Abstract

Universities in the UK, and in other countries like Australia and the USA, have responded to the operational and financial challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic by prioritising institutional solvency and enforcing changes to the work practices and profiles of their staff. For academics, an adjustment to institutional life under COVID-19 has been dramatic and resulted in the overwhelming majority making a transition to prolonged remote-working. Many have endured significant work intensification; others have lost – or may soon lose – their jobs. The impact of the pandemic appears transformational and for the most part negative. This article reports the experiences of 1099 UK academics specific to the corporate response of institutional leadership to the COVID-19 crisis. We find articulated a story of universities in the grip of ‘pandemia’ and COVID-19 emboldening processes and protagonists of neoliberal governmentality and market reform that pay little heed to considerations of human health and well-being.

摘要

英国以及澳大利亚和美国等其他国家的大学通过优先考虑机构偿付能力并强制改变其工作人员的工作实践和概况来应对 COVID-19 大流行带来的运营和财务挑战。对于学者来说，COVID-19 下机构生活的调整是戏剧性的，导致绝大多数人过渡到长期远程工作。许多人经历了显着的工作集约化；其他人已经失去——或可能很快失去——他们的工作。大流行的影响似乎具有变革性，而且在很大程度上是负面的。本文报告了 1099 位英国学者在机构领导对 COVID-19 危机的企业反应方面的经验。