Resilience of higher education academics in the time of 21st century pandemics: a narrative review

• Published in: Journal of higher education policy and management Vol. 44; no. 1; pp. 39 - 56
• Main Authors: de los Reyes, Elizer Jay, Blannin, Joanne, Cohrssen, Caroline, Mahat, Marian
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Abingdon Routledge 01.02.2022; Taylor & Francis Ltd
• Subjects: Academic staff university relationship; adversity; College Faculty; Coronavirus (COVID-19); COVID-19; Distance Education; Foreign Countries; Group Unity; Higher education; Information Technology; Learning in an emergency; Narratives; occupational stress; Pandemic pedagogy; Pandemics; positive adaptation; protective factors; Resilience; Resilience (Personality); Resilience (Psychology); Resilient academics; strengths-based; Strengths-based approach; Stress Management; Stress Variables; Teacher Characteristics; Teacher stress; Teaching; University administration; University teaching; Australia; New Zealand; Canada; Hong Kong; United States; China; South Africa; Serbia
• ISSN: 1360-080X; 1469-9508
• DOI: 10.1080/1360080X.2021.1989736

The demands arising from the COVID-19 pandemic have amplified the importance of resilience not only for students, but also for academics. This narrative review examines a phenomenon which has received little research attention, despite its significance during the pandemic, namely the resilience of academics in higher education. We refer to this as 'academic resilience'. The review investigates how academic resilience in higher education has been addressed in scholarship, with particular attention to the five major pandemics from 2001 to 2020. A review of fourteen relevant papers shows a lack of attention to the resilience of university teaching staff. Uncovering how academics overcome and withstand adversity on the one hand, and how higher education institutions have managed and supported the resilience of their staff on the other, this paper offers a conceptualisation of academic resilience that goes beyond the individual/environmental binary in scholarship.