Impacts of COVID-19 and social isolation on academic staff and students at universities: a cross-sectional study
Authors
Filho, Walter LealWall, Tony
Rayman-Bacchus, Lez
Mifsud, Mark
Pritchard, Diana J.
Lovren, Violeta
Farinha, Carla
Petrovic, Danijela S.
Balogun, Abdul-Lateef
Affiliation
Hamburg University of Applied SciencesManchester Metropolitan University
University of Chester
University of Winchester
University of Malta
University of Bedfordshire
University of Belgrade
NOVA University Lisbon
Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS
Issue Date
2021-06-24Subjects
COVID-19social isolation
university students
academic staff
higher education
Subject Categories::X342 Academic studies in Higher Education
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
The impacts of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and the shutdown it triggered at universities across the world, led to a great degree of social isolation among university staff and students. The aim of this study was to identify the perceived consequences of this on staff and their work and on students and their studies at universities. The study used a variety of methods, which involved an on-line survey on the influences of social isolation using a non-probability sampling. More specifically, two techniques were used, namely a convenience sampling (i.e. involving members of the academic community, which are easy to reach by the study team), supported by a snow ball sampling (recruiting respondents among acquaintances of the participants). A total of 711 questionnaires from 41 countries were received. Descriptive statistics were deployed to analyse trends and to identify socio-demographic differences. Inferential statistics were used to assess significant differences among the geographical regions, work areas and other socio-demographic factors related to impacts of social isolation of university staff and students. The study reveals that 90% of the respondents have been affected by the shutdown and unable to perform normal work or studies at their institution for between 1 week to 2 months. While 70% of the respondents perceive negative impacts of COVID 19 on their work or studies, more than 60% of them value the additional time that they have had indoors with families and others. . While the majority of the respondents agree that they suffered from the lack of social interaction and communication during the social distancing/isolation, there were significant differences in the reactions to the lockdowns between academic staff and students. There are also differences in the degree of influence of some of the problems, when compared across geographical regions. In addition to policy actions that may be deployed, further research on innovative methods of teaching and communication with students is needed in order to allow staff and students to better cope with social isolation in cases of new or recurring pandemics.Citation
Leal Filho W, Wall T, Rayman-Bacchus L, Mifsud M, Pritchard DJ, Lovren VO, Farinha C, Petrovic DS, Balogun AL (2021) 'Impacts of COVID-19 and social isolation on academic staff and students at universities: a cross-sectional study', BMC Public Health, 21 (1213)Publisher
Biomed CentralJournal
BMC Public HealthPubMed ID
34167494Type
ArticleLanguage
enISSN
1471-2458EISSN
1471-2458ae974a485f413a2113503eed53cd6c53
10.1186/s12889-021-11040-z
Scopus Count
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- Creative Commons
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