Exploring the impact of disruption on university staff resilience using the dynamic interactive model of resilience

Abstract

The unanticipated changes in Higher Education settings brought about as a result of COVID-19 resulted in a range of personal, pedagogical and organisational challenges. This paper reports on research undertaken within a university in South West England, exploring how the pandemic impacted the working practices of academic and professional staff, the implications of those changes and the factors the respondents interpreted as influencing their resilience.A mixed methods approach was adopted whereby data were gathered from 159 academic and professional staff members using an online survey. Nine respondents were then individually interviewed. The data were analysed using the Dynamic Interactive Model of Resilience (DIMoR) in order to explore protective and risk factors from the various systems surrounding the respondents, alongside their more personal vulnerabilities/invulnerabilities.The results highlight the importance of considering individual and wider contexts when analysing the potential for resilience to emerge in times of disruption. The significance of movement of proximal and distal influences depending on the individual and their context also emerged, offering implications for university leaders to consider in supporting staff within their institutions. The value of the DIMoR is discussed as a lens for analysis to support understanding and future action.

Organisational resilience in a higher education institution: Maintaining academic continuity, academic rigour and student experience in the face of major disruption (Covid-19 pandemic)

“…Primary data were collected from staff and students as part of the data collection for the trilogy of papers on this topic. The development and structure of these surveys are outlined in the first two papers in this trilogy (Ahmed Shafi et al, 2023;Millican et al, 2023). Items that were specifically related to the university responses were extracted, while the full surveys were analysed in the other papers.…”

“…Staff largely felt supported by colleagues to carry out their work during the pandemic, though this was patchier when it came to equipment and resources. They also felt less supported with regard to balancing screen time or overall work-life balance (see Millican et al, 2023). Staff did indicate, however, that the University communicated well with staff and with students, with good leadership visibility, provided good IT support as well as positively supporting student well-being.…”