4 - Covid-19 Lockdown and the ‘Work-From-Home’ Approach: The Effect on Nigerian Academics
Corresponding Author(s) : Titus Ojeyinka
Africa Development,
Vol. 48 No. 2 (2023): Africa Development: Special Issue on Covid-19 Pandemic and African Economies (Including a Revised Text of the Second Thandika Mkandawire Annual Memorial Lecture)
Abstract
This article investigates the effect of the Covid-19 lockdown and the ‘work- from-home’ approach on academic activities in Nigeria, using bivariate and multivariable regression. The results show that factors such as inadequate power supply, electricity access, workspace and access to research materials, health status and care for children and the elderly during the Covid-19 lockdown were significantly associated with a decline in the time devoted to academic work. On the other hand, virtual teaching or learning and the ability to work from home more often had positive and statistically significant effects on weekly work hours. The study also finds that Covid-19 lockdowns had a stronger negative effect on female researchers than their male counterparts. The implication is that a prolonged lockdown will harm the education system in Nigeria by negatively affecting research outcomes in terms of weekly work hours. Thus, the recommendations emanating from the findings are discussed in the article.
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- Altbach, P.G., 2015, What counts for academic productivity in research universi- ties? International Higher Education, Vol.79, pp. 6–7. https://doi.org/10.6017/ihe.2015.79.5837
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References
Alon, T.M., Doepke, M., Olmstead-Rumsey J., and Tertilt, M., 2020, The impact of Co- vid-19 on gender equality. Technical report, National Bureau of Economic Research.
Altbach, P.G., 2015, What counts for academic productivity in research universi- ties? International Higher Education, Vol.79, pp. 6–7. https://doi.org/10.6017/ihe.2015.79.5837
BBC News, 2020, Coronavirus: Covid-19 death toll hits 500,000 worldwide. BBC News. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-53212430. Accessed 14 June 2020.
Chen, Q., Allot, A., and Lu, Z., 2020, Keep up with the latest coronavirus research, Nature, Vol. 579, No. 7798, p. 193. https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-020-00694-1
Cui, R., Ding, H., and Zhu, F., 2020, Gender Inequality in Research Productivity During the Covid-19 Pandemic. Harvard Business School, Working Paper 20-129.
Delivorias, A. and Scholz, N., 2020, Economic impact of epidemics and pandemics. European Parliamentary Research Service, PE 646.195. EPRS_BRI646195_EN.pdf.
Feng, Z., and Savani, K., 2020, Covid-19 created a gender gap in perceived work productivity and job satisfaction: implications for dual-career parents working from home, Gender in Management, Vol. 35, No. 7–8, pp. 719–736. https://doi.org/10.1108/GM-07-2020-0202
Gallo, G., and Trompetto, M., 2020, The effects of Covid-19 on academic activities and surgical education in Italy, Journal of Investigative Surgery, Vol. 33, No. 7, pp. 687–689. https://doi.org/10.1080/08941939.2020.1748147
Glenn, D. I., 1992, Determining Sample Size, University of Florida, IFAS Exten- sion, https://www.tarleton.edu/academicassessment/documents/Samplesize.pdf, pp. 1–5.
Guzman, D.B., Dowd, R., Khatiwada, L.K., Perrin, P., and Rivero, E., 2020, The impact of Covid-19 on community-based research in developing countries. University of Notre Dame, Keough School of Global Affairs. https://keough.nd.edu/the-impact-of-covid-19-on-community-based-research-in-developing-countries/. Accessed 14 June 2020.
Hussein, E.K., Khalil, I.A., and Mari, I.A., 2021, Impact of Covid-19 on academic community sustainability. Proceedings of 15th International Technology, Education and Development Conference, 8–9 March 2021, 12751–1285. https://doi.org/10.21125/inted.2021.0296
Iwu, C.G., Okeke-Uzodike, O.E., Anwana, E., Iwu, C.H., and Esambe, E.E., 2022, Experiences of Academics Working from Home during Covid-19: A Qualitative View from Selected South African Universities, Challenges, Vol. 13, No. 1, p. 16. https://doi.org/10.3390/challe13010016.
Myers, K.R., Tham, W.Y., Yin, Y., Cohodes, N., Thursby, J.G., Thursby, M.C., Schiffer, P., Walsh, J.T., Lakhani, K.R., and Wang, D., 2020, Unequal effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on scientists, Nature Human Behaviour, Vol. 4, Issue 9, pp. 880–883. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-020-0921-y.
Nigerian Centre for Disease Control, 2020, COVID-19 Nigeria. https//www.ncdc. gov.ng. Accessed 14 June 2020
Ogunode, N.J., 2020, Impact of Covid-19 pandemic school close down on the research programme of higher institutions, International Journal of Advances in Data and Information Systems, Vol. 1, No. 1, pp. 40–49.https://doi.org/10.25008/ijadis.v1i1.189
Okocha, S., 2020, Poor Internet brings academic work to a virtual standstill. Univer- sity World News, Africa Edition, 8 April 2020. https://www.universityworldnews.com/post.php?story=20200408203452445. Accessed 14 June 2020.
Onyema, E.M., Eucheria, N.C., Obafemi, F.A., Sen, S., Atonye, F.G., Sharma, A., and Alsayed, A.O., 2020, Impact of Coronavirus Pandemic on Education, Journal of Education and Practice, Vol. 11, No. 13, pp. 108–121.
ResearchGate, 2020, Report: Covid-19 Impact on Global Scientific Community. https://www.researchgate.net/institution/ResearchGate/post/Report-COVID-19-impact-on-global-scientific-community-5e81f09ad785cf1ab1562183
Shereen, M.A., Khan, S., Kazmi, A., Bashir, N., and Siddique, R., 2020, Covid-19 infection: origin, transmission and characteristics of human coronaviruses, Journal of Advanced Research, Vol. 24, pp. 91–98. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jare.2020.03.005
Shretta, R., 2020, The economic impact of Covid-19. Centre for Tropical Medicine and Global Health, Nuffield Department of Medicine, University of Oxford. https://www.tropicalmedicine.ox.ac.uk/news/the-economic-impact-of-covid-19
Staniscuaski, F., Reichert, F., Werneck, F.P., ...Seixas, A., Kmetzsch, L., and Parent in Science Movement, 2020, Impact of Covid-19 on academic mothers, Science, Vol. 368, No. 6492, p. 724. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abc2740
Statista, 2019, Nigeria: household structure, by area | Statista. Number of Usual Members of Households in Nigeria in 2019, by Area. https://www.statista.com/statistics/1124435/household-structure-in-nigeria-by-area/
Than, K., 2020, Stanford and other universities outline plan for safe resumption of research amid Covid-19. https://news.stanford.edu/2020/06/02/resuming-research-covid-19/. Accessed 14 June 2020.
Trading Economics, 2020, Nigeria—Teachers in Tertiary Education, Both Sexes. https://tradingeconomics.com/nigeria/teachers-in-tertiary-education-both-sexes-number-wb-data.html
VOA News, 2020, Brazil moves past Britain, becoming country with 2nd highest Covid deaths. https://www.voanews.com/covid-19-pandemic/brazil-moves-past-britain-becoming-country-2nd-highest-covid-deaths. Accessed 14 June 2020.
Wigginton, N.S., Cunningham, R.M, Katz, R.H., Lidstrom, M.E., Moler, K.A., Wirtz, D., and Zuber, M.T., 2020, Moving academic research forward during Covid-19, Science, Vol. 368, No. 6496, pp. 1190–1192. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abc5599