Research and Teaching in a Pandemic World: The Challenges of Establishing Academic Identities During Times of Crisis

This book adopts collaborative autoethnography as its methodology, and presents the collective witnessing of experiences of the COVID-19 pandemic within the higher education sector. Through the presentation of staff and student experiences and what was learnt from them, the authors examine the global phenomenon that is the COVID-19 pandemic through the purposeful exploration of their own experiences. This book presents an overall argument about the state of higher education in the middle of the pandemic and highlights academic issues and region-specific challenges. The reflections presented in this book offer insights for other staff and students, as well as academic policy-makers, regarding the pandemic experiences of those within academia. It also offers practical suggestions as to how we as a global community can move forward post-pandemic. © The Editor(s)(if applicable)and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2022.

CODA The Challenges of Establishing Academic Identities During Times of Crisis

This section of the book synthesises authors' contributions by reflecting on the key themes identified in the various stories told within the chapters. It briefly describes the impact that marginalisation, parenthood, mental health, and virtual participation had on the formation of academic identity during the COVID-19 pandemic. The section ends with the editors' thoughts on what was achieved in this volume, in addition to the challenges that lie ahead. © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2022.

Introduction to the COVID-19 Pandemic and Its Impact on Higher Education

This chapter investigates the wide-reaching impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on higher education. It collates surveys conducted by large organizations to assess the effects of the pandemic on academia. The chapter then discusses changes in academic workload among academic staff and their consequences for retention and burnout. It then turns to the perspectives of academics and students in relation to remote learning and research collaboration. Finally, the chapter touches on the long-term ramifications that pandemic-related restrictions may have for academic identity and higher education. © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2022.

The Effects of the Pandemic on the Research Output and Strategies of Early Career Researchers and Doctoral Candidates

The COVID-19 pandemic has shaken research in higher education in unexpected ways (OECD, 2021). While it sped up the transition to online and virtual modes of learning within the academe, it also generated significantly higher levels of anxiety and depression among university-based researchers (Chirikov et al., 2020). Higher education institutions adopted widespread changes in teaching loads and research policy at break-neck speed, often to the dismay of early career researchers and doctoral candidates. This chapter investigates the impact of the global health crisis on the research output and strategies of early career researchers and doctoral candidates at universities around the world. It reviews the literature on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on research output and strategies. The chapter also incorporates recent findings from the author's research project, which investigates the long-term impact of the pandemic on academic writing strategies and output among doctoral candidates (following on from results previously published in Cahusac de Caux (2021)). © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2022.

Preface: Research and Teaching in a Pandemic World

Research and Teaching in a Pandemic World explores how the academic identities of students and staff were impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. This chapter outlines the main motivation for writing this book and provides a brief overview of the chapters that follow. This book was initiated to allow the chapter authors to narrate their emotional journeys during a time of significant upheaval. We believe that stories matter;individual experiences matter. The stories in this book are of trauma, grief, and loss, but also highlight moments of resilience and growth. As the editors, we encourage the reader to explore these stories with us. In this book, you will discover stories which either resonate with, or differ significantly from, your own experience. As you read these stories, then, we encourage you to reflect on your own journey during the COVID-19 pandemic—you may be surprised at the response this reflection evokes. In this way, we can all bear collective witness to the often-times idiosyncratic ways in which the pandemic has affected us all. It is only through this collective witnessing that we can learn to move forward into a post-pandemic society. © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2022.