Abstract
The novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has spread worldwide since it was first identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. In an attempt to reduce the spread of the disease within the UK, social distancing and country-wide lockdowns were introduced; and non-essential staff, including the majority of higher education (HE) staff, were required to quickly adapt the way they worked in order to continue offering education for their students. Whilst the impact of COVID-19 on UK HE students has been well researched and documented, the impact on HE staff – a population already in political turmoil and known to be associated with poor mental health – remains comparatively under-researched. This paper therefore explores HE staff’s experience of working through the COVID-19 pandemic; specifically staff’s experience of remote working, the impact on their mental well-being, and their experiences around the support offered by their institutions. Ten HE staff members were interviewed. Through thematic analysis three key themes emerged; overwhelming workload, frustration with employing institution, and loss of connection. This analysis concludes that pre-existing difficulties within the sector have been further exacerbated by the pandemic, and new challenges – such as poor inter-personal relationships between colleagues and lack of trust in university well-being schemes – have resulted in a seriously damaging impact on the psychological well-being of HE staff. The findings suggest that Universities should re-visit how they are supporting their staff’s wellbeing in the context of significant unrest within the sector, and consider tackling the cause of difficulties being reported rather than focussing on mitigating the symptoms. Limitations and avenues for potential future research are discussed.