additionally, various studies (Ganguly et  al., 2020; Sonalde et  al., 2021) at the grassroots level concerning female status in Indian society have shown that women suffer from multi-faceted discrimination in terms of educational attainments, access to health care, economic opportunities, social participation, wage-disparity, job cuts, so on and so forth. Female academics during the pandemic in India were affected by school closures causing females to have reduced working hours and labour participation, due to the responsibilities of caring for children, which fell predominately on the shoulders of females than males. According to UNICEF and UNESCO (2021), this sudden transition from face-to-face to distance or online mode further created inequalities in terms of accessing the course contents in an equal way. Moreover, there emerged wider regional disparities among the different Indian states such as the  limited capacity of the teachers to access ICT- based resources, female academics in the family overloaded with work, and the lack of adequate knowledge of techno-pedagogy and e-learning skills. Some females were

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somewhat advantaged in terms of accessing the digital infrastructure and others were totally deprived of the required digital devices for mitigating the disruption of teaching and learning (UNICEF & UNESCO, 2021). Abdul et al. (2020) underlined the enforcement of strict lockdown and other measures, including restrictions on inter and intra-state movements to contain the spread of COVID-19, resulted in female migrant workers being the most vulnerable and they faced multiple deprivations owing to their poor position and background. Female-headed families were significantly affected by the pandemic as they were unable to meet their household needs due to the lack of economic options. Sonalde et  al. (2021) examined whether the impacts of the lockdown on employment differed in terms of gender in areas surrounding Delhi. Estimates based on random-effects logistic regression models showed that for men, the predicted probability of employment declined from 0.88 to 0.57, while for women it fell from 0.34 to 0.22. However, when considering only the wage workers, the study found that women experienced greater job losses than men with the predicted probability of employment declining by 72% for women in comparison with 40% for men. The findings highlighted the gendered impacts of macro crises and inform policy considerations through ongoing phases of lockdowns and relaxation. Along similar lines of experiences in the COVID-19 pandemic, the study by Bozkurt et al. (2020) aimed at providing a global outlook on the interruption of education. They reported that social injustice, inequity, and the digital divide were compounded during the pandemic for over 10 countries including India and the Philippines. The study also highlighted that all educational stakeholders experienced different degrees of trauma, psychological pressure, and anxiety, which suggested that pedagogy of care, affection, and empathy was needed (Bozkurt et al., 2020). The literature on females during the pandemic exists in India but there are few on female academics in higher education examining their experiences of resilience during the pandemic using the collaborative autoethnographic approach.

Female Academics in the Philippines In the Philippines, a study by Khullar (2021) aimed at mapping the repercussions of COVID-19 on females in the Philippines. Khullar suggested that Filipino females faced distinct challenges, especially in terms of increasing economic insecurity, sexual violence, and the threat of reduced educational opportunities. The report by UNwomen.org (2022) also indicated that in the Philippines, whilst not all the impacts of COVID-19 are fully understood yet, it is evident that the gender and social inequalities that existed before the pandemic are now amplified. Hechanova et al. (2015) indicated that Filipinos are known for their natural resilience and their ability to rise above the challenge in times of calamities and

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catastrophes. A perusal of related literature revealed studies specifically researching the role of Filipino females working in academic institutions during the pandemic. Additionally, female teachers in the Philippines during the pandemic had the commitment, love for the profession, and motivation and passion for teaching (Punzalan, 2022). Malipot (2020) indicated that female teachers exhibited dedication, enthusiasm, determination, and love for work no matter how risky the threat due to COVID-19. While the new changes in the teaching-learning process are daunting to most teachers including female teachers during the pandemic, many continue to find joy in fulfilling their duties; they remained strong and committed to their profession (Malipot, 2020). This only indicates that Filipino teachers including female teachers have remained resilient and motivated to practice their profession for the sake of their students’ future (Rappler, 2020). Among the notable statements of teachers that highlight the resiliency of Filipino female academics are: Regardless of the circumstances, teachers should always be a jack-of-all-trade sort of person to do anything and everything not just because it is our duty but because that is what we should do wholeheartedly and we work because children need us. – Cecilia Sadang, San Pedro National High School in Iriga City Camarines Sur (Malipot, 2020, p. 1) Sacrifices were made by teachers during the pandemic.  – Gladys Cruz, San Rafael Elementary School, Rizal (Rappler, 2020, p. 1) The threat of the infection is real but sacrifices should be made particularly in this time of the pandemic for the love of teaching. – Martina Cabilbigan, DatuArnelDatukon National High School (Punzalan, 2022, p. 1)

While there are positive traits and characteristics that were seen among Filipino females in the teaching profession during the pandemic, there were also difficulties and challenges experienced. In fact, according to Staff Report (2021), teachers, including females from the Philippines, are facing many challenges in conducting online classes ranging from transitioning to new ways of teaching while grappling with unfamiliar technology such as Zoom or MS Teams. Some teachers found it difficult to settle as schools shifted between operating online and in-person, adjusting to the decline and increase in COVID-19 cases. This literature is validated by Punzalan (2022) where a female teacher stated that “the internet signal at school remains unstable unlike in the city” (p. 1). In Staff Report (2021), teachers mentioned that their students’ parents were watching and judging them while they taught online during the pandemic. Another private school teacher in Manila indicated that the absence of intervention and training in using online resources during the execution of the remote learning modality was challenging. Aguilar et al. (2022) highlighted female academics’ resiliency in the Philippines during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, they indicated that there is still limited literature on female academics’ experiences of resilience during the pandemic particularly female academics in higher education using the collaborative autoethnography approach.

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Female Academics in Tanzania In Africa, including Tanzania, female academics as researchers have also been affected by the pandemic. Equally, a Nigerian female researcher working in a research institute, commented that the COVID-19 pandemic has retarded every research activity in Nigeria and that scientists were forced to work from home (Dooley, 2020). On the other hand, a female researcher in biological sciences working in a Non-Government Organization (NGO) in South Africa noted that the pandemic will have a positive impact due to the availability of more jobs, research work, and the government will likely invest in research (Dooley, 2020). On the negative impact of the pandemic, there has been delayed research for some female academics in South Africa due to COVID-19, while in Kenya, unpaid stipends for postdoctoral work in a private university were a challenge for female academics (Dooley, 2020). In Zimbabwe, an early-career female researcher working in a university mentioned that COVID-19 has affected her mentally and caused depression and it affected her concentration (Dooley, 2020). It is evident that in Tanzania, working females during the pandemic, particularly female academics working in Higher Education Institutions (HEIs), have faced challenges such as under-representation in leadership positions. This implies that working females in higher education may not fully influence decisions that affect their wellbeing academically. Other challenges experienced by female academics, as noted in a qualitative study by Urio et al. (2021), including a significant increase in homeschooling, parenting, caring duties, balancing professional career and family life, competing demands between professional and personal roles, and managing academic demands and household chores while working from home. Although there was no strict lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Tanzania as indicated by Mfinanga et al. (2021), there were challenges faced by female academics in Tanzania working from home. This implies that female academics had various challenges in Tanzania during the pandemic such as balancing career and family. Furthermore, their representation in leadership of HEIs is low as indicated in Mwakitalu et al. (2020), and therefore, it is important for the education sector to create conducive policies that will assist female academics as working females in universities to advance in leadership as well as manage their post-pandemic professional careers and family lives. Existing literature for Tanzania focused more on females in relation to topics such as climate change, climate resilience, agriculture and female narratives (Lamanna et al., 2021; Mchome et al., 2021). In Tanzania, there was less attention given to building the resilience of working females during the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly for females working in colleges, universities and other academic institutions (Urio et al., 2021). There are still few female academics working in leadership senior and management positions in HEIs in Tanzania, despite having similar levels of education as their male counterparts (Mwakitalu et al., 2020). Given the few female academics working in leadership positions in Tanzania’s HEIs, the existing literature (Urio et al., 2021) indicated that female academics during the pandemic experienced challenges including parenting and caring duties.

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For instance, Urio et al. (2021) conducted a study in Tanzania and used a qualitative approach and interviewed female academics. They concluded that female academics WFH experienced competing demands between professional and personal roles, but also added parenting chores, home schooling and caring duties. Further, Urio et al. (2021) indicated that the patriarchal structures leading women to provide care and be expected to balance work and household chores were apparent, especially during the pandemic. Hence, female academics were at a disadvantage during the pandemic because the responsibilities of caring and education increased at the level of the household. In general, there are scant studies from Tanzania on female academics in the COVID-19 pandemic. In fact, studies such as Mnyambwa et al. (2022), Kangwerema et al. (2021), and Urio et al. (2021) mentioned that there is limited research on the COVID-19 global pandemic from Tanzania. Hence, this chapter explored female academics’ experiences of resilience during the pandemic by applying the collaborative autoethnographic research approach.

 ynthesis of Literature Review of Female Academics in India, S the Philippines, and Tanzania Existing literature (Abdul et al., 2020; Bozkurt et al., 2020; Dooley, 2020; Ganguly et al., 2020; Khullar, 2021; Malipot, 2020; Mwakitalu et al., 2020; Punzalan, 2022; Rappler, 2020; Sonalde et  al., 2021; Staff Report, 2021; UNwomen.org, 2022; UNICEF & UNESCO, 2021; Urio et  al., 2021) on female academics for all three countries has commonly suggested challenges during the pandemic associated with reduced education opportunities, employment, migrant workers, gender inequalities, interrupted research activities, education, academic positions, psychological, stress, anxiety, measures in the pandemic like social distancing, and teaching. From the reviewed literature, it is clear that due to the huge impact of  the COVID-19 pandemic, several studies (Aguilar et al., 2022; Mnyambwa et al., 2022; Kangwerema et al., 2021; Urio et al., 2021) have called for more research to understand this phenomenon from various perspectives. Although Tanzania had the unique position of having no lockdown as indicated by Mfinanga et al. (2021), studies by other scholars have advocated for further research to understand the impact of the pandemic. Majority of these studies like Khullar (2021), Sonalde et  al. (2021) and Urio et al. (2021) based their research on either qualitative or quantitative approaches, however, the approach of collaborative autoethnography was rarely used. Hence. this chapter explored the resilience of female academics in the three selected countries India, the Philippines, and Tanzania  using collaborative autoethnography. According to Roy and Uekusa (2020), collaborative autoethnography is a suitable approach to be used in studies during the pandemic.

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Methodology Research Design This study is a collaborative autoethnography research design using a qualitative method to explore female academics’ experiences of resiliency during the pandemic in higher education in India, the Philippines, and Tanzania. Scholars such as Miyahara and Fukao (2022) and Roy and Uekusa (2020) employed collaborative autoethnography in research. In fact, collaborative autoethnography is considered a timely alternative research approach during the global pandemic (Roy & Uekusa, 2020). The collaborative autoethnographic approach was the preferred research methodology for this chapter because the purposively selected three female academics as participants are research collaborators, have many years of  experience in Open and Distance Learning (ODL), and are working together in the intellectual path of generating knowledge by exploring female academics’ experiences of resilience during the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, Ratnapalan and Haldane (2022) noted that collaborative autoethnography is a method that provides greater insights on experiences of multidisciplinary teams that conduct research amidst complexity and intersectionality. In general, autoethnography is used to reflect personal experiences which can yield useful information in advancing knowledge (Ratnapalan & Haldane, 2022). Similarly, this chapter intends to understand the experiences of resilience during the pandemic for the three female academics in the selected countries. This chapter and the interview questions were developed collectively based on the research questions. There were two main questions. What are the challenges you faced, as a female academic, during the COVID-19 pandemic? Do you think you have shown resilience in your personal and professional roles as a female academic during the COVID-19 pandemic? Furthermore, Ratnapalan and Haldane (2022) highlighted that all authors are participants in this collaborative autoethnography study and emphasized collaboration in narrating, analysing, and theorising about their individual or collective experiences. This chapter considered the views of Ratnapalan and Haldane (2022) by ensuring that the three participants were fully engaged in every stage of the planning and writing processes. One open-ended and one closed-ended question answered the two research questions. Additionally, demographic information such as participants’ age, country, institution, affiliation with the institution, tenure, marital status, and number of children were posed.

Participants There were three female participants in the current study. Two of the three participants are in the age range 46–55 while the other is in the age range 36–45. One of the participants is working as a Senior Lecturer in a state- funded

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Table 4.1  Brief profile of the participants Variables Age group Country Institution

Participant 1 (P1) 36–45 India Krishna Kanta Handiqui State Open University Senior Lecturer

Affiliation with institution Tenure or years 16 years of service in the teaching profession

Participant 2 (P2) 46–55 The Philippines Asian Institute for Distance Education Inc.

Participant 3 (P3) 46–55 Tanzania The Open University of Tanzania

Head of Department

Postdoctoral Scholar

23 years

Individual effort (voluntary basis)-as a Mentor by teaching PhD students (PhD students of ODL and non-ODL) – from 2013 to 2022 (10 years) Experience as a student of ODL for 22 years

Tenure in online 16 years 15 years learning or distance education Academic rank Senor Assistant Full Professor Level 5 (V) Professor and State University and College (SUC) Vice President Level 4 (IV) for Academic Affairs Marital status Married Married Number of 1 4 children

Postdoctoral Scholar

Single 0

distance education institution; another participant is a Head of Department in a non-profit private higher education while the other participant is a Post-Doctoral Scholar in a state- funded Open and Distance Learning (ODL) institution. Prior to the present study, these participants worked together in preparing and publishing research papers where open learning, adult education, and distance learning are their common interests. These participants were actively involved in advancing the cause of ODL education in their respective institutions and their countries in general. Table  4.1 provides the specific demographic profile of the participants.

Data Collection As collaborative autoethnographers, this process was divided into Phases 1 and 2. In Phase 1, the interview questions were distributed via email to all participants. They answered the interview questions (P1, P2, & P3). These responses were analysed using content analysis to determine emergent themes and sub-themes to guide further probing using interviews in Phase 2.

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Phase 2 involved Facebook messenger video teleconference (synchronous) as part of the qualitative data collection. The Facebook messenger method was selected due to geographical differences among the participants and better connection during the online interviews. The interview sequence was that P1 was interviewed by P2, P3 interviewed P2, and P3 interviewed P2.

Data Analysis Each interviewer transcribed, summarised, and shared the collected qualitative data for purposes of conducting a content analysis. Prior to content analysis, the responses were compiled to reflect answers for all three participants that were re-­shared so that each could approve them. Any information that a participant did not feel comfortable sharing was withdrawn to adhere to ethical considerations. Therefore, all the views expressed are purely personal opinions of the participants and not their Institutions. Content analysis was conducted and the qualitative data were coded, summarised, and interpreted to create themes or narratives to understand female academics’ experiences of resilience in the pandemic in the context of India, the Philippines, and Tanzania.

Findings To align the presentation of data from the objectives of our study, which is to explore the experiences and coping strategies of female academics using collaborative autoethnography, we chose to present our findings using the data that were sourced from both the synchronous (Phase 2) and asynchronous (Phase 1) interview processes. As reflected in Table 4.2, there were two emergent themes. The themes answer the two specific research questions developed. Each theme was divided into several sub-themes. This study explored female academics’ resiliency during the COVID-19 pandemic. Two themes and seven sub-themes emerged after coding. The emergent themes described female academics’ resiliency during the COVID-19 pandemic. These were experiences with three sub-themes and coping strategies with four sub-­themes (See Table 4.3).

 ummarised Sub-themes and Codes for the Theme S of Experiences Experiences as a theme of analysis emerged with three core sub-themes namely positive personal experiences, positive professional experiences, and challenges. These three core sub-themes codes in numbers are summarised in Table 4.4.

Themes Experiences

Positive professional experiences

Sub-themes Positive personal experiences

(continued)

Selected Codes by Participants (P1, P2, P3) Support from my husband (P1) I enjoyed work from home (P1) Helping others (P3) Sharing food (P2) See my kids help others by establishing an online business whose proceeds will go to the needy (P2) Personal development in terms of skills from learning new technologies (P3) Shift to virtual interaction (P3) Learning new technologies (P3) Able to travel within the country due to no lockdown in our country (P3) Have quality time with family with WFH (P1, P2) There is quiet time (P1) Enjoyed personal life (P1, P2, P3) My university, as an open university was already well equipped with certain online technology as part of educational delivery (P1) Offering online courses (P1) Editing a book (P1) Support from employer (P2) In a school that values work-life balance and cares for employees (P2) Attending virtual conferences, webinars and workshops (P3) Engage in academic publications (P1, P3) Improve technical skills (P1) Honed competencies on learning resource material development e.g. MOOC, etc. (P1)

Table 4.2  Themes, sub-themes, and codes as a result of analysis

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Themes

Sub-themes Challenges

Table 4.2 (continued)

Selected Codes by Participants (P1, P2, P3) Social No social interaction (P1, P2, P3) Missed family members, relative and neighbours (P2) Social distancing contributed to having extra precaution in seeing friends and relatives (P1, P2, P3) Restrained to meet in large groups of people due to social distancing (P3) No physical attendance to conferences (P3) Restrained from hiring a care taker to assist in household chores (P1) Hard to do learning support services to learners online (P2) Psychological Seek assistance of family or friends (P2) Making the community understand how help is needed (P1, P2) Asking for assistance when necessary (P2) Need to respond to mental health (P2) Emotional set-backs seeing family and friends who died due to COVID (P2) Impact of COVID to the livelihood of friends and family (P2) Technological Slow bandwidth (P3) Adapting to technologies (P3) Shift from F2F to online(P3) Unstable internet connection (P1, P3) Intermittent internet that hampers communication with students, peers and colleagues (P2) Use of emails and social media pages when necessary (P2) Need for digital training and capacity building (P2) Hard to buy consumable goods and groceries for the family online (P2) Learning loss due to unstable internet connection (P2) Need to provide learning support services online (P2)

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Sub-themes

Connecting to social environment

Themes

Coping strategies (CO)

(continued)

Selected Codes by Participants (P1, P2, P3) Personal No social interaction sudden shock (P1) Coping with emergency situation (P1) As a Mother, it was a difficult moment to provide an open environment to my four-year-old child (P1) Missed family members, relative and neighbours (P1) Inability to have care taker at home (P1) Worried (P1) Difficult situation (P2) Separating work from home care (P2) Hard to do everything at home (P2) Attending to home schooling for my kids (P2) Learning new technology (P2) Inability to travel outside the country (P3) Professional Sudden lockdown (P1) Transform home to a work environment (P1) Difficult situation (P1, P2) Separating work from home care (P2) Difficult juggling home schooling and work(P2) Learning new technologies (P3) Inability to travel outside the country for conferences (P3) Support from husband and university (P1) Support from family (P1, P2, P3) Teamwork among academic community (P2) Help/support from family and friends (P1, P2, P3) Shared responsibility at home between couples (P1 and P2) Being there for the family (P2) Presence of house help makes work at home easier (P1) Teach large group of students online (P1, P2) Renewing ties and friendship with old networks online that gave rise to conference and seminars participation (P3)

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Useful personal traits

Work-life balance

Table 4.2 (continued) Themes Sub-themes Professional growth and development

Selected Codes by Participants (P1, P2, P3) Offered a course in Indian SWAYAM platform (P1) Editing a book “Open Higher Education in the 21st Century” along with my husband (P1) Provide the online learning support and contents to our learners (P1, P2) Conducting live classes and counselling sessions for the learners (P1) Self-directed learning (P3) Engage in consultancies (P3) Engage in collaborative research and publications (P3) Attending courses, webinars, conferences, trainings and workshops online (P3) Digital training to adjust to online delivery and blended learning (P2) Need to acquire adequate skills to adopt to the calls of time (P1) To learn how to manage the personal as well as professional life in a more productive and balanced way (P1) Travels within the country since there was no lockdown in our country (P3) Financial and economic means to support family (P2) Exercise with the help of YouTube videos (P2) Enduring character, patience and hard work of women as a Mother and worker at the same time (P1, P2) Being there for the family, no matter how difficult the situation is (P2) Tolerance of women and being able to adjust (P2) Empathy and emotional attachment to others (P2) Become prayerful (P2) Ability to perform assigned tasks for the benefit of others (P1, P2, P3) Deepened faith (P2) Family became closer in prayer (P2) Tenacity to adopt to any situation (P2) Women being more adaptable and flexible (P2)

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Table 4.3  Themes and sub-themes as a result of analysis Themes Experiences Coping strategies

Sub-themes 3 4

Table 4.4  Themes and codes on experiences Themes Experiences

Sub-themes Positive personal experiences Positive professional experiences Challenges

Frequency count of each sub-theme Three times Three times Three times

Number of codes 12 9 5

Table 4.5  Themes and codes on copying strategies Themes Coping strategies

Sub-themes Connecting to social environment Professional growth and development Work-life balance Useful personal traits

Frequency count of each sub-theme Three times

Number of codes 9

Three times

10

Three times Three times

4 10

Summarised Sub-themes for the Theme of Copying Strategies Sub-themes that emerged and coded were related to the social environment, professional growth and development, work-life balance, and useful personal traits as displayed in Table 4.5.

 xperiences of Female Academics During E the COVID-19 Pandemic The findings revealed that experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic for the three participants consist of three core sub-themes positive personal experiences, positive professional experiences, and challenges. These three core sub-themes are further discussed in the following sub-section.

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Positive Personal Experiences In general, all three participants’ positive personal experiences  are described as “enjoyable.” Further positive personal experiences that differentiate the three participants are narrated in the following paragraphs. For instance, personal positive experiences for P1 are characterised as support from her husband, enjoying WFH and personal life by having quiet quality time with her family. She narrated, “I enjoyed my personal life with giving so much care and attention to my child (Work from Home) for continuously 5 to 6 months during 1st cycle of the COVID-19, 5 months during 2021” (P1, India). This suggests that as a Mother, the quiet quality time with family is  considered enjoyable during the pandemic for P1. She also appreciated her husband’s support and caring for her child. Personal positive experiences of P2 are themed as sharing food, seeing her kids help others by establishing an online business, the proceeds of which went to the needy, and enjoying and having quality time with her family when working from home. P2 shared, “As a Mother, your work is 24/7, you get to be consulted and disturbed by your kids and husband anytime when they need something. But with the presence of a housekeeper, work gets easier” (P2, the Philippines). Quality time is among the best personal experiences that was highlighted by P2. This implies that one of the enjoyment during the pandemic was spending more time with family while working from home. Experiences that were personally positive for P3 are themed as personal development in terms of skills from learning new technologies, shift to virtual interaction, the ability to travel within the country due to no lockdown in her country, and she enjoyed her personal life. She also stated, “I gained personal development in terms of skills from learning new technologies for virtual interactions when attending training sessions such as MooKIT, Zoom, Google Meet, Airmeet” (P3, Tanzania). The personal experiences of P3 imply that during the pandemic it was possible to develop personally by learning how to engage students with new technologies during the pandemic such as MooKIT and Zoom. Positive Professional Experiences The positive professional experiences for PI revealed that her university as an open university was already well-equipped with online technology as part of its educational delivery. She was also offering online courses, editing a book, engaging in academic publications, improving her technical skills, and honing her competencies in the creation of learning resource material (for example, MOOC). She elaborated: Jobless migrant workers inspired me to think of a course that would help them in mitigating a future crisis or make them self-reliant. As an outcome, I offered a course in the Indian SWAYAM platform for lifelong learners on- Skill Development of the Youths and their Livelihood. (P1, India)

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Therefore, her abilities such as offering online courses, being an editor and engaging participants in MOOCs have given P1 positive professional experiences during the pandemic as a female academic in India. Participant P2 mentioned support from her employer and in a school that values work-life balance. These professional experiences that are positive for P2 are further explained: Given the needed support of your employer, you can fathom all storms like the pandemic. Being in a school that values work-life balance and cares for its employees is generally helpful. Women will generally be able to cope with their roles as workers and as mothers because of their patience; they are hardworking. (P2, the Philippines)

It is evident that P2 had positive experiences professionally due to the nature of the employer who was supportive but also valued work-life-balance. Additionally, P2’s professional experiences during the pandemic also involved contributing a chapter in the book edited by P1. From P3’s perspective, the positive professional experiences during the pandemic were attending virtual conferences, webinars, workshops, and engaging in academic publications. In terms of academic publications, she also contributed a chapter in the book edited by P1. Throughout the pandemic, P3 was also engaged in being the main Editor and Coordinator of an upcoming tourism book comprising chapters from various scholars that will be released in 2023. Besides the virtual conferences, she added, “These new ways of communication are something I enjoy as I was able to do a Podcast, and there were publication opportunities” (P3, Tanzania). P3 added that the Podcast was really interesting because it provided her with the opportunity to discuss her open-access published article of 2022 related to virtual reality and open schooling. Indeed, the involvement in a Podcast, academic publications, and the ability to attend virtual conferences are among the positive professional experiences for P3 as a Post-Doctoral Scholar. These findings of positive professional experiences during the pandemic from the three participants imply that the effects of the pandemic were not entirely negative but there were positive experiences as well. Challenges The pandemic brought challenges to the three participants despite their geographical differences. The findings indicate that the participants faced social, psychological, technological, personal, and professional challenges. Social During the pandemic, all three participants experienced social challenges related to social interaction and social distancing. However, individually, P1 could not hire a caretaker to assist in household chores while P2 missed family members, relatives,

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and neighbours but also found it difficult to conduct learning support services to online learners. On the other hand, due to social distancing, P3 was restricted from meeting in large groups and physical attendance at conferences was not possible. Further statements from P1, P2, and P3 are shared. “There was no housekeeper at that time, so I had to sacrifice my personal time and sleeping hours” (P1, India). Having no housekeeper at home made the experience of the pandemic difficult for P1. Another social challenge was expressed as “Also, not being able to see colleagues due to social distancing and the lockdown” (P2, the Philippines). A combination of social distancing and the  lockdown made P2 experience challenges socially. Another narration on social challenges was “The basic challenge is with the implementation of social distancing even if there was no lockdown in our country” (P3, Tanzania). Psychological Findings show that P3 did not exhibit psychological challenges when compared with P1 and P2. In this case, India and the Philippines did have several sessions of lockdowns while Tanzania did not have any lockdowns for the entire pandemic. In fact, P2 expressed mental and emotional challenges due to friends and colleagues dying or losing jobs while P1 worried about her child’s future describing: Being a mother, I frequently think about or worry about the social life pattern of the next generation which could be seen  as very individualistic in nature. There  is a  very urgent need for parents to teach children how to care for others, how to make them cooperative with others and boosting up the sharing habits of the children. (P1, India)

Whilst P1 hinted that she was concerned about the social life patterns, the case was different for P2 because she experienced psychological challenges that were emotional to mental. Technological All three participants experienced internet connection challenges. Other technological challenges expressed by the participants included slow bandwidth, adapting to technologies, a shift from face-to-face (F2F) to online, and intermittent internet that hampered communication with students. Participant 2 stated: Technology has been a challenge in delivering our tasks, as work and class meetings get affected if the internet connection is not stable. Since internet connection in the Philippines is so slow and at times affected by calamities, work would normally get hampered if there is no internet as you cannot access your emails. (P2, the Philippines)

She felt that technology became a challenge in the Philippines due to slow internet connection which in turn hindered her tasks, especially in attending meetings for work and class.

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Personal and Professional There were personal and professional challenges that emerged from the participants. The personal challenges include separating work from home care, attending homeschooling, learning new technologies, and the inability to travel outside the country. Findings also showed professional challenges such as transforming the home into a work environment, difficulty juggling home schooling and work, and the inability to travel outside for conferences. P2 stated, “It was difficult for me as a Mother and Wife to do everything online like work, communication, home-­ school my kids while attending to household chores. So, there were emotional and mental setbacks.” (P2, the Philippines). P3 added, “Professionally, the pandemic prevented us from attending conferences physically and this was a challenge on my part as I love to travel a lot and present papers.” (P3, Tanzania). P1 also supported existing personal and professional challenges during the pandemic as such: Blurring life between office hours and home hours, I had to convert my home environment into an office environment. There were tensions and pressures that were made. As a teacher working in an open university, I had to provide support services to the learners across the state like the provision of e-content, e-mentoring and live classes. Also, being a Mother and a Wife, I have to manage all the things, however, l received full support from my husband. (P1, India)

Being in India, she had both personal and professional challenges which she characterised as blurring boundaries between her personal and professional lives, tensions, and pressures. To summarise, these findings imply that the female academics’ experiences were not “having personal space” for managing their professional workload during office hours while WFH during the pandemic. The most difficult consequences of WFH included maintaining the “balance between home and office”, “keeping office work going amidst uncertainties”, and “social, psychological, technological, personal and professional challenges.”

Strategies for Female Academics to Achieve Resilience The three participants engaged in various coping strategies exhibiting their resilience. Emerging coping strategies were mainly connecting to the  social environment (support from family friends and university), professional growth and development (engaging in consultancies, editing a book, acquiring skills, “and travelling within the country for P3 since Tanzania did not have any lockdowns for the entire pandemic”, and self-directed learning), work-life-balance (e.g learning to manage personal and work life) and useful personal traits (e.g endurance, empathy, and tolerance). Additional narrations of the three participants are presented. “I learned many technical skills during that time. The most important among them is

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being able to provide Learning Support Services to my learners and  designing videos” (P1, India). Her ability to provide support services and design videos were the coping strategies  she employed as a female academic in India. Similarly, “During the COVID-19 pandemic, we had online mass every day and we prayed daily as a family which really helped and we asked God for protection and guidance” (P2, the Philippines). As a female Filipino academic, she relied on praying daily as a source of protection. On the other hand, P3 coped during the pandemic by re-connecting with her network and engaging in travels within her country. I was able to re-connect with my network where I can attend conferences, seminars, and workshops online. For example, being given the chance to share and participate in a training course of 4,000 participants online is quite an experience where I can impart information about cooperative learning. (P3, Tanzania)

She capitalised on her network as a coping strategy and managed to engage in online conferences and training courses while in Tanzania implying that her networking abilities afforded her to forge ahead as a female academic during the pandemic in the absence of the traditional methods of attending conferences physically and taking face-to-face courses. P3 further revealed that with no lockdown in Tanzania, she was able to travel to various places like Lake Manyara National Park in Northern Tanzania. One of her interesting visits was to Kilwa Kisiwani which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site (WHS) in Kilwa District in Southern Tanzania.

Discussion  he Experiences of Female Academics During T the COVID-19 Pandemic The commonality of enjoyment as positive personal experiences for female academics in these three countries during the pandemic is not in line with studies such as Urio et al. (2021). This could be attributed to the methodological approach used. The authors of this chapter adopted a collaborative autoethnography study. Hence, experiences of the pandemic were not entirely negative but also personally and professionally positive.

Positive Personal and Professional Experiences All three participants indicated that they had positive experiences personally and professionally during the pandemic.  In particular, the findings for P1 of this chapter from a professional point-of-view support Abdul et  al.’s (2020) conclusions that migrant workers in India needed help, thus, female academics like P1 provided a lending hand to the needy.

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Equally, the findings of this chapter on positive experiences are contrary to those concluded by the Staff Report (2021). The positive personal and professional experiences from this chapter revealed that the female academics’ experiences during the pandemic were positive as opposed to purely challenging as indicated in Staff Report (2021). Indeed, P2 and P3’s narrations such as “Being in a school that values work-life balance and cares for its employees is generally helpful” (P2) and “These new ways of communication are something I enjoy as I was able to do a Podcast, and there were publication opportunities” (P3). Such comments further support the differences between this chapter’s findings and those of previous findings as in the case of Staff Report (2021). Furthermore, the experiences such as enjoying and having more time at home are evidence of the positive effects that P1, P2, and P3 personally experienced during the pandemic.

Challenges Interestingly, the common challenges experienced by all three female academics were social, technological, personal, and professional. The psychological challenge was experienced by P1 in India and P2 in the Philippines only and not by P3 in Tanzania as elaborated in the following discussions. Social These findings support previous studies on challenges during the pandemic such as restriction of movements as indicated by Abdul et al. (2020). From the pandemic, past studies like Abdul et al. (2020), in India, Aguilar et al. (2022), in the Philippines, and Urio et al. (2021), in Tanzania, are in line with this chapter’s findings. The social challenges that emerged from the three female academics were typically narrated as social distancing since all three selected countries had social distancing measures to tackle the pandemic. Social distancing meant that P1, P2, and P3 experienced being away from friends, relatives, and colleagues with emerging narrations of “I could not hire a housekeeper to assist in household chores” (P1), “I missed family members, relatives, and neighbours but also found it hard to conduct learning support services to online learners” (P2), and “I was restricted from meeting in large groups of people and physical attendance at conferences was not possible” (P3). Psychological It is evident that P3 did not exhibit psychological challenges when compared with P1 who was concerned about her child while P2 indicated that she suffered from mental and emotional challenges resulting from the death of friends and colleagues. The

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differences in findings between the female participant in Tanzania within the African continent and the two female participants from India and the Philippines within the Asian continent could perhaps be due to Tanzania not having any lockdowns during the pandemic as indicated by Mfinanga et al. (2021). They suggested that Tanzania did not experience a lockdown in comparison to other countries. On the other hand, India and the Philippines had several lockdowns. These results support the presence of psychological pressures as mentioned by Bozkurt et al. (2020) whose study covered the countries of India and the Philippines during the pandemic. Technological The technological challenges experienced by the three female academics in their respective countries during the pandemic were mostly narrated as “internet connection” problems which made it difficult to effectively and efficiently conduct support learning and conferencing. These findings support previous studies such as UNICEF and UNESCO (2021). This chapter’s finding further supports UNICEF and UNESCO’ (2021) conclusions. The technological challenges were noted as “slow bandwidth”, “adapting to technologies”, “a shift from face-to-face (F2F) to online”, “intermittent internet that hampers communication with students” and “internet connection is so low”. Personal and Professional While the findings of this chapter revealed positive experiences by the three female academics, further analysis of the sub-themes indicated challenges at personal and professional levels during the pandemic which support earlier studies like Urio et al. (2021) conducted in Tanzania and Bozkurt et al. (2020) who conducted studies in India and the Philippines. For instance, the similarity between this chapter’s findings and previous studies is unveiled when P2 in the Philippines was challenged by “emotional and mental setbacks” while P1  in India narrated “Blurring  boundary between office and home hours.” Bozkurt et al. (2020) noted that from an educational perspective, the adverse effects of the pandemic included traumas, anxiety, and psychological issues. Therefore, this could perhaps explain the emotional, mental, and blurring status exhibited by P1 and P2 from the findings of this chapter. Additionally, P3  in Tanzania also supported the personal and professional challenges which include “The pandemic prevented attending conferences physically”.

Coping Strategies for Female Academics to Achieve Resilience This chapter’s findings on coping strategies with the sub-themes of “connecting to the social environment”, “professional growth and development”, “work-life balance” and “useful personal traits” as the resilience of the three female academics are

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further discussed here. These findings on engaging in collaboration and publication as professional growth and development by all three female academics (P1, P2, & P3) vary from Urio et al. (2021). Additionally, the ability to travel within the country as was the case of P3, as the female academic from Tanzania since the country did not have any lockdowns varies from Urio et al.’s (2021) findings. The findings of this chapter are also different from a study conducted in Africa by Dooley (2020) whereby a Nigerian female researcher indicated that she was not able to complete as much research activity during the pandemic since scientists were forced to work from home. However, the three female academics in this study, continued with some of the research activities especially in the area of research dissemination by engaging in publications, re-connecting with networks to engage in research conferences through online and editing a book as personal growth and development. The differences of this chapter and that of Dooley’s (2020) are further revealed by P1, P2, and P3s’ narrations. P1  in India shared, “Teamwork among the academic community” (P2, Philippines), and “Self-directed learning, engage in consultancies, collaborative research and publications” (P3, Tanzania). Additionally, despite the geographical differences plus the internet connection challenges, the strength of publication collaboration among P1, P2, and P3 is evident in the book edited by P1 whereby P2 and P3 contributed chapters. Although the study by Sonalde et  al. (2021) conducted in India focused on the economic situation during the pandemic for men and women, the findings of this chapter are not in line with those conclusions. This chapter found that the female academics did not exhibit economic challenges due to their engagements in teaching and consulting activities. The findings further imply that the coping strategies for the three female academics to achieve resilience were embedded in teaching and consulting. Furthermore, the narrations that differentiate this study from Sonalde et  al. (2021) are connecting to the social environment, work-life balance, and useful personal traits, for example, “Teach a  large group of students online” (P1, India), “Teach large group of students online as well as having the financial and economical means to support my family” (P2, India), and “Engaging in consultancies” (P3, Tanzania). Similarly, all three female academics displayed a common useful personal trait of having the “ability to perform assigned tasks for the benefit of others”. Moreover, P1 and P2 had “enduring characters of patience and hard-working Mothers and female academics at the same time” as useful personal traits but also the connection to the social environment was made possible through “shared responsibility at home between couples.” In fact, P2 narrated of being “prayerful” as a useful personal trait which also supports the findings of a study by Hechanova et al. (2015) which indicated that Filipinos possess the natural resilience and ability to rise above challenges in times of calamities and catastrophes. Equally, P3 as a “self-­ directed learner” connected to the social environment through the help and support from her family and friends. Urio et al. (2021) noted that some of the problems female academics faced during the pandemic were balancing work and family with challenges in parenting and child- caring duties. However, in this chapter, the emergent theme of

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“work-life balance” as one of the four coping strategies in the pandemic revealed that the three female academics had various coping mechanisms which included “learning how to manage the personal as well as professional life in a more productive and balanced way” (P1, India), “Travel within the country since there was no lockdown in our country” (P3), and “Exercise with the help of YouTube videos” (P2). These findings yield different results from the study by Urio et al. (2021). This could be attributed to the application of a collaborative autoethnography in this chapter which has expanded the literature on understanding the resilience of female academics during the pandemic. This chapter also revealed the  coping strategies options in terms of work-life balance can also be learning how to manage personal and professional life, travelling within the country since there was no lockdown and exercising with the help of YouTube videos.

Conclusion This chapter concludes with implications, recommendations, and suggestions for future studies. The findings indicated that there were positive experiences personally and professionally as well as challenging experiences with the coping mechanisms of female academics during the pandemic. Tanzania was different from India and the Philippines because it did not experience any lockdowns. However, the closure of HEIs in Tanzania dictated that the female academic implement coping mechanisms that were similar to those employed in India and the Philippines which included juggling between work demands and family responsibilities as well as learning how to cope with online education in the absence of face-to-face teaching and learning. Additionally, female academics in all three countries experienced significant challenges in their multiple roles in the family and workplace.

Implications Given the challenges based on social, psychological, technological, personal and professional responses to COVID-19, the implications are as follows: the sudden closure of HEIs in all three countries signified the need for reliable internet connection and e-learning skills to cope with the demands of work particularly the delivery of online teaching-learning. The unreliable internet connection can cause communication problems related to learning loss and slow bandwidth in the teaching-learning processes. Therefore, HEIs and authorities in the education sector could invest in reliable internet connectivity to enable female academics to manage and balance their professional and personal lives. The coping strategies for resilience among the three female academics in HEIs during the COVID-19 pandemic in India, the Philippines, and Tanzania are categorised in terms of  the  social environment, professional growth and development, work-life balance and useful personal traits.

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Recommendations This chapter recommends that HEIs and education authorities consider minimising the challenges faced by female academics in India, the Philippines, and Tanzania by: (i) Ensuring that female academics in developing countries have access to a reliable internet connection and digital training for online teaching-learning even in the post-COVID-19 pandemic. (ii) Maintaining the support  provided to female academics in HEIs by having favourable policies to manage and balance work demands and family life efficiently. (iii) Formulating conducive policies that integrate social, psychological, technological, and professional considerations to enhance the working capabilities of female academics in HEIs in the sampled countries. (iv) Educational institutions should instil a culture of self-directed learning so that other female academics could continue to progress in the midst of pandemics.

Suggestions for Further Studies This chapter was confined to the collaborative autoethnography approach by three female academics in HEIs in India, the Philippines, and Tanzania during the COVID-19 pandemic in reference to their experiences of resilience. Future studies can explore policies related to investment in technologies to assist female academics in HEIs in the post-COVID-19 pandemic to understand how such policies are shaping female academics’ professional lives in the aftermath of the pandemic. The emerging themes from this chapter can be used by future researchers to explore a quantitative study on female academics and their experiences of resilience in post-COVID-19. Acknowledgements  No funding was received for this chapter.

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Chapter 5

From Challenges to Opportunities: Navigating the Pandemic as Black Women Early Career Faculty Afiya Fredericks, Dhymsy Vixamar-Owens, and Kelli Hill

Abstract  The presence of the global pandemic in the United States of America has presented significant professional and personal challenges for higher education faculty. In particular, the socioeconomic, political, and cultural changes have exacerbated pre-existing challenges for Black women who are also early career faculty members in academia. Black women are significantly underrepresented in all ranks of higher education and face disproportionate obstacles in advancing through academic ranks. Additionally, early career faculty are in a critical time professionally where it is paramount that they establish balance among their teaching, research and service, while racing against the tenure clock. The mental health and well-being of Black women in academia are in jeopardy as many are plagued with the “Strong Black Woman Syndrome.” Many struggle to maintain the status quo at work and family responsibilities while neglecting their own physical and mental health. However, the literature is sparse documenting the experiences of early career faculty at the intersection of gender and race as they navigate the global pandemic. The current study aims to explore the experiences of three Black female psychology faculty members. These Black women were employed within the same department at their university, as they navigated emergency remote learning/teaching, work-life balance, and academia, during their first and second years as tenure track professors, while in the early stages of the pandemic. Through collective autoethnographic methodology, the current work explores the challenges experienced, strategies utilized, and lessons learned, as they navigated the teaching, scholarship and service demands of academia. Furthermore, cultural and systematic differences were ­surveyed to explain the multicultural perspectives of each faculty member. Major themes that emerged across scholars included mental health, caregiving, vulnerability, time management, mentorship, and social networks. Recommendations are

A. Fredericks (*) · D. Vixamar-Owens · K. Hill Department of Psychology, University of the District of Columbia, Washington, DC, USA e-mail: [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected] © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 C. Bissessar (ed.), Female Academics’ Resilience during the COVID-19 Pandemic, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-34140-3_5

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made regarding coping skills and best practices for Black female early career faculty faced with significant challenges, and leveraging those challenges to create opportunities for growth, development, and resilience. Keywords  Black women faculty · Early career faculty · Pandemic · Collective autoethnography · Resilience

Introduction It is imperative that Black women’s stories are told, not only to disrupt dominant narratives that relegate them to the margins of STEM fields, but also to inspire persistence among other young women with similar experiences. (Christina S.  Morton, PhD, University of Michigan)

Presently, we are living in unprecedented times as the pandemic has forced higher education administrators, faculty and students to completely shift their approach to teaching, learning and balancing life demands with little to no notice and preparation (Piotrowski & King, 2020). Furthermore, the pandemic has compounded pre-existing challenges for various groups. In the United States of America, Black women are underrepresented in higher education as faculty, administrators and university presidents (American Council on Education, 2017; National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics [NCSES], 2021). They face disproportionate obstacles in advancing through the academic ranks and also face unique mentalhealth and socio-­emotional challenges in America (Abrams et al., 2019; Jones et al., 2021). Also navigating unique challenges in higher education, are early career faculty (Anderson et al., 2007; Elizabeth & Grant, 2013). They are in a critical time of their professional lives where establishing a balance among their teaching, research and service is paramount, while racing against the ‘tenure clock.’ However, Black women early career faculty members are a subset of the higher education population that is often not represented in the extant literature (Cooper & Stevens, 2002; Soto, 2014). Exploring the compounded challenges of Black women who were also early career faculty members during a national pandemic provides a unique opportunity to understand their experiences and extract valuable lessons that can be used to support other Black women during their early years in academia. Thus, this collective autoethnography centers the voices of three Black women early career faculty as research-participants and explores (1) the challenges that the authors experienced, (2) the strategies employed, and (3) the lessons and unexpected blessings that were acquired while navigating the demands of life, teaching, scholarship, and service during the pandemic. From our complex experiences, we offer recommendations as an opportunity to support other Black women in higher education who will have their unique challenges, yet undeniable potential to overcome and thrive.

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Challenges of Black Women in Higher Education Black women disproportionately face obstacles while advancing through the academic ranks. Black female faculty make up only 1% of tenured academicians (NCSES, 2021) and are instead overrepresented in contingent/non-tenure track positions which leave little room for advancement (Flaherty, 2020; Porter et  al., 2020). Additionally, Black female representation diminishes significantly as we look from assistant to associate to full professor (NCES, 2022). The outnumbering in the higher ranks of academia that these women experience exists at minority-­ serving institutions and predominantly white institutions alike (Stephens & Wilson-­ Kennedy, 2019). A plethora of research speaks to the challenges faced by Black women in academia such as disproportionate workloads, inequitable teaching and service expectations, lack of support and resources, and unwritten rules within the work environment (Del Priore, 2022; Gappa et al., 2007; Weisshaar, 2017). In addition, Kulp et al. (2022) reported that women, particularly women of color, tend to lack clarity regarding the process and criteria for advancement to full professorship at 4-year colleges and universities. These challenges, along with others, have collectively hindered the progress of Black female faculty as they attempt to advance through the ranks, and the reality of such is certainly intimidating for Black women beginning their careers in higher education. Black women also face unique mental-health and socio-emotional challenges in America as they contend with what is known as the ‘Strong Black Woman’ Syndrome. The Strong Black Woman ideal is a re-appropriated image of Black women as inherently and intrinsically strong, capable, and resilient, which originated post-slavery, and has been overwhelmingly endorsed throughout Black culture (Harris-Lacewell, 2001). Although the schema encompasses many positive attributes and contributes to increased self-esteem, efficacy, and pride within Black women, the underlying dictates of being a strong woman, devoid of weakness and capable of handling all challenges, has hazardous mental, physical, and emotional consequences (e.g., depression, exhaustion, psychological distress and anxiety, maladaptive eating; Abrams et al., 2014, 2019; Beauboeuf-Lafontant, 2007; Davis et al., 2018; Harrington et al., 2010; Jones et al., 2021). Individuals who endorse the Strong Black Woman ideology tend to exhibit a need to be independent and rely on one’s self, difficulty accepting help from others, and a self-depleting pressure to be everything for everyone (Ross, 2019; Woods-Giscombé, 2010). The Strong Black Woman also tends to feel the need to contain her emotions, minimize vulnerability, avoid exhibiting incompetence or weakness, and demonstrate heightened perseverance (Jackson & Greene, 2000). These challenges do not disappear for Black women in academia. Indeed, Black women faculty admit to a perceived need to work harder than their white and male peers to appear credible and be deemed equal, tend to take on the brunt of the responsibility for advising and mentoring students, and are often pressured to serve on committees and sub-organizations as the image of diversity and spokesperson for

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all black people (Patitu & Hinton, 2003; Vassar & Barnett, 2020). The Strong Black Woman persona is typically a coping mechanism in response to experiences of racism, sexism, and societal constraints (Beauboeuf-Lafontant, 2009; Harris-Lacewell, 2001) that can lead to a maladaptive sense of perfectionism (Liao et  al., 2020). Black women in academia, at the intersection of gender and race/ethnicity, often experience gender-based and race-based challenges and social constraints that cultivate Strong Black Women ideologies. Black academicians often report feeling isolated, lacking support, and feeling pressured to compete (Vassar & Barnett, 2020).

Challenges of Early Career Faculty Austin et al. (2007) reported that the first 5 years of employment are the most stressful for tenure-track early-career faculty. This is usually a critical time in their professional lives spent managing a heavy workload of teaching, research, and service, establishing collaborative work relationships, and trying to maintain a personal life (Gappa et  al., 2007; Hemmings, 2012; Rosser & Taylor, 2009), all while racing against the ‘tenure clock’. Early-career faculty members navigate unique challenges in comparison to mid-career and late-career faculty members. They are more likely to teach lower-level courses (with larger class sizes) which demand greater class preparation, more teacher-student interactions, more time grading, and greater demands for office hours (Fox, 2003). Additionally, the competitive “publish or perish” research culture that has become common across colleges and universities victimizes early career faculty, applying pressures to secure grants, publish, and get cited (Anderson et al., 2007; Elizabeth & Grant, 2013). Oftentimes, this leads to them becoming highly stressed and dissatisfied with their career (Laudel & Gläser, 2008). Laudel and Gläser’s (2008) research suggests that the most salient hindrance for early career faculty during this critical time is the lack of time for research. Junior faculty challenged with adapting to the work climate (Aprile et  al., 2021; Soto, 2014) often experience a rude awakening to just how time-intensive, complex, and intellectually demanding research and teaching can be (Maranto & Griffin, 2011). They commonly report uncertainty regarding what will benefit their pursuit of tenure (Nästesjö, 2021). These challenges can be even more pronounced for Black, female, early-career faculty (Soto, 2014). Research suggests that tenure-track women and ethnic minorities tend to experience higher rates of stress and more obstacles to their progression (Cooper & Stevens, 2002; Gappa et al., 2007). In an exploration of the experiences of Black faculty within the context of critical pedagogy, one young Black female participant-researcher recounted experiencing hypervigilance towards not making mistakes and needing to over-prepare as a guard against scrutiny (Haynes et  al., 2020). Added to that is the reality that many Black female junior faculty are loaded with high service demands that oftentimes do not contribute significantly to tenure.

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This includes advising and mentoring students and serving on various committees (Turner et al., 2017). Black female faculty researchers also report feeling restricted in their research focus (Vassar & Barnett, 2020). They reported feeling pressured to deviate from their research interests and instead choose foci that will be accepted by elite white men and scholarly communities. They also expressed pressure to generate a large number of publications, causing them to further deviate from the research about which they are passionate. Indeed, early-career and tenure-track female faculty are more likely to feel unsupported, tend to experience burnout most often, and are more likely to leave academia in pursuit of less taxing career options (Pederson & Minnotte, 2017).

The Present Study In March 2020, at the onset of the global pandemic, many Universities decided to temporarily move to emergency remote instruction (ERI). Administrators, faculty, and students had to shift their approach to teaching, learning, and balancing life with little to no notice and preparation. This only exacerbated the pre-existing challenges experienced by Black women early-career faculty members. However, the literature is sparse documenting the experiences of Black women early career faculty as they navigate the global pandemic. Thus, it is important that we center their voices. Utilizing collective autoethnography, the current work explores the challenges navigated, strategies employed, and lessons learned by Black women early career faculty during the pandemic.

Methodology Participants The three participant-researchers in the current study are three Black women early career (tenure-track) psychology faculty members who were employed at a Historically Black College and University (HBCU) during the pandemic. The institution is a public, land grant HBCU that focuses predominantly on teaching, but is aiming towards reaching research status in the foreseeable future. We make up 75% of a relatively small department (the fourth faculty member being a man) and came together to explore the similarities and differences of our experiences during the pandemic. Prior to the study, we had worked together for about a year and a half. What allowed us to really connect as colleagues was our passion for teaching and mentoring our students. We are driven to support student learning within the classroom and motivated to ensure that students succeed well beyond their Bachelor’s

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Table 5.1  Researchers’ characteristics Current Position Start Date & Home Years of Teaching Researcher Identity Environment Experience Ava Black Single mother of a Fall 2020; Caribbean 3-year old ~8 years; no woman online prior Dana Haitian-­ Mother of four Fall 2019; American, school-aged boys, ~11 years; some black woman and devoted wife online prior Kim Black Mother of a baby Fall 2020; American ~6 years; some female online prior

Academic Role Developmental Psychologist; Assistant Professor of Psychology Community Health Psychologist; Assistant Professor of Psychology Developmental Psychologist; Assistant Professor of Psychology with Dual role in Human Development

degree. Table 5.1 provides pseudonyms given to each research-participant and the characteristics of each including our identity, home environment, position start, teaching experience and academic role at our current institution.

Research Design Employing a collective autoethnographic approach holds the benefit of combining autobiographies with ethnographic research, allowing writers to critically reflect on their experiences (Bruner, 1993; Davies, 2002). This approach allows for narratives to be utilized as data, connecting meanings of culture within the social world to support future understanding (Maréchal, 2010). Authors in this study utilized multiple artifacts such as their annual evaluation narratives and deep self-reflection to recall their experiences navigating emergency remote instruction, work-life balance, and academia, during their first and second years as tenure track professors, while in the early stages of the pandemic.

Data Collection Once all researchers accepted the invitation to the study, individual accounts were created by each member, using prompts (see Appendix A). The prompts focused on three major questions: (1) What challenges did you experience during the pandemic? (2) What strategies did you use? and (3) What lessons/unexpected blessings came forth as a result? Participants individually engaged in writing their narratives utilizing their annual evaluation narratives and memory to generate self-reflective

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responses to the prompts provided. This occurred over 2 months (May–June 2022). Thus, the responses were informed by field notes from their evaluation narratives and significant memories from their experiences as early career faculty, navigating the pandemic. As a result, 3 narratives were written, one from each participant.

Analytic Strategy Each of the three researcher-participants produced their narratives based on their experiences. Data in the current study were analyzed using thematic analysis, which records patterns to assist in describing a phenomenon (Boyatzis, 1998). Researchers-­ participants independently read each narrative for salient ideas and identified emerging themes. Specifically, each researcher-participant compared themes across narratives. Next, researcher-participants met to consolidate and define themes. Researcher-participants discussed major themes across all accounts and the desired takeaways. A consensus method was used to contend with any discrepancies with the presence of and interpretation of themes.

Findings The purpose of this study was to explore the experiences of three Black women early career psychology faculty navigating the global pandemic through collective autoethnography. The current work sought to understand the challenges experienced, strategies utilized, and lessons learned by these women, as they traversed the teaching, scholarship and service demands of academia. An analysis of each narrative revealed five emergent themes. They are: 1 . Teaching in the Virtual Environment; 2. Developing a Research Agenda; 3. Establishing Social Networks and Attaining Collegial Support; 4. Work-Life Balance; and 5. Maintaining Mental Health & Overall Well-being. The five themes identified reflect the major challenges participants faced as they navigated being early career faculty members during a global pandemic. Some of the women did not have prior experience teaching courses virtually. With everyone being forced to change their mode of instruction from in-person to virtual, teaching proved difficult. Also, as new tenure-track faculty, there was pressure to develop a research agenda to ensure significant progress could be made toward tenure and promotion. Through it all, maintaining mental health and overall well-being proved to be a significant challenge as all of these women tried to figure out the work-life balance. These issues are explored further below.

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Teaching in the Virtual Environment Each author expressed the challenge of effectively teaching and supporting students in the virtual environment. Not only were faculty members experiencing added stress and anxiety, due to the pandemic, but so were students. Kim described: Then, students turned to you for direction in a new virtual world of learning. It was amazing how much we had to change not only the way we instruct but also our approach to engaging with students. Sometimes, I did not know if I should cry for the students or with them.

Attending to students’ academic, social, and emotional needs, focusing on the ‘Whole Learner,’ has demonstrated great promise in supporting student engagement and learning, during the pandemic (Vixamar-Owens et al., 2022). Especially with the disproportionate amount of minoritized families and children negatively impacted by COVID-19 (Bogan et al., 2022), it was vital that these women intentionally focus on their students’ academic and social-emotional needs. Some of the strategies that were employed included setting up mandatory office hours and providing students with time during class to share what was going on in their lives. Recognizing the need to connect with students, Ava implemented mandatory office hours. Ava mentioned, “Many students who may not have been able to make physical office hours, were now able to make virtual office hours.” Dana stated that, “During some class periods, I abandoned the planned agenda and used the time to allow students to share their fears, vent, and offer each other solutions.” Although two authors had no prior experience with online learning, one author had a negative experience with online learning previously, which served as an additional barrier to overcome. Recognizing their limitations as professors and the novel needs of their students, these women became eager to learn, to create and to be innovative. Dana shared: Teaching the statistics course was especially a struggle – it was challenging to execute math problems from a virtual space or demonstrate things impromptu for students – but I was innovative. I went to my local home improvement store, purchased a large piece of medium density hardboard panel (typically used for furniture, cabinets, etc.) and made my own wall-to-wall dry erase board. With a little camera finagling, it was a success.

Ava and Dana sought opportunities to receive training and professional development in online teaching strategies. Other innovations included finding online simulations and hands-on activities to support student engagement and learning and incorporating growth mindset lessons into classes. Notably, Dana used the virtual space to create a series for students to support their success during and after receiving their Psychology Bachelor’s degrees, which also allowed them to speak with experts in the field. Both Ava and Kim supported Dana in planning and bringing the series to life. Ultimately, these women channeled their energy into empowering students to be the best version of themselves and supporting students transitioning into the next chapter of their lives, all during a global pandemic.

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Developing a Research Agenda Oftentimes, ‘Publish or Perish’ is a phrase used and assumed to be the reality of tenure-track faculty in higher education (Anderson et al., 2007; Elizabeth & Grant, 2013). This is due to the understanding that one of the most important jobs of a tenure-track professor is to publish, uncover novel ways of knowing and add to the extant body of literature. More importantly, for professors on the tenure track, their record of publications and research productivity is often weighed more heavily than their teaching and service. As early career tenure-track faculty members, all three authors expressed being acutely aware of their need for research productivity and their concern for how to establish their research agendas in a global pandemic. Ava explicitly stated, “Honestly, I was worried about navigating the ‘publish or perish’ environment I had always heard about and in some ways feared.” Dana spoke to what it felt like at the time as her daunting reality. She stated: I had already begun data collection at my prior institution and was in the process of securing Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval at my new institution. However, my project included biometric data collection, which required individuals to physically show up to participate in the study. With the social distancing mandates and the university closure, this was no longer an option. I ended up having to put the research on hold while I figured things out. I was especially concerned about how this would affect my productivity in pursuit of tenure.

Similarly, with the reality of the virtual context, one author who had previously conducted research in schools could no longer continue. Ava stated: Regarding scholarship, the research that I had conducted previously was focused on the growth mindset (the belief in the malleability of our intelligence and abilities; Dweck, 2006) in the context of Pre-k through 12 schools. In the midst of a global pandemic, that would be almost impossible to do. So how would I develop a strong line of research and make significant progress?

Successfully making progress toward tenure appeared impossible. However, despite the challenges that these women faced, research innovation was birthed. Two women made adjustments to their research to support the virtual context. Through her presentations at virtual conferences, Kim recognized a need and discovered her niche. She shared: I spoke about self-efficacy among fathers, families, and children, which was a growing concern in many parts of the country and the world for that matter. At a time when most people were losing their jobs and students were failing in school, many needed to hear about self-efficacy and the ability to feel confident in oneself despite the helplessness they were feeling (Davidson et al., 2021; Maier & Seligman, 1976). People needed some hope in a world of hopelessness. The world was finding some sense of normalcy as I found my niche and started to make a name for myself at the University two years after I started. It took a while, but now I understand why I am in Academia. I am not only a researcher bound to spread information about self-efficacy but also a mentor to many who look like me.

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Connected to the challenges that students were currently facing in the classroom, a new line of research emerged for two authors, centered on the science of teaching and learning. Having to adjust their research agendas and the virtual environment, supported a level of productivity that was unanticipated, but was developed through the need for innovation and progression. Dana expressed: …my mentor said to me (and I paraphrase because I can’t remember her exact words) “you do know that there is an overwhelming number of educators who don’t understand the science of teaching and learning that you just conveyed in a casual conversation, right?” She then prompted me to explore the field of science committed to teaching and learning. The timing of this challenge was perfect as the initial interruption to my health research forced me to explore other ways to be productive. And in doing so, I discovered my love for education research. I shared this discovery with a colleague, with whom I had developed a writing support relationship during the pandemic and whose research happened to be regarding learning and she encouraged me to pursue it.

Similar to Dana’s experience, Ava also expressed that she too was able to develop a research focus out of the necessity to adjust as a result of the pandemic. She shared: Although I initially struggled with designing a clear research agenda with Pre-k through 12 schools being virtual, I realized a need right in front of me. My students were struggling for connection and struggling to learn in the virtual environment. So, I began to implement growth mindset strategies with my students in the classroom. I taught them about mindsets, incorporated the research into my classes, encouraged learning from mistakes and emphasized the value of effective effort, progress and process. The results demonstrated that students valued the many growth mindset-aligned approaches that were implemented, perceived that I cared, felt a sense of community and belonging during a time of great isolation and believed that their learning was supported by these strategies. By the end of my first semester at my new institution, I was beginning to see that my classroom was my laboratory and that I was interested in how mindset research could be applied in the college classroom to support minoritized students.

Among the three authors, productivity during the pandemic led to significant data collection, over five research articles, three book chapters, two awarded grants, 15 research presentations and so much more. So, although the pandemic initially posed a great challenge to all participants’ research productivity, they were able to transform the challenges to create opportunities for themselves to develop.

Establishing Social Networks and Attaining Collegial Support As new faculty members hired during a global pandemic, two of the women recognized the limitations of now being thrust into a new career and professional environment simultaneously. Ava shared, “Forming genuine connections with my colleagues in a space that was not designed to support a completely virtual context was also a worry of mine.” An important part of work productivity is developing healthy relationships with coworkers. This is especially important for those new in a workplace because they have not yet learned the culture, norms, and processes in place that can

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support or hinder successful progress. Connecting with colleagues and creating spaces of mutual support can build the foundation for professional progression and long-lasting bonds. Although one of the women had been at the institution a year before the first completely remote semester, she was thrown into the virtual space only 8 months after being hired. Dana expressed, “Since I was very new to the university, I didn’t really know many of my colleagues. The first semester I began trying to resolve that but establishing relationships tends to take time.” With the imminent threat of being a new faculty member in a completely virtual workplace, one faculty member expressed leaning into vulnerability and opened herself up by reaching out to colleagues that she did not know, to intentionally learn about their experiences at the institution and build relationships. She built social networks and relationships with colleagues and experts within and outside of her university. Ava expressed: Before I had even taught my first class, during my virtual New Faculty orientation, I took note of the speakers and colleagues who presented. I noted individuals who got me excited, grabbed my attention or were accomplishing things that I one day hoped to. I wrote their names down and later emailed them to set up individual, virtual meetings; introducing myself and asking them for their insights and any support they were willing to share with me as a new faculty member. Not only did I connect with colleagues within the institution, but I also reached out to those outside, who I thought might be able to share invaluable insight with me.

Additionally, there was an embracing of the care, concern, and grace shown for others during this time. Another woman mentioned the importance of having a leader, her Dean, who prioritized seeking opportunities for her faculty. Her Dean invited her to become a member of the Diversity in Leadership: Herstory cohort (Mbilishaka et al., 2023), which provided her with the opportunity to meet with other women faculty at the institution and receive empowerment from female administrators around the country. Kim shared: …I have a Dean, who can seek out connections and opportunities for her faculty. It was the Dean who suggested I become a member of the Diversity in Leadership: Herstory cohort in the Spring of 2022, which instilled words of wisdom and empowerment from female Deans, Ombudsmen, and Provosts around the country. It was an amazing experience.

She also shared that she was happy to have the support of Black women colleagues in her department. Kim stated, “I was fortunate enough to be hired into a program with women who look like me. We are all young Black women who strive for positions of respect.” At predominantly White institutions (PWIs) it is less common to have a STEM department composed of all Black or African American faculty. However, HBCUs tend to employ significantly larger numbers of Black STEM faculty than PWIs. A by-product of the pandemic included intentionality about forming relationships, which allowed for genuine connections and systems of support to be formed virtually. This also proved beneficial to the professors’ scholarship. Highlighting the value of forming relationships, which in turn supported scholarship, Dana shared:

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A. Fredericks et al. However, as a result of social distancing restrictions and the feelings of loneliness and isolation they brought on, people around the world became extra intentional about establishing and maintaining connections. This worked to my advantage. I was able to make meaningful connections with many of my peers that grew sincere and supportive at a pace that I don’t think would have been the same under “normal” circumstances. This includes writing and professional support partnerships with two of my peers, a faculty learning circle (FLC), a mentor relationship with my Dean, and a new faculty support community. It was through two of these new relationships that I discovered a hidden dimension to my professional self and was able to achieve some surprise successes in research.

Also, illustrating the research benefits of cultivating collegiate relationships during the pandemic, Ava shared: A very integral part of my scholarly success was connecting with a colleague daily to write. We both acknowledged that we were struggling with finding time to write and decided to start a writing group. Every morning, Monday through Friday for an hour, we met. Half of the time was dedicated to writing, and the other half, to exchanging our work and providing edits, notes and/or thoughts. I will admit, some days, we would catch up on what was going on in each other’s lives. Although there were feelings of guilt on those days, now reflecting on it, in such an isolated time in the world, we probably needed the time and opportunity for genuine, regular, connection, which helped to support and fuel our productivity. Those morning writing hours were times I looked forward to. I not only started my days with scholarly productivity but my colleague and I were able to share with and encourage one another.

Creating a daily writing habit has been identified as one of the healthiest practices that faculty can adopt to meet the scholarship demands of academia (Boice, 1990; Rockquemore & Laszloffy, 2008).

Work-Life Balance In addition to stressors brought on by professional demands, these women had different personal challenges to navigate as well, which added another layer of struggle. Ava was a single mother of one, while Dana was a wife and mother of four boys. Highlighting her struggle to balance work and life at home, as a mother, Ava stated: Starting a new career in academia was only part of my worries. Personally, I had a 3-year old starting a new school and wondered whether his transition from being home with me would be a smooth one. Also, how would I navigate the demands of academia during a pandemic with him? I had so many questions and few answers.

Expressing similar concerns, having recently relocated with her family and having children in virtual school Dana shared: On a personal note, my children were transitioning to virtual emergency remote instruction too. My family had just relocated to the area so we had yet to establish close by support networks and my children required a lot of support in learning. My youngest son had just begun kindergarten (unable to manage many tech tasks without guidance), and one of my other boys was just starting middle school (adapting to the increased demand for individual

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responsibility and self-advocacy). My husband was still going to work so the responsibility to keep all the balls juggling during the school day was left solely on me. I wondered how I was supposed to support my children in their classes while I simultaneously led my own. Plus, how in the world were we going to make four different classrooms exist in one house?

Although challenges to work-life balance were experienced, the women found different ways of coping. For one of these women, she leaned into developing a system/schedule allowing her to take care of herself, while attending to the needs of her son. Ava shared: Personally, I was able to develop a schedule for myself that allowed me to get my son ready for school in the morning, drop him off, pick him up at the end of the day, while allowing me to work out, meditate, and spend time with him in the evenings, including cooking dinner, bath time and reading to him at night. Being a mother is not a role that I take lightly. It isn’t always easy, but I truly believe that in order for me to give my son the best of me, I need to work towards becoming my best self. It took some time, but I eventually learned that I needed to first pour into myself, so that I could pour into others (e.g., my child, students, colleagues, and others). Recognizing this was part of the catalyst to me starting my days early, with exercise, motivational messages and meditation, all before I began to do anything for anyone else.

In direct response to the challenges of work-life balance, Dana was forced to adopt a new norm and sacrifice so that her children had what they needed. She expressed: …having to help my children during the day (when they typically would have been at school receiving help from their teachers) meant sometimes not being able to complete my work during “normal business hours.” I found myself grading work, making lesson plans, and recording lectures in the middle of the night or early in the morning. This caused excess strain on an already vulnerable self-care regimen.

Further sharing the sacrifices that she selflessly had to make to ensure that both her children and students got what they needed Dana shared: The first two semesters at home, my children and I found ways to spread out around the house so we wouldn’t disrupt each other’s learning environment. Of course, as a mom, I gave them the most comfortable, learning-supportive spaces and settled with the leftovers. For example, I would work from my bathtub (in camera-off situations) or my laundry room (in camera-on situations). I can laugh now and I’m proud of how extremely creative I was (I’m sure my virtual audience never knew), but I’d be lying if I didn’t also admit to the in-­ the-­moment frustration of it all.

Although there were significant challenges brought on by the pandemic to work-life balance, some unexpected blessings arose. Dana expressed, “...having to teach from home allowed my children to see me in action. They asked questions about what I do and how I do it, which fostered conversations about the value of college, and the benefits to earning a doctorate, and college aspirations.” She also realized the importance of prioritizing her personal life, sharing, “Especially important, I received the okay from myself to prioritize my family and my personal life (because life is but a vapor and you can lose loved ones without forewarning).” Additionally, Ava began new routines, to support herself as she navigated the novel challenges she experienced, to maintain a healthier work-life balance. She expressed, “Recognizing this [the value of pouring into self] was part of the catalyst to me starting my days

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early, with exercise, motivational messages and meditation, all before I began to do anything for anyone else.” Reflecting on the themes from the autoethnographic narratives, although the women implemented various creative strategies to support their teaching, scholarship and work-life balance, conditions still posed a significant threat to the mental health, and well-being of all of the women.

Maintaining Mental Health and Overall Well-Being Integral components of individuals’ lives, negatively affected by the pandemic were mental health and well-being (Jones et al., 2021). Similarly, for these three women early career faculty members, factors including being concerned about entering a new institution with little time to prepare, pressure from the administration to maintain teaching, service and scholarship standards, attending to students’ needs and attending to their own needs, contributed to increased levels of anxiety, stress and feeling overwhelmed. Expressing the mental health challenges intensified by the presence of the pandemic. Ava shared, “With all the transitions occurring in my life (i.e., new academic position, new institution, and new virtual teaching space) my stress, anxiety and feelings of being overwhelmed significantly shot up.” Kim also noted that, “My first days were full of growing anxiety and making sure I did not miss any onboarding events. I was fulfilling what we now call the Strong Black Woman Syndrome.” Black women often experience an added burden of trying to do everything and be all things to everyone, also referred to as the ‘Strong Black Woman Syndrome’ (Golden, 2021; Woods-Giscombé, 2010). There are negative health consequences that occur as a result of the added pressures and stress. To cope, there was a deliberate need to seek support to address mental health and overall well-being. Kim expressed: It was my duty to teach three classes per semester, complete research, and take on other service tasks within the division. It led me to seek help, conversation, and other means to ensure my mental and physical well-being, such as therapy, antidepressants, and a physical trainer. I had to take care of myself.

Expressing the strategies that she employed to support her mental health and overall well-being and the magnitude in which they played an integral role during this time, Ava shared: Thus, I made a conscious decision to attend to my mental health. Amongst all the strategies that I believe supported my successful navigation of the challenges I experienced, this strategy was by far the most important. I found a great, affordable, therapist who I could meet with regularly. This allowed me  to  dedicate time to focus on my mental well-being and work through challenges in many areas of my life. Because of this focus, I began to explore new strategies to support stress management and self-care. This led to me starting my spiritual practice of exercise, motivational messages and meditation in the mornings. This also

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supported me in developing into a better parent, educator, coworker, daughter, sister and friend. Without the deliberate focus on mental health support, I do not believe I would have had the capacity to accomplish many of the things that I did and show up in spaces with the passion and optimism that I did.

Kim also shared factors that supported her mental well-being during this very challenging time. These factors include an emotional support dog, family and mentors. She expressed: Furthermore, I have an emotional support dog to maintain a schedule in the home and my immediate family who makes sure I leave the job at the front door. The final support system I have consists of mentors in academia, who have been with me every step of the way. They give me advice when needed, the hard truth at times, and moments to appreciate the profession.

Overall, the stressors of the pandemic led the women to recognize the need to take care of themselves both physically and mentally.

Recommendations for Black Women Early Career Faculty Over the past 2 years, we Black women early career faculty members, collectively have done a tremendous amount of learning and personal/professional growth despite the significant challenges we faced. Each woman’s ability to transform challenges faced, into opportunities to be innovative, learn and grow, speaks to the resilience of these women. In the extant literature, there are various definitions for ‘resilience.’ Ward (2003) defined resilience as the ability of individuals to cope, despite the challenge and adversity they encounter. However, when referring to mental-health professionals specifically, Fink-Samnick (2009) defined resilience as a “commitment to achieve balance between occupational stressors and life challenges, while fostering professional values and career sustainability” (p.  331). Although the women in this study are professors, like mental-health care providers, they are expected to mentor and support their students as an integral part of their jobs, while balancing the stressors of life. Studies that have examined how mental-health care providers cope with supporting clients through traumatic experiences, like Hurricane Katrina and the COVID-19 pandemic have found that, professionals were at increased risk for compassion fatigue (reduced ability to be empathetic to others) and burnout (Lambert & Lawson, 2013; Litam et al., 2021). However, the research also supports that through the cultivation of resilience, posttraumatic growth is possible (Lambert & Lawson, 2013). Posttraumatic growth refers to the growth and adaptation that occurs, following a traumatic life experience that includes both emotional and cognitive components (Tedeschi et al., 1998). Aligned with the findings of this study, activities found to be integral in cultivating resilience and promoting posttraumatic growth include attending to physical and emotional health, celebrating personal achievements, engaging in self-reflection, seeking additional resources and tapping into social networks

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(Lambert & Lawson, 2013; Litam et  al., 2021). Based on what we have learned from our collective experiences we offer recommendations to other Black women early career faculty members, who will inevitably encounter challenges along the way. See the recommendations included below.

Take Care of You (Mentally, Physically, Spiritually), First Women tend to provide more hours of service in response to their social responsibility, and the work that they do is often described as, ‘taking care of the institution’ (Guarino & Bordin, 2017). This was illustrated when Kim expressed the amount of anxiety she had amassed, trying to make sure she did everything to prepare for classes, while attending all onboarding events. Also, it was shared when Dana would work late hours grading, creating lesson plans and recording lessons. For Black women, if the Strong Black Woman ideology is endorsed, often exhibited is a need to be independent and the presence of a self-depleting pressure to be everything for everyone (Woods-Giscombé, 2010). Consequently, it has to start with the self. Ava exclaimed that her starting therapy, and immersing herself in her morning routine of meditation, motivational messages and exercise was significant in supporting her during this very challenging time. Kim also engaged in therapy, antidepressants and attained an emotional support dog. Through the challenges, Dana came to recognize the importance of prioritizing her personal life. The sooner we recognize that self-care (i.e., spiritual, physical, psychological) is selfless, the sooner others can benefit from our nurturing ourselves.

Capitalize on Human Resources and Social Capital With the pace at which technology is developing, we are more connected than we have ever been. Reach out to those who you may want to learn from, collaborate with or simply get to know better. Our colleagues have been some of our biggest supporters and motivators. Ava shared identifying individuals during professional development week that she reached out to for support. Dana expressed that engaging in professional partnerships, through a faculty learning circle, provided immense support. Kim mentioned that having support from the other professors in her department to work with and lean on was invaluable. Ava also expressed how starting a writing group with one of her colleagues led to research productivity and social-­ emotional support. Similarly, administrators can be an invaluable resource. Multiple women mentioned that their Dean served as an integral support to them. As an individual navigates academia, colleagues who have been there longer could be a great source of understanding the culture and infrastructure of the institution.

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Reframe Challenges into Opportunities During the pandemic, the biggest challenges became our greatest teachers. Holding a growth mindset and believing that circumstances can improve, regardless of where an individual is, has been found to greatly support well-being and resilience (Dweck, 2006; Dweck & Yeager, 2019). A growing body of research supports that professors who hold a growth mindset, possess great power and autonomy to cultivate inclusive environments of learning and support their students, especially as they encounter challenges (Canning et al., 2019; Fredericks et al., 2021). All participants in this study expressed their dedication and commitment to student success. As a result of our belief that students are capable of growth, despite the challenges, we all went above and beyond to provide them with the support necessary for them to succeed. Ava and Dana both sought opportunities to take courses to develop their skills as online instructors. Dana would allow moments for students in the class to share their fears, concerns, and offer solutions. Ava incorporated mandatory office hours to ensure that students were adequately supported. Kim expressed attending to students’ socio-emotional needs. It is not enough to say that growth is possible and mistakes and failures help to support that growth, we must demonstrate those beliefs through our actions. With every major challenge, each researcher found ways and implemented strategies to support his/her growth. Recognizing the challenges of establishing a research agenda, Ava and Dana were forced to explore alternative paths and discovered new research foci about which they were passionate. Kim, leaned into her research, recognizing that the challenges of the time brought about a significant need for her work. All women discovered creative ways of networking and establishing social support in the virtual environment. Through it all, the women recognized the need to prioritize their well-being. It was through the challenges that growth opportunities arose. Leaning into challenges and engaging in growth mindset behaviors (e.g., asking for help, reaching out to a more knowledgeable or experienced peer, and trying new strategies) are integral to being resilient in the face of challenges.

Enjoy the Process Finally, try to enjoy the process! Although this may sound very ‘cliché,’ we realized from these experiences that it is possible to embrace the challenges of this difficult time in our career if we lean into the joy that teaching brings and are engaging in research about which we are passionate. Of course, as a tenure-track professor, we commit to teaching, scholarship, and service. However, try to find ways to create synergy between these three pillars and enjoy these activities when possible.

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Collectively, the three women in this study genuinely enjoy teaching and mentoring. When students have epiphanies and begin to understand difficult concepts in our classes, we get excited! Lean into your passion and your purpose. This journey has not been easy, but we truly believe that every experience, whether good or bad, is there to support our growth, transformation and evolution.

Conclusion Academia can be filled with challenges for early career faculty members. In particular, this work acknowledged the experiences of three Black female early career faculty. These women’s concerns were comparable to the encountered challenges and hindrances to professional advancement that has been cited in the literature. For example, each woman spoke about concerns with producing research (publish/perish), establishing a sense of belonging in academia, and struggles with family/work-­ life balance. The global pandemic only exacerbated the stress and anxiety faculty members felt. The women alluded to being thrown into the virtual environment, while having to teach and mentor students, develop a strong research agenda, establish social networks and maintain their mental health, and overall well-being. We recognize that educators of similar identities working at PWIs may have different challenges and experiences. However, our experience as Black, female, early-career educators at an HBCU is unique in that it speaks to the potential for one to feel isolated and unfairly challenged even in environments that are expected to be less threatening, and emphasizes the intersectionality of our identities. Regardless, in our early career, as tenure-track assistant professors, we, Black women took the challenges and transformed them into opportunities to develop and grow, during a very difficult time. This work elucidates the resilience present, as these women accomplished success in teaching, scholarship, and service, despite being mothers, new homeowners and new faculty members at a new institution. Furthermore, it demonstrates that despite the challenges, there are always lessons and unexpected blessings that if intentional, we can find. Black women do not have to fulfill the Strong Black Women Syndrome/Persona and do it all; they can reach out to their support systems when they need help. Exposing our vulnerabilities can allow others the opportunity to provide us with the resources and support necessary for growth (Mbilishaka et al., 2023). Black women have come a long way historically, yet, there is still a long way to go. Despite the challenges that inevitably will occur, know that you are capable of immense growth and success. Intentionally taking care of ourselves and seeking resources and support to overcome these challenges allow us to create opportunities that can cultivate unimaginable learning and growth! You are blessed!

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Appendix A Narrative Prompts I. Challenges of the pandemic (a) As an early career faculty member at the onset of the pandemic what did you perceive your challenges would be and how were you thinking you would deal with them? (b) As an early career faculty member, still in the pandemic, what have some of your biggest challenges been? (i) Have they been different from what you perceived initially? If so, how? II. Navigating the Pandemic (a) Despite the presence of the pandemic, what were some of your noteworthy accomplishments? (b) What were key strategies/factors that allowed you to accomplish despite the pandemic? (c) Now reflecting, what do you wish you had, or maybe had done differently to better support you? III. Lessons (a) What would you say are some of the unexpected ‘blessings’ or positive outcomes that have occurred as a result of the pandemic? (Both personal and professional; also think of teaching, scholarship and service) (i) What have been some major lessons that you have learned? (ii) How has navigating the pandemic as an early career faculty shaped you as a person and as a scholar? (b) What advice would you offer to other Black female Early Career Faculty members experiencing significant challenges (regardless of the cause? (i) What systems/supports do you think is important to consider?

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Part II

Resiliency and Mental Health, Care, Well-being

Chapter 6

The Impact of Burnout on Female Academics’ Resiliency Nola P. Hill-Berry, Donna-Marie Wynter Adams, and Peta-Gaye Thomas-Brown

Abstract  Burnout is recognized as a global health and productivity issue for which adequate measures are not undertaken to diagnose and mitigate the draining effects on individuals’ physical, mental, and emotional well-being. Burnout is common in academia and has been compounded by the COVID-19 pandemic, where academics continue to experience increased work demands and decreased levels of self-­efficacy and resiliency. It was, therefore, essential to determine the prevalence and impact of burnout and contributing factors amongst female academics, and identify strategies employed to mitigate burnout and fortify resiliency. Following ethical approval, this cross-sectional study was conducted over a 4-month period with the use of a survey distributed through the institution’s email system and the  academic staff union’s email database. Quantitative data were expressed as frequencies and analysed using Chi-squared, regression, and correlation tests, with significance determined at p  .01); (c) “My instructor presents her attitudes towards events occurring on campus” (r = .38, p > .01); (d) “My instructor gives her opinion about events in the community” (r = .43, p > .01); and (e) “My instructor is open with the class about her feelings” (r = .41, p > .01). Table 12.4 shows the descriptions of the 23 statements, and Table 12.5 shows the correlations among them. Qualitative Data-Results Table 12.6 presents the thematic analysis chart, inclusive of the sub-themes, frequencies of codes within each sub-theme, and verbatim data extract.

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Table 12.4  Description of 23 statements Number 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23.

Description Instructor expresses her beliefs Instructor reveals personal information about her personal life Instructor often talks about what she does on weekends Instructor seldom talks about herself Instructor uses her family or friends as classroom examples Instructor often gives her opinions about current events Instructor shares her dislikes and likes Instructor presents her attitudes toward events occurring on campus Instructor discusses her feelings Instructor often talks about herself Instructor gives personal examples in class Instructor seldom discusses family or friends Instructor only discusses class related material Instructor rarely discusses her personal life Instructor gives her opinion about events in the community Instructor is open with the class about her feelings Instructor often talks about her family and friends Instructor seldom expresses beliefs We were able to actively respond to those challenges Our class was able to obtain what it needed to thrive Our class bounced back from even the most difficult setbacks Our class was able to achieve things Our class was adaptable

The five main themes that emerged from the thematic analysis were: (a) evaluation of teaching, (b) collective resilience, (c) values of the instructor, (d) self-­ disclosure, and (e) instructor responsiveness to students. Findings related to these five themes are presented in this section.

Evaluation of Teaching An evaluation of the teaching theme included participants’ statements on the overall class experience. This theme appeared in 2 of 10 of the transcripts and provided positive feedback on the participants’ experience. An example statement from this theme is the following, offered by the participant identified as Participant 4: “Helping skills was definitely my favorite class, thanks to [the instructor.]”

1 – .41* .32 .02 .24 .47** .45* .44* .38* .43* .46** −.03 −.24 −.34 .46** .53** .37* −.03 .43* .72** .48** .35 .17

– .69** −.06 .65** .45* .52** .61** .75** .47** .78** .12 −.49** −.79** .49** .70** .55** −.23 .07 .31 .03 .03 −.19

2

– −.15 .50** .45* .29 .37* .50** .56** .59** .22 −.42* −.70** .35 .44* .60** −.98 .16 .10 .02 −.00 −.21

3

– .04 .14 −.08 .18 −.04 .06 .00 .37* .33 .17 .06 −.08 −.07 .44* −.35 .01 −.19 −.17 .13

4

– .42* .53** .52** .63** .38* .67** .24 −.20 −.60** .31 .65** .52** −.17 −.06 .18 −.05 −.08 −.12

5

– .58** .65** .53** .60** .35 .31 −.19 −.36* .72** .47** .39* .16 .03 .41* .05 .04 .16

6

– .67** .74** .47** .62** .12 −.29 −.48** .72** .63** .49** −.09 .19 .39* .16 .09 .19

7

– .67** .56** .56 .19 −.29 −.45* .82** .68** .40* .07 .05 .38* .01 .01 −.02

8

– .58** .73** .20 −.48** −.73** .67** .78** .66** −.24 .05 .26 .04 .00 .00

9

– .53** −.47** −.68** .56** .41* .54** −.05 .07 .33 .01 −.02 .05 .00

10

– .14 −.33 −.75** .53** .74** .55** −.33 .06 .31 .01 −.02 −.14

11

– −.18 −.18 .19 .28 .17 .40* −.15 −.05 −.13 −.12 .12

12

– .54** −.27 −.48** −.57** .02 −.15 −.26 −.10 −.12 −.03

13

Note: N = 30 * Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed). **Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23

Table 12.5  Inter-correlations among the 23 statements

– −.36 −.66** −.67** .41* −.09 −.25 −.01 −.03 .09

14

– .56** .42* −.03 .03 .43* −.02 −.06 .09

15

– .51** −.22 .13 .41* .15 .17 .04

16

– −.13 .00 .21 −.06 −.12 −.04

17

– .00 −.10 .02 .02 .10

18

– .55** .88** .83** .22

19

21

22

23

– .59** – .55** .93** – .39* .35 .41* –

20

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Table 12.6  Thematic analysis chart Sub-theme Frequency Verbatim data extract Instructor 12 “The instructor would ask the class how we felt responsiveness to about a situation and based on how deep our students responses might have been as a class she would decide if information on her personal opinion or family member or close friend would be necessary or needed” Self-disclosure 9 “My instructor’s use of self-disclosure allowed me to open up to her in a way that I was able to approach her for some class concerns” Values of 4 “Our instructor taught the class with vigor and instructor excitement and welcomed all of our questions with great anticipation” Collective 2 “The professor’s overall understanding and her resilience ability to relate to our situations allowed the students to have resilience required to complete the course” Evaluation of 2 “I am thankful for [the instructor’s] leadership” teaching

Participant identifier Participant 6

Participant 9

Participant 1

Participant 3

Participant 8

Collective Resilience The collective resilience theme included participants’ statements on resilience within the classroom. This theme appeared twice among the 10 transcripts and included the following statements: “Our class’s collective resilience was possible with the help of our professor,” stated by the participant identified as Transcript 9; and “The professor’s overall understanding and her ability to relate to our situations allowed the students to have resilience which helped us to complete the course,” stated by Participant 3.

Values of the Instructor The values of the instructor theme included participants’ observations of the instructor and their respective opinions of the instructor within the classroom. The theme appeared in 3 of the 10 transcripts and included statements such as the following: “The instructor taught the class with vigor and excitement,” and “The instructor welcomed all of our questions with great anticipation,” both statements made by Participant 1.

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Use of Self-Disclosure The theme of self-disclosure appeared in 6 of 10 of the transcripts. This theme included the participants’ opinions on the instructor’s use of self-disclosure. Example statements from this theme are the following: “The instructor would ask the class how we felt about a situation and based on how deep our responses might have been as a class, she would decide if the information on her personal opinion would be necessary or needed,” stated Participant 6; “The instructor allowed us, as students, to share stories and analyze scenarios for a better understanding of mental disorders that could negatively or positively impact your psychological or behavioral health,” stated Participant 7; and “If the instructor brought up a situation that happened on campus or in the community, it was to see how we responded to that situation as well as make sure that it was a safe space for us to process that incident,” described Participant 6. Lastly, responsiveness to students was a theme that appeared in 8 of the 10 participant transcripts. In this theme, participants spoke of their opinions on the responsiveness of the instructor to her students. Example statements include the following, all offered by the participant identified as Participant 10: “The instructor was extremely accommodating to us students throughout the pandemic. If she hadn’t been, I’m pretty sure we the students would not have passed the class,” “When the pandemic hit, she worked with those of us who were struggling by constantly asking us questions,” “The instructor took her time in understanding her student’s personalities,” and “The instructor helped me learn a lot.”

Discussion There were several obstacles to sustaining student motivation during the tenure of the pandemic, and as a clinician within the classroom, I found it my duty not only to provide the clinical skills of counseling and psychotherapy, but also to attend to my students’ mental health in the face of a global pandemic. During the psychology courses taught during the pandemic, I would often share my responses to the constant news of infection rates and death tolls, and I would often discuss my observations of client responses to the negative economic factors that bombarded not only the public, but also the very students within my virtual classroom. In addition to providing my observations of others, I would also share my feelings of trepidation in venturing out into the community to run errands or shop for groceries, seeing my children off to in-person schooling, and so on. The major goal of this research was to assess the relationship between students’ perceptions of instructors’ use of self-disclosure and collective resilience in the classroom. Taking place during the COVID-19 pandemic, this study adds to the

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extant literature not only on instructor and student interactions in the classroom, but also on their responses in the classroom amidst a global pandemic. This study has implications for instructors regarding the use of appropriate instructor self-­ disclosure within the classroom. The results of a factor analysis supported the Instructor Self-Disclosure Scale as an internally reliable and unidimensional measure (Cayanus & Martin, 2004). With the appropriate use of instructor self-­disclosure within the classroom, students can learn more about their instructors as people. Although the results of the present study did not indicate a significant relationship with perceptions of collective resilience in the classroom, the use of self-disclosure seemed to have created a warm, close, and respectful relationship between the instructor and students, as made evident in the theme related to the responsiveness of students in the narratives collected (Zardeckaite-Matulaitiene & Paluckaite, 2013). Of interest were the qualitative findings of the participants’ narratives concerning collective resilience and instructor self-disclosure. With the previous literature stating that the use of self-disclosure contributes to higher levels of connectedness within the classroom, it was expected that the instructor dynamics would facilitate the group’s resilience and willingness to persist (Johnson & LaBelle, 2015; Putney & Broughton, 2011). Although a significant relationship was not found, the participants’ narratives indicated that some level of resilience was facilitated by interactions with the instructor. Perhaps there are several dimensions of self-disclosure that need to be further investigated, as made mentioned by Cayanus and Martin (2004). Lannutti and Strauman (2006) found that self-disclosure in the classroom influences students’ evaluations of the instructor, which this study also supported, according to the narratives retrieved in the evaluation of teaching and responsiveness to students’ themes. There was one occasion when I disclosed my discovering the untimely death of my very good friend who succumbed to COVID-19 before the start of class. Despite this moment of self-disclosure as a very sullen one for myself, I hoped that at that moment I was able to model healthy coping strategies to promote transparency, authenticity, and professionalism in coping with the negative consequences of COVID-19. It was the hope that my self-disclosure would invite the students to follow the lead of openness to share their thoughts and feelings within a confidential space. It was my aim as a classroom instructor to encourage students to recognize their strengths and that their academic issues were shared issues that could be alleviated by coming together as a group to provide each other with the necessary support that will ultimately build a collective resiliency.

Conclusion The results of this study substantiate the use of self-disclosure within the classroom to further promote resilience. To obtain a more comprehensive perspective of appropriate instructor self-disclosure, it is suggested that future researchers access the

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personal narratives of students within the classroom to reflect authentic experiences and the significance of their experiences. Utilizing qualitative research design, such as an intersection analysis, will empower the students to provide thorough accounts of their realities while allowing the researcher to obtain more extensive perspectives of the students.

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Part IV

The Nature and Practice of Autoethnography and Resilience

Chapter 13

Exploring the Iceberg: Autoethnography and Insights into the Hidden Experiences of Female Academics Elly Phillips and Charmaine Bissessar

Abstract  This chapter provides an overview, critical analysis, and discussion of the themes, convergences and divergences between the experiences recounted in the ethnographic, autoethnographic, and collaborative autoethnographic chapters of this book. Links are made to ideas and themes found in other chapters with personal or reflective comments, including where the ideas/concepts diverge and converge. Overarching stressors for most contributors (the tip of the iceberg) were work-life balance, increased workload, and the challenges of working from home. This is not unexpected and is likely related, as all contributors were working from home for some or all of the COVID-19 period. The challenges of maintaining work-life balance seemed unrelated to culture, country of residence, or anything else, although there were nuances to each, depending on the individual situation, which are discussed. The analyses revealed more of the iceberg: various factors and life situations that helped and hindered participants, and elements that participants believed contributed to resilience and positive outcomes. Intentionality seemed key in motivating contributors to seek out social connection, prioritise self-care, and set boundaries. There were few major cultural differences between chapters, except the presence/ importance of spirituality and religion. Keywords  Work/life balance · Blurred boundaries · Social role theory · Intersectionality in gender · Sisterhood · Intentionality · Other-centredness · Queen bee phenomenon · Meta-ethnography

Introduction Autoethnography allows us to understand, give voice to, and amplify marginalised perspectives (Hannam-Swain & Bailey, 2021). For this reason, the authors of specific chapters in this book chose to use autoethnography and collaborative E. Phillips (*) · C. Bissessar Independent, University of Guyana, Turkeyen, Georgetown, Guyana © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 C. Bissessar (ed.), Female Academics’ Resilience during the COVID-19 Pandemic, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-34140-3_13

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autoethnography to interrogate and give voice to their lived experiences during the pandemic. They reported, retrospectively, their ways of adapting to the pandemic and the challenges, demands and opportunities that were offered. Some of the female academics shared themselves with the reader as a form of catharsis. In some instances, they shared their fears and their concerns for themselves and others as they explored and examined their lives during the pandemic. In reading these accounts, we (Phillips, Bissessar, and the reader) become both passive recipients and active participants of their experiences, vicariously sharing in their growth and resiliency. Furthermore, we empathise with them, bonding in the kinship of a shared experience. The purpose of this chapter is to identify, consolidate, and discuss themes that occurred across other chapters in this book, specifically those using autoethnographic approaches, but also commentary and reflective observations made in other chapters. The chapters under examination are indicated in Table 13.1 below. This Table 13.1  Types of Autoethnography and Chapters Types of Autoethnography Collaborative autoethnography

Titles of Chapters Exploring female academics’ resiliency during the pandemic: Perspectives of three academics Mixed methodology An exploration of female academics’ resiliency during COVID-19 with special reference to north eastern part of India Collaborative autoethnography Offering up ourselves: A collaborative autoethnographic exploration of two female academics during the COVID-19 pandemic Collaborative autoethnography/ An exploration of female academics’ content analysis resiliency during the COVID-19 pandemic: With reference to India, the Philippines and Tanzania Collaborative autoethnography From challenges to opportunities: Navigating the pandemic as black female early career faculty Autoethnography From crisis to crisis … to resilience: An autoethnographic tale of self-discovery Collaborative autoethnography Exploring female academics’ wellness during the COVID-19 pandemic: Implications for psychological capital and authentic leadership Autoethnography An autoethnographic exploration of my experiences in planning and implementing teacher professional development during COVID-19: Implications for resilient leadership Autoethnography The pillars of my resilience in the time of COVID-19 Mixed methodology including An account of vulnerability and collective a thematic analysis of open resilience in the classroom ended questions appended to the survey

Author(s) Bissessar, McCauley & Phillips Mahanta

Roofe & Ferguson Bordoloi et al.

Fredericks et al.

Jaggernauth Hamilton & Engerman

Bissessar

Rampersaud-­ Skorka Walker

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chapter draws together key themes generated from the reflective and autoethnographic chapters of this book. We identify topics and themes that are relevant to the women in this study who (we hope) represent “typical and generalizable” (Ellis & Bochner, 2000, p. 751) experiences of women in academia, their needs, concerns, and challenges. We consider the impact of this autoethnography and collaborative autoethnography exercise more broadly. It gives voice to female academics who may have otherwise remained voiceless and highlights some of their concerns during the pandemic.

Literature Review This section outlines key aspects of theory and research about gender, work in general and in academia, and the intersection of those in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic. It commences with a discussion of the  social role theory (Eagly & Koenig, 2014) and transitions to further discussions on gender, life roles, and research. This is followed by a discussion of the value of interpersonal skills. The literature review provides a roadmap to the issues encountered by female academics during the pandemic.

Gender, Social Roles, and Academia Gender is socially constructed and refers to societal expectations of the roles, norms and behaviours ascribed to males and females (WHO, 2020). Gender stereotypes develop as children are prescribed specific roles and ascribed specific toys with which to play (Eagly & Koenig, 2014; Eagly et al., 2000). This commences at birth, where one of the first pieces of information shared about a child is his/her biological sex (Weiss, 2001). Furthermore, boys are taught to possess agentic skills (strong, aggressive, independent, self-focused, self-confident, and competitive) whereas girls are taught to possess communal qualities (nurturing, relationship-oriented, kind, helpful, cooperative, and concerned for others) (Diekman & Goodfriend, 2006; Koenig, 2018; Van Veelen & Derks, 2022). According to Limor et al. (2015), further stereotyping occurs when schools suggest that girls should choose feminine fields such as Home Economics and Language, whereas boys should consider STEM-related subjects such as Science, Technology, and Mathematics. This is perpetuated at the tertiary level where, according to Diehl and Dzubinski (2016), women continue to be underrepresented in STEM-related fields. According to Ridgeway (2001), gender- specific jobs start with the division of labour where men have higher paying jobs, higher statuses, and display agentic qualities. On the other hand, women are viewed as nurturers and communicators, possessing soft and communal skills. Therefore, descriptive and prescriptive norms are used to stereotype males and females. Descriptive norms depict the traits that

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men should display as opposed to women. Prescriptive norms include the expected or approved behaviour of each gender. For example, men are expected to display more agentic traits whereas women are expected to be more communal (Bissessar, 2013, Eagly & Koenig 2006; Koenig, 2018). Koenig and Eagly (2014) determined that a correlation existed between the stereotypical social roles ascribed and prescribed to males and females and participants’ occupational roles. Similarly, Hentschel et al. (2019) investigated the extent to which these descriptive and prescriptive norms exist. They conducted a study with 628 participants from the United States of America. Participants were asked to describe themselves as being communal or agentic. Hentschel et al. (2019) found that male participants described themselves as being more agentic and female participants saw themselves as more communal. In academia, Van Veelen and Derks (2022) pointed out that females are indoctrinated to possess communal agency, however, they operate in an androcentric professional community where agentic traits are respected, admired, and emulated (see also Sümer & Eslen-Ziya, 2022). Agentic rather than communal traits most depict the “occupational stereotype in academia” (p. 749). Female academics must merge stereotypical feminine normative standards (communal) with professional, masculine standards (agentic). This apparent lack of fit between female academics’ gendered archetype and professional expectations can, according to Van Veelen and Derks, result in workload exhaustion, career exit, and threaten career advancement. Van Veelen and Derks (2022) furthered that, as a female academic rises up the ranks, she feels compelled to take on and exemplify more agentic traits. They refer to this as the Queen Bee phenomenon which demonstrates that “female academics at higher academic ranks tend to describe themselves more strongly in agentic terms than those at lower ranks” (p. 748). This phenomenon was also found to be prevalent among female academic leaders in Diehl and Dzubinski’s (2016) study. They found that females in leadership positions in academia are “more cut-throat,” “less empathetic,” and “insecure,” and even exhibit behaviors of a “bully” (p. 193). They also concluded that this phenomenon existed within the meso (groups and organisation) level. Therefore, within the realm of academia, both males and females believe that agentic traits are critical for success and mobility. The female participants who reached the rank of Professor saw themselves as possessing more agentic qualities than their male counterparts of a similar rank and those of lower ranks. This provides empirical validation of the Queen Bee phenomenon. In Van Veelen and Derks’s (2022) study, there were more male than female participants with  more females at the lower ranks than males and more males at the higher ranks than females. This suggests that these female participants operate in a male-dominated sphere where communal traits are subsumed in favour of agentic traits. Van Veeleen and Derks further noted that more female academics were employed in Humanities and Behavioural Science and they were underrepresented in STEM (Diehl & Dzubinski, 2016).

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Gender, Life Roles, and Research Apart from being socially constructed, gender is also “hierarchical and produces inequalities that intersect with other social and economic inequalities, such as ethnicity, socioeconomic status, disability, age, geographic location, gender identity, and sexual orientation, among others. This is referred to as intersectionality” (WHO, 2022, para. 2). This intersectionality can be evidenced in societies where men (particularly heterosexual men) can typically rely on their female partner to care for home and family. ‘BBC dad’ Professor Robert Kelly (Chappell, 2017) attained fame when his children invaded the room in which he was being interviewed for a television segment, with his wife desperately trying to corral and remove the children. Chappell quoted a range of responses to the video: either in appreciation of the struggles of balancing family and work, or beliefs that there is no space for the personal in the professional. Popular media is rife with other accounts reflecting the assumptions made about men’s and women’s roles in caring for children (Tabassum & Nayak, 2021). Tabassum et al. (2021) suggested that gender stereotypes continue to be “transmitted via social, educational, and recreational socialization” (p. 192). This allows for the perpetuation of gender archetypes. Such gender prototypes lead to issues in work/life balance for female academics (Sümer & Eslen-Ziya, 2022). Diehl and Dzubinski (2016) noted that such work/life conflict occurs at the micro level (individual’s daily interactions). They defined work/life conflict as the barrier and “extra burden of responsibility” that female academics and leaders place on their shoulders “beyond that normally required of male leaders” (p. 191). However, there are suggestions that COVID-19 changed that, with one commentator saying “we’re all Robert Kelly now” (Chappell, 2020). While expected behaviours are gendered, responses are mixed and can change.

Pandemic Increased Intersectionality in Gender Despite the ‘levelling’ in experience suggested above, the reality for women was that the pandemic increased family workload and decreased employment (Davis et al., 2022; Lewis, 2020). McCool-Myers et al. (2022) reported that in the spring of 2020, job loss rates were twice as much for American women as they were for American men. According to Bell et al. (2022), during COVID-19, women were placed at a disadvantage because there was  an “unequal distribution of caring responsibilities” since all schools were closed due to the pandemic (p. 5). According to Maestripieri (2021), “COVID-19 is a clear example of an intersectional phenomenon: the impact of individual and community exposure to COVID-19 is the result of multiple and interrelating structures of inequality” (p. 1). It is definitely not the great equaliser (Maestripieri). Bell et al. (2022) also suggested that there is evidence that “gender inequalities and inequities have become more entrenched and that

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women’s labour has been exploited and invisible” during the pandemic (p. 1). Bell et al. also cited Coate and Howson (2016) who indicated that pre-pandemic, women’s childcare responsibility “was a convenient way for the institution to avoid doing much about gender inequality” (p. 282). Bell et al. also cited Cummins (2005) who indicated that “[e]lder care seems to be ignored as significant work for single women in academe” (p. 227). In their study of 423 women in Georgia, USA, McCool-Myers et  al. (2022) determined that their participants fell into four disparate groups. They found that there was a Class 1 Low exposure, whose ages ranged from 30 to 49 and were non-­ Hispanic white, were childless, single, and lived alone. They also had a stable income. Class 2 High Exposure women were the most at risk with the inability to pay their bills, they did not have health insurance, were in poor mental and physical health, and had direct contact with persons who contracted COVID-19. They belonged to the minority population. Class 3 Caregiving stress were those participants who had added responsibilities of work/life. They were the caregivers, the online teachers and supervisors for their children, they were the caregivers for their elderly parents. They were also within the 30 to 40 age range and were non-white. Class 4 participants faced mental health challenges. This group reported issues in mental health and being able to cope. These individuals were least likely to be married or have a significant other and identified more as a minority sexual orientation group. Bell et al. (2022) indicated that HEIs deemed their academic workers essential and they were expected to continue with their duties and responsibilities regardless of external events. Some accommodations were made, for instance, allowing more time for faculty to obtain tenure (Davis et  al., 2022). However, accommodations may be equal (the same) but not equitable (providing equal opportunities for similar outcomes, taking account of other factors influencing those) (Stone et al., 2019). Allowing more time to obtain tenure disproportionately benefited men, who actually increased academic output during the pandemic. However, women’s academic output decreased with the increase in family responsibilities (Davis et al., 2022). Equal accommodation was inequitable as it gave the already advantaged more advantages. A better understanding of the challenges female academics faced during this time will aid in the promotion of more equitable treatment.

Value of Interpersonal Skills Historically, according to Nussbaum (1995), women have been afforded the opportunity of carers and nurturers on “account of their emotional nature” (p.  360). Emotion, interpersonal skills, and perceived ‘feminine’ concerns are typically devalued, in Western and non-Western societies (Nussbaum, 1995). Nussbaum cited Erikson (1994) who asserted that “women’s ‘inner space’ defines for her a special field of activity, connected with nurturing and the home” (p. 361). She buttresses this discussion with Parsons’ (1975) theory of social structure in which he indicated

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that “the woman plays an ‘expressive’ (emotional and nurturing) role, the man an ‘instrumental’ (rational, practical, and calculating) role, and in which the woman’s role prevents her, in all but the most unusual cases, from holding a full-time job” (p. 362). She furthered that: Women’s equality has often uncritically accepted this contrast between emotion and civic rationality, arguing that women who wish to prove their fitness for citizenship must follow the Stoics and get rid of (or at least very much curtail) the emotions, in order to be fully rational. (p. 363).

This devaluing of communal practices and emotions was also found to be prevalent among female leaders in academia (Diehl & Dzubinski, 2016). Diehl and Dzubinski found that, at the meso level (group and organisation), female academics reported that their communal skills were devalued. Men are not generally called upon to be caring or deploy soft skills in the workplace (Devnew et al., 2017) and roles associated with caring or nurturing have historically been lower valued (Nussbaum, 1995), falling disproportionately on female faculty in academia (Sümer & Eslen-Ziya, 2022). Devnew et al. described the deep-­ rooted structures within organisations that maintain these distinctions. Extending these stereotypes, academic research frequency prioritises the “professional” and removes consideration of the personal (Diehl & Dzubinski, 2016), and promotion in academia also relies more on research output than pastoral or teaching performance (Sümer & Eslen-Ziya, 2022). Van Veleen and Derks (2022) found that “academics perceive agency (e.g., self-confident, self-focused, and  competitive) as more descriptive of the stereotypical successful academic than communality (e.g., team-­ oriented, good teacher, collegial)” (p. 748).

Summary Social roles, gender disparities, academic structures, and the COVID-19 pandemic combine to disadvantage women and often minimise their work and obligations with the prizing of agentic, research-focused outcomes. Autoethnography does not require the exclusion of particular experiences and enables us to study ourselves (as female academics) rather than being subjected to the views, standards, and prejudices of outsiders (and we think that argument goes for both gender and ethnicity/ geographical location for this book). The link between autoethnography and feminism has been made previously, e.g., Ellis and Bochner (2000). Considering the toll that COVID-19 took on women, e.g., in employment, in stress etc., it is especially important to have deployed autoethnography to bring those views into the scholarly arena in this book.

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Methodology Design Autoethnography explores personal experiences to inform our knowledge about the general (Poulos, 2021). Autoethnography allows, often ignored, experiences to be foregrounded and made worthy of research. It is also explicitly personal, rather than foregrounding the ‘professional’ or ‘scholarly’. This is particularly valuable in giving voice to those from groups who “have been marginalised or exoticized by others who write about and interpret their own cultures for others” (Ellis & Bochner, 2000, p. 15). According to Ellis (2016), “Autoethnography is not simply a way of knowing about the world; it has become a way of being in the world, one that requires living consciously, emotionally, and reflexively” (p. 10). This approach is vital as we are not “divorced from our personal lives” (McPhail-Bell & Redman-MacLaren, 2019, p. 1090) and there are many aspects of our academic lives that may be hidden from typical markers of success such as research output and winning grants (Sümer & Eslen-Ziya, 2022). Autoethnography helps us examine our whole experience by reflexively interrogating ourselves to better understand our hidden/submerged selves. This book afforded the contributors the opportunity to voice, showcase, exemplify, and celebrate our whole selves, as far as we were willing and able to divulge them, including our femininity, personal lives, struggles and achievements, and our emotional and rational sides. Therefore, we are illuminating the submerged parts of ourselves/the iceberg as we explore our inner workings and understanding of resilience to adapt and cope. Autoethnography by diverse individuals who identify as women bring that range of experiences both professional and personal to the fore, without downplaying or ignoring parts of their experiences that might not be apparent to what have generally been mainstream voices, certainly male, often white, cisgender, and heterosexual. Our interpretation of the chapters and themes are premised on our positionalities as migrant academics, British living in the USA and Indo-Trinidadian living in Guyana, both mothers, both identifying as cisgender from different fields (psychology and education). This chapter draws on concepts from meta-ethnography (Noblit et al., 1988) to synthesise and further interpret the results of multiple qualitative studies to generate new ideas and insights.

Contributing Chapters The analysis incorporated the chapters presented in Table 13.1, where the authors used some form of ethnography or gathered other qualitative or reflective data about contributors’ (or their participants’) experiences during COVID-19.

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Analytic Strategy We independently reviewed each identified chapter, noting the themes that occurred in each before combining those ideas into a master list. EP reviewed that list, clustering related concepts together, noting the areas of convergence or divergence of experience (Smith, 1996), topics that occurred frequently, and points that seemed particularly related to resilience and the intersection of gender-academia-family experiences during COVID-19. EP cycled between these ideas, the chapters/data, and the overarching list to continue to refine the themes. Topics that had little prevalence (Smith, 1996) across chapters were excluded, e.g., one or two participants mentioned financial troubles but this seemed related to individual experiences rather than the ‘intersection’ mentioned above. The final themes were selected because they seemed to best represent a new formulation of the data across chapters and some of the key dimensions in the entire book. These themes are also important in different domains mentioned in the literature, for instance, the challenges for women in work-life balance, the intersection between self and other, and the experiences of women as academics.

Findings The obvious, ‘tip of the iceberg’ issues for contributors were work-life balance, increased workload and the challenges of working from home. These seemed unrelated to culture, country of residence or any other factor, although there were nuances to each, depending on the individual situation, which are discussed in this analysis. The developing analysis revealed other, hidden themes within the chapters, such as intentionality, where contributors responded to difficulties and challenges by identifying ‘better’ choices, strategies, and actively pursuing these. There are three themes presented here. The first two reflect the tension between the personal and the professional. The first theme, managing multiple responsibilities, outlines the challenges around  balancing family and home life. The second theme, supporting others, supporting ourselves, draws together the professional demands, stresses, and strategies outlined by contributors. The third theme focuses on the contributors’ academic advancement, and how the pandemic and the issues outlined in the first two themes impacted their lives. In all the themes, the aim is to uncover the detail and nuance about similarities, differences, and what helped, hindered and inspired contributors. The table below lays out the themes, sub-themes and the main points discussed within each (Table 13.2).

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Table 13.2  Themes, subthemes and main points Theme Managing multiple responsibilities

Sub-themes Points Obligations to others Responsibilities to children, parents, pets Some HAVE others to support them Awareness of responsibilities and relative burdens of others Blurred boundaries Work-home Temporal Managing increased workloads Supporting others, supporting Meeting the needs of For emotional and practical support ourselves others Lack of institutional allowances Burn out, other-centeredness, humanising Permission for Difficulties prioritising self-help/care self-care Individual choice vs external pressures Spirituality and religion Academic advancement Research Squeezed out by other responsibilities Finding a way Invisible labour Responding to the pandemic (cathexis) Cannot fail Professional Identifying professional needs self-care Making time Sisterhood Missed social connections Intentionality

“ Keep all the balls juggling”: Managing Multiple Responsibilities The women participating in this project had many different life responsibilities and this theme focuses on two: the personal and social. Contributors described caring for children, spouses, parents, pets, and their households. Some contributors had wider roles in their social community (e.g., Roofe & Ferguson). Physical presence in the home, during work-from-home periods, and the blurred boundaries between different roles. Key dimensions of contributors’ obligations to others and the occurrence and impact of blurred boundaries are discussed in this theme. Obligations to Others Contributors particularly focused on the needs of two groups: children and parents. The needs of spouses are discussed in the theme of academic advancement, to contrast the priorities often placed on husbands’ versus wives’ professional obligations during this time. Family responsibilities frequently required higher priority and immediate attention as compared with professional concerns (Mahanta) and there were challenges when balancing work with these obligations and with individual health (Mahanta), and potentially finances.

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Children had significant needs requiring prioritisation, particularly in support of their education at home. However, experiences varied depending on the age and number of children. Older children could become more independent over the course of the pandemic (Phillips in Bissessar et al.). However, one contributor (Hamilton & Engerman) home-schooled her son to save money on school fees, but then took on extra studies to support his learning. Those with several children, described feeling spread thin supporting them all (e.g., Fredericks et al.) with physical space frequently being an issue. Several contributors mentioned ‘juggling’ roles (both personal and professional) (e.g., Junio-Sabio, in Bordoloi et al.; Vixamar-Owens, in Fredericks et al., Hamilton & Engerman; Roofe & Ferguson). While many contributors were mothering children in the home, some were not. Rampersaud-Skorka, for instance, included a disclaimer in her account, labelling herself as “other” with no “nuclear family to care for” and “not an academic”. Disclaimers serve to “ward off and defeat in advance doubts and negative typifications which may result from intended conduct” (Hewitt & Stokes, 1975, p.  3). Rampersaud-Skorka acknowledged having fewer “caps” to “juggle” than her peers, despite the huge range of professional tasks she had and took on at this time, which allowed more focus on the professional. Interrogating this with a hermeneutic of suspicion (Ricoeur & Thompson, 1981) and awareness of disclaimers might lead to considering how women show awareness, sensitivity, and acknowledgement of the relative burdens they and others carry, particularly the highly valued role of “mother’ and its idealisation in Western-influenced societies. Jaggernauth mentioned convincing herself that as a single woman with no children, she was not entitled to having a negative response to the challenges of the pandemic, showing this awareness in action. Women have responsibilities to others in their personal lives and are conscious of the diverse nature of these responsibilities. Contributors seemed to imply that some caring roles were more valid than others. While many contributors were mothers, others were providing care and support to parents, particularly elderly or unwell parents. Rampersaud-Skorka described caring for elderly parents and also specifically highlighted and compared this with others’ obligations to their “nuclear family” in addition to the disclaimers mentioned in the previous paragraph. This seems to suggest that there are expected rules and priorities about where allowances can be made (e.g., caring for the immediate family of spouse and children, whereas caring for parents, extended family, and non-relatives have lower priority). While Jaggernauth was not a parent, her self-­described role as “big sister” came with obligations, including sharing space in her home for her family’s work/study from home needs. In fact, she attributed her parental care role partially to being the “‘spinster’ daughter with no children” and that parent care is often neglected as a barrier to female academics’ research productivity. Pets, and specifically dogs, were mentioned several times as requiring time and care but providing benefits. The needs and rewards of animal companions may not always be highly valued, but they were very important to some contributors. Pets had needs, such as physical exercise or medical care. Rampersaud-Skorka mentioned needing to move around the community to care for feral animals for which she had responsibility when the risks from the virus were unknown. However, the

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benefits also emerged strongly, for instance, companionship, motivating physical activity outside (McCauley in Bissessar et  al.), and emotional support to aid in maintaining a schedule (Hill in Fredericks et al.). While women generally bore the brunt of practical tasks, some contributors had help, for instance, a parent in the home or domestic helpers. Ferguson (Roofe & Ferguson) described her live-in mother as providing “tangible support” and doing practical tasks for the family. Rampersaud-Skorka also benefited from people caring for her. In some cases, the pandemic restrictions inhibited the ability to get needed help (Bordoloi et al.).

Blurred Boundaries Unsurprisingly, most contributors struggled with blurred boundaries between work and home (e.g., Bissessar, in Bissessar et  al.; Bordoloi, in Bordoloi et  al.; Jaggernauth; Mahanta). This was both physical (work was always ‘present’) and practical, mostly in terms of the time available as any domain could require attention at any time. The increased workload caused by the pandemic seemed to combine with home-working to lead to potentially overloaded days (e.g., Bissessar; Jaggernauth; Rampersaud-Sorka). The time regained from commuting because the additional time available for work for Jaggernauth, increased a sense of overload. For some contributors, caring for children or parents took some portion of the limited daily time available (e.g., Vixamar-Owens, in Fredericks et al.; Jaggernauth; McCauley in Bissessar et  al.). These caring tasks were often time-sensitive and required prioritisation, with “work concentrated in the early mornings, evenings, weekends, alongside any ‘normal’ moments during the day. But everything made me feel tired and drained. I feel tired and drained just writing about and recollecting it” (Ferguson, in Roofe & Ferguson). One participant in Mahanta explained: Space and environment for complete focus were missing as there was the intersection of workplace-related activities and household chores, to cite an example, the buzzing of a pressure cooker so that my aged mother can take food at the exact scheduled time to take the post-food medicine.

Despite these challenges, there may have been benefits in children seeing their mothers “in action” (Vixamar-Owens, in Fredericks et al.); a notable contradiction to the often invisible labour described later. There may be elements of the demands placed on individuals by their families and the related labour that women are generally expected to carry out, but perhaps also with the idea of a self-sacrificing maternal “ideal”, which seems to occur across all cultural backgrounds. There was simply more work for academics during this time, which exacerbated the blurring of roles as contributors sought to find time for their increased obligations. The varied experiences described in this volume demonstrate both the range of interpersonal roles and responsibilities that exist and the nuances of those, for instance, the ages of children, their physical presence, and the care of

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parents. Contributors’ various roles and obligations link to the next theme about how we support ourselves and others to whom we acknowledge responsibility.

“Teach them, reach them, mentor them, centre them” (Roofe & Ferguson): Supporting Others, Supporting ourselves Contributors managed multiple roles within their workplace, frequently extending beyond teaching and research to programme leadership (Bissessar et  al.; Jaggernauth; Roofe & Ferguson), mentoring, and committee obligations. The first sub-theme deals with meeting the needs of others and the ensuing psychological impacts and coping strategies. The second sub-theme reflects the benefits, pressures and chosen self-care strategies mentioned in this book. This theme concludes with a brief discussion of the influence of motherhood, social messages about the mother-­ as-­martyr and the tension between the organisation and the person in academia. Meeting the Needs of Others Students’ needs were most apparent in the accounts, and contributors described providing emotional and practical support. Contributors empathised and related their students’ struggles, for instance, Kim (in Fredericks et  al.) said, “I did not know if I could cry for the students or with them”. They outlined their attempts to meet students’ “academic, social, and emotional needs” (Fredericks et  al.); “a demanding range of expectations, and help students transition to online learning” (Jaggernauth). Walker explained that “as a clinician within the classroom, I found it my duty not only to provide the clinical micro-skills of counseling but to attend to my students’ mental health in the face of a global pandemic.” Despite her own challenges with her children’s needs and accommodating her husband’s work, McCauley (in Bissessar et al.) tried to reduce the burden on her students by providing live sessions and correcting students’ mistakes despite this creating extra work for her. Colleagues also required help, especially from contributors who had experience with distance and online learning. Helping others with challenges around technology use seemed common (e.g., Bissessar; Rampersaud-Sorka). Bissessar described spending “late nights early mornings, weekends and holidays, helping my peers with issues in populating the Learning Management System and the Reporting Software”. Engerman (in Hamilton & Engerman) framed the feminine-associated traits of caring as a strength and contrasted an organisational focus with a nurturing one that in turn supports the system: Female academics are uniquely positioned. Some may have the awareness that subordinates require care or “human contact,” yet may move away from this and focus on organizational procedure and outcomes- whether someone is capable of doing the job or not. Others ... treat people as human, to attune to their needs, to support their resilience, and, by doing so, supported the health (and functioning) of the entire system.

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The concept of ‘support’ was fraught with nuances about obligations, balance, permission, and reflections on the concept itself. Some contributors highlighted a sense that everyone else was entitled to support while they had to meet demands within typical timeframes. For instance, students often had extensions and accommodations, but academics did not (Bissessar et  al.; Jaggernauth). There was only one instance of a contributor mentioning that her employer valued work-life balance and cared for employees (Bordoloi et al.) Responsibilities to others could not be removed or mitigated despite the demands female academics experienced. As mentioned in the previous theme, work overflowed into evenings or weekends as contributors tried to find time for all the demands they were receiving. Hamilton and Engerman wrote that there was no space for disruption, even grieving a death in the family, as they needed to “remain productive” so “[t]he work got done”. In relation to the emotional needs of students, Fredericks et al. added “Although the women in this study are professors, like mental-health care providers, they are expected to mentor and support their students as an integral part of their jobs, while balancing the stressors of life.” How these challenges were framed varied. Unsurprisingly, several contributors described feeling burned out responding to the needs of others. Fredericks et  al. described the stress, anxiety and being overwhelmed in not wanting to miss anything, trying to do everything and being all things to all people. Jaggernauth became “tired” and “emotionally drained” when taking responsibility for new challenges, which was compounded by feelings of guilt when adaptations to uncontrollable factors led to decisions that were unpalatable to colleagues. She described falling asleep going through her mental to-do lists and feeling dissatisfied with her efforts. Some contributors found positive motivation in their experiences. Bissessar was highly motivated by ‘other-centredness’ (altruism and motivation to help) which gave her work meaning. Interestingly, she mentioned positive longer-term practical benefits of this, in that it reduced later workload by encouraging self-efficacy and increased knowledge in others. Bordoloi et al. mentioned helping others and seeing and helping their children help others as a positive experience. Again, a hermeneutic of suspicion might lead to questioning the extent to which self-sacrificing behaviour may be self-defeating in the longer run for women even if in the shorter-term it fulfils the ‘nurturing’ responsibilities to which women are often socialised. What is being sacrificed to fulfil this role? Some contributors received “care, concern and grace” (e.g., Fredericks et al.) shown from others. Mahanta suggested that faculty might benefit from increased visibility as “it was a grand opportunity for me to show to the students that we are human beings too with family responsibilities and not a robot”.

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Permission for Self-Care The counterweight to caring for others is caring for self. Contributors again described tensions, between their desire for self-care and pressures to care for others, and between internal, personal needs and external, institutional pressures. One challenge for contributors seemed to be recognising where they might be exceeding their mental or physical resources and what constitutes being ‘OK’. Hamilton (in Hamilton & Engerman) contrasted “conscious awareness” of their “ability to cope” while recognizing (in hindsight) that “I was not truly well.” There seemed to be little consensus through the various accounts of what is functional versus positively healthy, and where responsibility lies for recognition and maintenance of stronger mental resources. Hamilton and Engerman specifically noted that the supervisor recommended self-care to her supervisee, but that the supervisee also needed to accept that support. Explicit “permission” for self-care might be important (Jaggernauth), particularly for women. Jaggernauth described feeling unable to “slow down or take a day off” despite her growing “worry, stress and poor mental health.” Phillips and McCauley (in Bissessar et al.) found time for self-care in regained travel time when no longer taking their children to a physical school. This time mostly permitted more physical activities, such as walking the dog, or yoga. This was a positive outcome of the pandemic restrictions, but it is noticeable that self-­ care was pushed aside in favour of practical obligations to others in ‘typical’ times. Ferguson (in Roofe & Ferguson) described deliberately prioritising non-work tasks suggesting that intentionality is a key driver for undertaking activities to support personal well-being. Afiya (in Fredericks et al.) explicitly described self-care as a prerequisite to helping others, but this can be challenging when held in tension with the ‘mothering’ impulse mentioned previously and the empathic, nurturing responsibilities stereotypically placed on women. Bissessar (in Bissessar; Bissessar et al.) threw herself into work tasks: “Sadly, self-care (leisure, pampering, and spiritual) related activities have been placed on the back burner as I continue to engage in work-related and academic-related activities.” All contributors seemed to sacrifice their own time for others, whether at home or at work. Rampersaud-Sorka described up to 18-hour workdays with initial enthusiasm to complete tasks deteriorating into staring and potential burnout. The solution for her was intentional breaks, including meal times, and a defined workday. Jaggernauth prioritised leadership responsibilities and caring for her mother, leading to her neglecting self-care. She resorted to scheduling personal and professional tasks in her phone calendar to incorporate this. Only individuals can decide what level of self-care is required. Challenges for contributors seem to be (1) negative consequences (internally or externally imposed) of failing to meet social expectations of caring for others meeting the social demands for caring for others; (2) that there are so many people with needs to be met; and (3) institutional pressures creating a need without a commensurate provision/allowance for the individual. Jaggernauth mentioned that she did “not recall anyone in the university leadership checking on us.” Individual line managers could play this role,

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for instance, the supervisor in Hamilton and Engerman who did show active care for her supervisee. There were few explicit cultural differences within and between chapters. The importance of spirituality and religion was one notable exception. Several contributors described the importance of their spiritual life to their overall well-being (Jaggernauth) and noted its importance in specific cultures (Bordoloi et al.). It is also noticeable that none seemed to struggle with the ‘validity’ of this when compared with some of the points mentioned above. Spirituality provided aspirations and motivation (Roofe & Ferguson), an avenue to social support (Jaggernauth, Roofe & Ferguson) and connection (Bissessar), and a break from other obligations (Carmel). Religious practices themselves were noted, for instance, prayer and fasting (Bissessar; Junio-Sabio, in Bordoloi et al.).

“Blossoming in a thunderstorm”: Academic Advancement It is well-documented that women experienced greater negative impacts in employment generally (McKinsey, 2021) and in academia (Davis et al., 2022) during the pandemic. Despite changes, disruption and pivots, contributors noted that they needed to “keep growing to be considered for promotions and pay raises” (Rampersaud-Skorka) or “demonstrate my value to the university and fitness for promotion” (Jaggernauth). Challenges highlighted, include conducting research, additional invisible labour in the workplace, and difficulties with interpersonal connections. Most of this theme focused on synthesising and commenting on these challenges. Despite challenges, some contributors did thrive at this time. These women often noted that they had fewer obligations to immediate family and particularly children (e.g., Bissessar; Rampersaud-Skorka). Some contributors were able to grow and advance academically, find new opportunities, and gain new skills (Bissessar). Research Contributors with children, particularly, struggled to find time for research (e.g., Mahanta; McCauley in Bissessar et al.). Phillips (in Bissessar et al.) described having little time for professional development or research activities due to the pressures of teaching and supporting a programme. Jaggernauth described a similar sacrifice of research for more immediate teaching and family demands, leading to guilt. The pressure was high for ECRs (Early Career Researchers) who were “racing against the tenure clock” (Fredericks et al.). The advent of COVID-19 challenged existing research protocols requiring physical attendance, but also inspired creativity and recognition of previously unacknowledged “niches” and a purpose for future research. This creativity and flexibility enabled Fredericks et al. to achieve research outcomes. It was apparent

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that while contributors were innovative and imaginative, there was an important inspirational and recognition role played by others (see later sub-theme ‘sisterhood’). Rampersaud-Sorka, for instance, noted that collaboration enabled her to “keep that aspect of my professional life alive”. Invisible Labour and Struggles Some of these elements have already been mentioned, for instance, women frequently had so many other responsibilities generally (Mahanta) and were frequently called upon to take on roles within the workplace to respond to the pandemic (Rampersaud-Sorka). Rampersaud-Skorka described additional work to support virtual learning and events, including graduations and research fairs. There was an ongoing need to find avenues for promotion, and pay raises, in addition to managing new obligations from the pandemic. Bissessar took on additional responsibilities at work to ensure that there was a smooth transition from face-to-face to Emergency Remote Education. There are also subtler, gender-related pressures. Women cannot fail because they are often under-represented, and failure tarnishes all women trying to follow up, even more so for those in already marginalised groups, e.g., Black women (Fredericks et al.). Women may feel the need to “prove... worthy of great responsibility” (Jaggernauth). I (Phillips) like the fact that Shonda Rhimes (2014) described breaking the glass ceiling for women in entertainment because it had already been cracked by women before her, which might reframe the question as less an issue of personal success and more of communal attainment. Women are more scrutinised and need to show stronger performance than men (Roofe & Ferguson). This was exemplified by Diehl and Dzubinski’s (2016) female participants who felt that there were unequal standards for males and females where Universities held “women to higher performance standards than male counterparts” (p. 191). This occurred at the meso (group and/or organisation) level. Numerous contributors had a partner or spouse, but the most frequent interaction was in relation to taking labour in the home to allow the spouse to work. Two contributors (McCauley in Bissessar et al., Vixamar-Owens in Fredericks et al.) mentioned rearranging their workday to allow their husbands to complete their work tasks. For example, McCauley described how “with his [husband’s] work commitments I took the added responsibility of homeschooling our children” and she then “slept in later than normal from staying up late to complete work. This also reflected on the children’s sleeping habits, as our “school hours’ started later each day.” However, mutual spousal support was also critical at this time. Bodolio (in Bodoloi et al.) indicated that she obtained spousal support. Ferguson (in Roofe & Ferguson) shared how “my husband... I mean, he makes me feel like I am the most accomplished person on the earth.”

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Professional Self-Care This theme mirrors the idea of self-care in the last theme but encapsulates the ways that contributors did (or realised they did not) actively maintain their own ‘professional well-being’ during the pandemic. Professional self-care, when it happened, was often intentional and, as with personal self-care, was sometimes sacrificed to the needs of others. Sometimes professional self-care involved turning down additional work (e.g., Hamilton & Engerman). While the concept of ‘professional self-care’ was explicitly identified in Bissessar et al., other contributors described the ways they continued to maintain and pursue their professional goals despite the challenges of lockdowns and remote working. Contributors mentioned participating in workshops and starting new projects (Bissessar; Rampersaud-Sorka). For Bissessar, opportunities to create professional development workshops for peers aided her professional advancement, self-esteem, and her satisfaction in caring for others. In Fredericks et al., Fredericks described setting up a writing group, which involved recognising a need and making time for activities that supported her scholarly advancement. Ironically, my (Phillips) quick response to contribute to this volume was because I recognised the lack of progress I had made in this area during the pandemic. It is not clear how many other contributors also desired to take part for that reason. Sisterhood and Social Connections COVID-19 disrupted social connections, which were vital to several contributors (e.g., Roofe & Ferguson). Several contributors had recently started a new job (e.g., Fredericks et al., Phillips in Bissessar et al.) and had not yet had opportunities to establish social networks within their workplace. Building a community required intentionality in the newly-online environment when typical, in-person casual encounters “in the corridors, car parks, by the water coolers” (Bissessar in Bissessar et  al.) vanished. Intentional strategies included identifying and contacting colleagues, setting up virtual meetings, conferences, workshops or webinars inside and outside of the institution (e.g., Bordoloi et al.; Fredericks et al.; Jaggernauth), making relationship-building a specific workplace goal (Phillips in Bissessar et al.), or creating a writing group (Fredericks in Fredericks et al.). This does require additional labour, however, and more collaborative styles of working may be devalued in the workplace (Diehl & Dzubinski, 2016; Van Veelen & Derks, 2022). An interesting quote from Rampersaud-Sorka illustrates this tension: While I identify as a strong and capable woman – a leader and social change agent, I also knew that I cannot do everything by myself. I needed to be able to rely on those within my networks by being able to share responsibilities when needed. It is important to note that this did not lower my self-esteem, my belief in myself.

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Contributors described benefitting from the mentoring, guidance and collaboration of others (e.g., Bordoloi et al.; Fredericks et al.; Jaggernauth; Roofe & Ferguson; Rampersaud-Sorka). Roofe (in Roofe & Ferguson) noted that “[m]ales seem to have a brotherhood that females in the academy do not have.” This ‘Queen Bee’ effect has been noted elsewhere in the literature, meaning “professional women who, according to women in the higher education study, are “more cut-throat,” “less empathetic,” and “insecure,” (Diehl & Dzubinski, 2016, p. 193). There is an ongoing tension in this theme: women benefit personally and professionally from active support and encouragement from peers and superiors and may tend to value collaborative relationships. Simultaneously, collaboration is devalued and some women may actively work against their female colleagues. The need for individual success and achievement, typifying the more ‘masculine’ attributes in the workplace, plays off against a communal and ‘rising water lifting all boats’ approach that may benefit women more generally. In fact, these are all females, again showing that when females need support to bounce forward, we reach out to our female counterparts. (Bissessar, in this Volume)

Discussion Ellis and Bochner (2000) stated that “our lives are particular, but they also are typical and generalizable, since we all participate in a limited number of cultures and institutions’‘(p. 751). This volume has given voice to a broad sweep of female identifying academics from various countries and cultures, to say something meaningful about their varying and common experiences in relation to academia, COVID-19, and resilience. Despite the differences in backgrounds and cultures, many similarities arose across this volume, particularly around the workload impact of COVID-19, spoken and unspoken demands for female academics to provide pastoral care and support for students, and managing family roles alongside professional obligations. None of these are new observations (see also Sümer & Eslen-Ziya, 2022). That they are continually arising despite the ongoing observations that women are failing to progress to higher level management roles in academia (Diehl & Dzubinski, 2016; Madsen & Longman, 2020), suggests that underpinning, systemic inequities are not being resolved. The synthesis of research in this chapter highlighted variations and divergences in experience. Not all contributors had children (or children at home) and the age of children also made a difference. Younger children, not unexpectedly, needed more supervision and active participation from their mothers. Having said that, even mothers of older children sometimes needed more time for parenting responsibilities. Additionally, contributors navigated their relative responsibilities carefully within their accounts, acknowledging their advantages and being sensitive to the higher demands perceived to be placed on others. Race and position in career progression also made a difference and even circumstances that superficially appeared

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more tailored to the needs of usually disadvantaged groups. As Fredericks et  al. wrote (emphasis added): However, our experience as Black, female, early-career educators at an HBCU is unique in that it speaks to the potential for one to feel isolated and unfairly challenged even in environments that are expected to be less threatening, and emphasizes the intersectionality of our identities.

As Ryan (2022) noted, it is important to recognise that (using the historically common gender dyad) neither ‘men’ nor ‘women’ are monolithic groups, and experiences differ within those broad classifications as a function of the various roles and responsibilities on individuals, as well as the intersection of gender with other features such as race and socio-economic background. This research provided nuances of these variations: the number and age of children, their other needs, the availability of help, and that these may fluctuate over time. This underscores the challenges of addressing complex needs while avoiding generalisations about categories like ‘women’ and ‘mothers’. Women’s sensitivity to different challenges other women face could be linked to the concept of collaboration that emerged throughout many chapters and has been identified by previous literature (Hentschel et al., 2019; Van Veelen & Derks, 2022). Contributors acknowledged shared contributions and frequently praised the value obtained by working together with peers. Women may be more sensitive to each other’s challenges, which may have positive effects in the workplace in improving collaboration and overall performance. As academia largely focuses on individual attainment, a  better understanding of  the benefits of collaborative, mutually supporting approaches is needed, to see impacts on individuals and overall for institutions. This might also lead to a better understanding of the skills, attributes and benefits ‘female-aligned’ skills bring to the workplace. Underpinning resilience for many contributors was both being able to identify what they might find helpful, and intentionally implementing strategies. This particularly occurred around building community and undertaking self-care. Intentional community building helped those starting new roles and in finding new opportunities (for seminars and research collaborations). Awareness of the need to actively seek out social connections might be important for academics who continue to work in any kind of remote role, e.g., through ongoing distance learning or in institutions with a distributed workforce. It is also an important factor to note for students who continue with distance/online learning, who may not consider the need for this level of intentionality in building relationships during their studies. While many participants identified intentional strategies for self-care, there was a tension between that and the many roles they were called upon to perform, for instance for their child, parents, in the home, and for students. This seems to reflect the ‘mother-as-martyr’ stereotype (Cantillon & Hutton, 2020) although it is not apparent that contributors intended to be self-sacrificing, simply that those roles are ingrained and perpetuated. Several contributors became aware of the need for self-­ care before ‘other-care.’ It is positive to see individuals taking control of their time and taking time for themselves. There is a limit to this because many of the tasks are

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invisible and devalued when measured against masculine standards of productivity and achievement. So individual actions are limited in effectiveness against structural inequality embedded in academic and social systems. Similarly, resilience and opportunity are often positioned as individual characteristics with individually-focused solutions. Above, we identified several areas where female academics may be able to exercise their individual choices to their benefit. However, as Ryan (2022) wrote, institutions frequently attempt to tackle gender inequality by trying to “fix” individual women so that they “make the right choices and have the right mindset” to achieve success within existing systems and structures (pp. 3–4). It is always going to be challenging for women to function within a system set up for traits (notwithstanding that men may not all fall into a typical gender stereotype either) that tend to be a poor fit with the ways women are socialised. It might be important strategically to note that men also benefit from gender equality (Ginsburg et al., 2016). Having said that, while Van Veleen and Derks (2022) indicated that female academics considered themselves as having a poorer fit with the agentic “superhero” standard, evidence from the chapters in this book suggest that these women ARE superheroes when the whole range of achievements they have recounted are considered. Across the accounts here, the contributors showed how they took care of families, students, helped peers, implemented strategies to pivot during the pandemic, and found creative ways to conduct research. All showed a willingness to sacrifice for others that is a part of most ‘superhero’ identities (Arnaudo, 2013). Enabling individuals to showcase their own stories and experiences makes this work visible to others and underscores the arguments that a measure based on adhering to ideas of what men and women are like and should be like (Ryan, 2022) needs updating to enable all in the academy to fulfil ALL their talents, abilities, and relationships.

Conclusion A number of the chapters considered in this review did not use a form of ethnography, but were included here as they support the underlying focus of this chapter in producing an overarching, qualitative narrative and analysis including reflective and personal accounts of the issues affecting women in academia during the pandemic. Autoethnography is one of the most subjective forms of writing and has been criticised for promoting self-absorption (Ellis et al., 2011). However, it ‘gives voice’ to what is individually important and significant. These issues may not be ones sought out by other researchers, particularly as many issues facing women are devalued (Cooper, 2021) and are as invisible as the other  duties they perform (Daniels, 1987). In this book, autoethnography has allowed women from a wide range of backgrounds to describe their experiences in-depth to treat those accounts seriously and

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with academic rigour. This broader ‘human-centric’ perspective recognises the wider social context in which all humans exist. It was notable that there were very few cultural differences: most contributors seemed to face similar challenges. While this book has foregrounded women’s experiences, the conclusions benefit everyone. Women’s invisible responsibilities beyond and within the workplace can be made visible and acknowledged. This allows the chance for more equal and full participation of all genders in work and family life, rather than men needing to rely on partners and family members to maintain the required focus on their worklife (McGhee, 2021). The noun cathexis means “investment of mental or emotional energy in a person, object, or idea” (Merriam-Webster Dictionary, 2022). The women in this book did so during the pandemic and continue to do so daily. They embrace(d) their communal qualities of selflessly caring for others during the pandemic to cope, adapt, and hone their resiliency. They did so with little reciprocity and continue to do so, well aware that the male-dominated profession in which they exist only values and perpetuates agentic traits. However, it is our position that during the pandemic, there was a stronger need for communal traits to cope with the human issues. This is by no means to discredit agentic traits because they were used to make swift decisions and take risks. The pandemic underscored the importance of communal over agentic traits as can be evidenced in the chapters of this book. Female academics capitalised successfully on their communal traits to adapt and cope in the face of the crisis. These traits held them in good stead and allowed them to navigate and negotiate the new and next normal. It would be compelling fodder to understand how males coped with the pandemic and their agentic traits. It is our view that, having read the scholarly literature and the female academics’ accounts in this book, we believe that agentic and communal traits can and did work in tandem with each other during the pandemic. However, further exploration of both concepts is needed. On that note, we would like to make a call for the emotional, social, and psychological efforts women expend to be respected and valued.

 ecommendations for Future-Proofing Female R Academics’ Resiliency • HEIs need “to implement equity-based measures to mitigate the long-term intersectional impact of COVID-19 on staff” (Bell et al., p. 2). • Institutions have responsibilities to accommodate faculty, whether male or female, to better recognise and counteract workload distributions based on outdated gender stereotypes, to interrogate and address systematic biases (for faculty as well as students). • Challenging and encouraging women to challenge the ‘maternal self-sacrifice’ narrative, supporting women’s attempts to create more egalitarian relation-

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ships, and recognising otherwise ‘invisible labour’ (whether that is performed by wives or other women on their behalf).

 ecommendations for Future (Collaborative/Collective) R Autoethnographic Studies An important contribution of this volume is bringing together women from different backgrounds to collaborate on a larger project. We were able to: • • • • •

identify the commonality of many issues across cultures; point out variations and nuances among experiences; build the ‘sisterhood’ described above; give permission for women to incorporate the personal into research; and give voice and space for women’s concerns and perspectives to shine  a light on the neglected areas.

There are a few edited volumes that draw together multiple voices in autoethnographies on single topics (Johnson & LeMaster, 2020; Spinazola & Purnell, 2022; Witkin, 2014). This seems like a valuable opportunity for additional work, particularly when examining the experiences of neglected groups.

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