IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v14y2022i10p5745-d812015.html

How Is Telework Experienced in Academia?

Author

Listed:
  • Linda Widar

    (Department of Occupational Health Sciences and Psychology, Faculty of Health and Occupational Studies, University of Gävle, SE-80176 Gävle, Sweden)

  • Marina Heiden

    (Department of Occupational Health Sciences and Psychology, Faculty of Health and Occupational Studies, University of Gävle, SE-80176 Gävle, Sweden)

  • Eva Boman

    (Department of Occupational Health Sciences and Psychology, Faculty of Health and Occupational Studies, University of Gävle, SE-80176 Gävle, Sweden)

  • Birgitta Wiitavaara

    (Department of Occupational Health Sciences and Psychology, Faculty of Health and Occupational Studies, University of Gävle, SE-80176 Gävle, Sweden)

Abstract

An increasing number of academic institutions offer their staff the option to work from other places than the conventional office, i.e., telework. Academic teaching and research staff are recognized as some of the most frequent teleworkers, and this seems to affect their well-being, work performance, and recovery in different ways. This study aimed to investigate academics’ experiences and perceptions of telework within the academic context. For this, we interviewed 26 academics from different Swedish universities. Interviews were analyzed with a phenomenographic approach, which showed that telework was perceived as a natural part of academic work and a necessary resource for coping with, and recovering from, high work demands. Telework was mostly self-regulated but the opportunity could be determined by work tasks, professional culture, and management. Telework could facilitate the individual’s work but could contribute to challenges for the workgroup. Formal regulations of telework were considered a threat to academics’ work autonomy and to their possibility to cope with the high work demands. The findings provide insight into academics’ working conditions during teleworking, which may be important for maintaining a sustainable work environment when academic institutions offer telework options.

Suggested Citation

  • Linda Widar & Marina Heiden & Eva Boman & Birgitta Wiitavaara, 2022. "How Is Telework Experienced in Academia?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(10), pages 1-20, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:10:p:5745-:d:812015
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/10/5745/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/10/5745/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Kawaguchi, Daiji & Motegi, Hiroyuki, 2021. "Who can work from home? The roles of job tasks and HRM practices," Journal of the Japanese and International Economies, Elsevier, vol. 62(C).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Joseph Crawford, 2022. "Working from Home, Telework, and Psychological Wellbeing? A Systematic Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(19), pages 1-16, September.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Masayuki Morikawa, 2023. "Productivity dynamics of remote work during the COVID‐19 pandemic," Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 62(3), pages 317-331, July.
    2. Jieun Lee, 2022. "Moral Hazard on Productivity Among Work-From-Home Workers Amid the COVID-19 Pandemic," Papers 2209.05684, arXiv.org.
    3. Astorquiza-Bustos, Bilver Adrian & Quintero-Peña, Jose Wilmar, 2023. "Who can work from home? A remote working index for an emerging economy," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 47(10).
    4. Toshihiro Okubo, 2024. "Non‐routine tasks and ICT tools in telework," LABOUR, CEIS, vol. 38(2), pages 177-202, June.
    5. Jun Hyung Kim & Yu Kyung Koh & Jinseong Park, 2023. "Mental Health Consequences of Working from Home during the Pandemic," Global Economic Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 52(1), pages 18-50, January.
    6. Uwe Jirjahn & Cinzia Rienzo, 2026. "Working From Home and Performance Pay: Individual or Collective Payment Schemes?," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 64(1), pages 39-51, March.
    7. Hiromi Hara & Daiji Kawaguchi, "undated". "A Positive Outcome of COVID-19? The Effects of Work from Home on Gender Attitudes and Household Production," Bank of Japan Working Paper Series 22-E-2, Bank of Japan.
    8. Tanaka, Kiyoyasu, 2023. "What hinders digital communication? Evidence from foreign firms in Japan," Japan and the World Economy, Elsevier, vol. 66(C).
    9. Masayuki MORIKAWA, 2022. "Productivity Dynamics of Work from Home since the Onset of the COVID-19 Pandemic: Evidence from a panel of firm surveys," Discussion papers 22061, Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI).
    10. Chijioke O Nwosu & Umakrishnan Kollamparambil & Adeola Oyenubi, 2022. "Socio-economic inequalities in ability to work from home during the coronavirus pandemic," The Economic and Labour Relations Review, , vol. 33(2), pages 290-307, June.
    11. Oikawa, Masato & Tanaka, Ryuichi & Bessho, Shun-ichiro & Kawamura, Akira & Noguchi, Haruko, 2025. "Do class closures affect students’ achievements? Heterogeneous effects of students’ socioeconomic backgrounds," Journal of the Japanese and International Economies, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    12. Okubo, Toshihiro, 2022. "Telework in the spread of COVID-19," Information Economics and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 60(C).
    13. Jiang, Mingyu & Yasui, Kengo & Yugami, Kazufumi, 2024. "Working from home, job tasks, and productivity," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 48(8).
    14. Kambayashi, Ryo & Ohyama, Atsushi, 2025. "Work from Home, Management, and Technology," IZA Discussion Papers 17668, IZA Network @ LISER.
    15. Kikuchi, Junichi & Nagao, Ryoya & Nakazono, Yoshiyuki, 2023. "Expenditure responses to the COVID-19 pandemic," Japan and the World Economy, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).
    16. Masayuki MORIKAWA, 2021. "Productivity of Working from Home during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Panel Data Analysis," Discussion papers 21078, Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI).
    17. Masayuki MORIKAWA, 2025. "Telework in Japan: An Overview from Micro Data of a Large Statistical Survey," Discussion papers 25001, Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI).
    18. Chihiro Inoue & Yusuke Ishihata & Shintaro Yamaguchi, 2024. "Working from home leads to more family-oriented men," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 22(2), pages 783-829, June.
    19. Kurita, Kenichi & Katafuchi, Yuya, 2021. "COVID-19, stigma, and habituation: Theory and evidence from mobility data," MPRA Paper 110253, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    20. Quentin Batista & Daisuke Fujii & Taisuke Nakata & Takeki Sunakawa, 2022. "COVID-19 and Suicide in Japan," CARF F-Series CARF-F-542, Center for Advanced Research in Finance, Faculty of Economics, The University of Tokyo.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:10:p:5745-:d:812015. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.