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CC BY-NC-ND V4.0, Open Access
Journal article
Where has the joy gone? A qualitative exploration of academic university work during crisis and change
Higher Education Research and Development
2024
Abstract
Universities continue to evolve and adapt to changes brought about by external events such as the COVID-19 pandemic, shifts in government policy, technological advancements, and geopolitics. A significant body of research has focused on negative workplace conditions within universities that contribute to psychosocial hazards. In contrast, this paper reports on the experiences and perceptions of 36 fulltime, continuous, academic staff to explore how they and their colleagues found and/or experienced joy in work set against the backdrop of crisis and change as their universities responded to the impacts of COVID-19. Responses clustered around four key dynamics: joy/student, joy/teaching, joy/research, and joy/colleague. Despite being in work environments characterised largely in negative terms, where agency and voice are constrained, these joys sustained and evoked feelings of purpose, belonging, and connection. This research highlights the need to reconsider how to provide and support healthy work conditions to optimise opportunities for the academic workforce to experience greater joy in their work. The implications for future research are presented.
Details
- Title
- Where has the joy gone? A qualitative exploration of academic university work during crisis and change
- Authors/Creators
- Craig Whitsed - Curtin UniversityAntonia Girardi - Murdoch University, College of BusinessJohn P Williams - Curtin UniversityScott Fitzgerald - Curtin University
- Publication Details
- Higher Education Research and Development
- Publisher
- Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group
- Identifiers
- 991005656565507891
- Copyright
- © 2024 The Author(s).
- Murdoch Affiliation
- Murdoch Business School
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Journal article
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- Collaboration types
- Domestic collaboration
- Citation topics
- 6 Social Sciences
- 6.11 Education & Educational Research
- 6.11.1544 Academic Development
- Web Of Science research areas
- Education & Educational Research
- ESI research areas
- Social Sciences, general