Career Networks in Shock: An Agenda for in-COVID/Post-COVID Career-Related Social Capital

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic was a career shock for many, including early and mid-career researchers. Due to the (digital) transformation it has caused in the social domain, it may have lastingly changed the rules for career development. In this conceptual paper, we investigate how the changed social environment created gaps in our understanding of academic career development and the role social capital plays in it. Our narrative review of the literature arrives at three major gaps: two are related to the nature, antecedents, and outcomes of (career-related) social capital, and one is related to the methodological backdrop of how knowledge is being generated in this domain. Based on the identified gaps, we specify avenues for further (and much needed) research.

Newly Qualified Teachers’ Well-Being During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Testing a Social Support Intervention Through Design-Based Research

“…Still, we consider it a meaningful pathway for the future to collect data that is more sensible to the details of this subject. A more fine-grained scale, or a relational approach such as social network analysis ( Froehlich, 2021 ), may be useful tools that allow for more detailed implications.…”

“…Unexpected situations such as COVID-19 aggravated the challenges with which (novice) teachers are confronted under normal circumstances; studies report increased stress and a higher propensity for depression and burnout ( Anderson et al, 2021 ; Pressley, 2021 ; Santamaría et al, 2021 ). Importantly, these new demands also need to be seen in the context of generally increased stress levels due to the pandemic itself—for example, through health issues in family or oneself, or caretaking responsibilities ( Froehlich, 2021 )—and the probability of increasing them even more ( Bakker et al, 2005 ; Bakker and Demerouti, 2007 ). Also in the Austrian context, a recent study showed that the additional workload and the lack of digital skills are a great burden for teachers ( Woltran et al, 2021 ).…”

“…One key to overcoming turnover intention may be found in social support. Social support, the “perception or experience that one is cared for, esteemed, and part of a mutually supportive social network” ( Taylor, 2011 , p. 192), has been found to increase well-being ( Helliwell et al, 2014 ; Beausaert et al, 2021 ) and the competencies necessary to navigate the current volatile context ( Froehlich, 2021 ; Van Tilburg et al, 2021 ).…”

“…Therefore, we attempt to build a bridge to translate the existing theories into a specific implementation in practice. This is even more relevant, since this is about an implementation during the COVID-19 pandemic—and we yet do not fully understand how the increased use of digital means affects the concept of social support ( Froehlich, 2021 ). To provide a cost-efficient solution, we are interested in one specific form of social support, namely, the social support received from peers (i.e., from other NQTs), especially through digital exchange (due to the constraints imposed by COVID-19).…”

“…While there has been some focus in the literature on NQT’s social support in recent years (e.g., Cooper and Stewart, 2009 ; Baker-Doyle, 2012 ; Moolenaar, 2012 ; Thomas et al, 2020 ), we extend this research by focusing on social support delivered through digital means and NQT’s in the context of a global pandemic. It is indeed important to re-check the usefulness of social support in this digitized context, as the forced reliance on more digital means of communication may have changed the nature of social support quite fundamentally and, therefore, more research in this direction has been called for ( Froehlich, 2021 ). Second, the approach of design-based research is also very fruitful in terms of the practical implications we can derive from it.…”