A Preliminary Study on Work from Home (WFH) Challenges for Lecturers During the Covid-19 Pandemic
Noor Erni Fazlina Mohd Akhir1*, Nur Hidayah Md Noh1, Sarah Yusoff1, Nor Aini Hassanuddin1, Norhamimah Rani2
1 Faculty of Computer Science and Mathematics, Universiti Teknologi MARA Cawangan Terengganu, Kuala Terengganu Campus 21080 Kuala Terengganu, Terengganu, MALAYSIA
2 Academy of Language Studies, Universiti Teknologi MARA Cawangan Terengganu, Dungun Campus, 23000 Dungun, Terengganu, MALAYSIA
*Corresponding Author: [email protected] Accepted: 15 August 2022 | Published: 1 September 2022
DOI:https://doi.org/10.55057/ijares.2022.4.3.1
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Abstract: During the covid-19 pandemic, academics from higher education institutions who work from home confront multiple challenges, such as having to spend the entire workday with their families, children, or elderly parents. They must address distractions, time management, social isolation, lack of concentration, and emerging technology that facilitate online distant learning (ODL). The urgent need to acquire new skills to keep up with technology may result in stress and desperation. The transition to online learning programmes also eliminates a crucial part of communication: personal interaction. Therefore, this study will investigate the difficulties faced by lecturers at UiTM Terengganu who are required to work from home due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Among challenges that are explored are time management, distractions, social isolation, focus, technology, and stress. The lecturers at UiTM Terengganu's three campuses were administered a self-developed online questionnaire.
Descriptive analysis found that social isolation and distraction pose the greatest obstacles for lecturers working from home. To preserve the mental health and well-being of educators, it is necessary to address these two primary contributing obstacles.
Keywords: challenges, work from home, lecturer, higher institution, COVID19
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1. Introduction
The COVID-19 pandemic, which has resulted in an exponential rate of infections and fatalities, has dramatically altered the way of life of people across the globe. To prevent the spread of COVID-19, the education sector in Malaysia has adopted an online learning or e-learning strategy that replaces face-to-face learning with the use of electronic devices and the internet.
As part of pandemic prevention measures, the Malaysian Higher Education Minister (MoHE) has agreed to suspend all face-to-face lectures and advised all universities to prepare for online learning. COVID-19 has had a tremendous impact on teachers, educators, and educational organisations around the world, as well as other aspects of their daily lives (Mailizar et al., 2020). The pandemic has forced the worldwide shutdown of colleges, universities and schools, compelling students to adopt social distancing measures. The change from a traditional to a remote and virtual learning environment cannot occur overnight. This quick change is associated with numerous impediments and difficulties (Crawford et al., 2020). As no one knows when the pandemic will stop, educational institutions across the globe have elected to
provide online learning content for students in all academic disciplines using currently available technology.
Work from home is perceived to be stressful for lecturers. As they are required to stay at home, work from home, and in some cases manage home schooling with their children, it has significantly reduced their social interactions for several hours under stressful conditions, in addition to simultaneously managing online distance classes and administrative work. This could significantly affect their daytime productivity and nighttime rest. In addition, they must deal with the pressure that technology causes. These are important stresses for lecturers because they have disturbed their previously established routines, altered their working or home settings, and created severe physical and emotional stress. Stress, which refers to people's responses to a variety of situations, is characterised by alterations in physiology or psychology in response to external events believed to have a negative impact on their physical and mental health. Work-related stress results from an individual's incapacity to manage their assigned workload. These adverse responses add to long-term stress, which in turn affects their physical and mental health.(Tsai & Chen, 1996).
COVID-19 prompted academics to reconsider the traditional method of face-to-face instruction and found distance learning to be a viable option for filling the three- to four-month gap in the classroom and minimising the risk of students becoming contaminated prior to the start of conventional activity (Kaur, 2020). A recent study reveals that teachers engaging with students in distant learning environments and juggling their professional and personal duties encountered a variety of challenges. Inferring that the pandemic exacerbated pre-existing educational disparities, teachers at schools with extreme poverty and predominantly black students ranked these challenges as the most serious (Kraft et al., 2020).
Groups within an occupational category faces its own unique array of obstacles. However, little attention was paid to the impact of this immense period on lecturers in higher education institutions. This study intends to contribute to the existing body of knowledge by empirically assessing the socio-psychological implications of the COVID-19 epidemic and subsequent lockdowns on Malaysian university academics, particularly lecturers at UiTM Terengganu who were required to work from home. Thus, the aim of this study are as follows:
i. To identify the challenges that lecturers encounter when working from home.
ii. To identify the most major obstacle confronting lecturers who work from home.
2. Literature Review
Work from home (WFH) is an increasingly popular word since the introduction of COVID-19.
According to Savic (2020), WFH can be generally defined as employees who work outside of company offices and consists of four basic characteristics: (1) an employee or staff member of a company or organisation; (2) actual work engagement with a company or organisation on specific tasks; (3) work performed outside the company's physical premises; and (4) telecommunications. WFH is a form of telecommuting or telework, which is defined as a flexible work arrangement that allows workers to execute their jobs from several locations as opposed to a permanent, centralised workplace. Employees that work from home do not work from many locations, but rather from their homes (Mattern et al., 2021). Due to the increased availability of mobile devices and technology, WFH has grown considerably more convenient in recent years.
Work from home during the COVID-19 pandemic may raise stress due to a multitude of factors, including work environment, time management, and social isolation. In a study by Xiao et al., (2021), during the COVID-19 pandemic, employees who were ordered to WFH due to the government's movement control order to comply with social distancing requirements demonstrated a decline in overall physical and mental health status and an increase in the number of new physical and mental health disorders. Due to a decline in physical exercise, an increase in junk food consumption, a lack of communication with coworkers, and the presence of a toddler at home, physical and mental health declined.
Galanti et al., (2021) indicated that during the pandemic, family-work conflicts, social isolation, a distracting environment, job autonomy, and self-leadership all impact employees' productivity, work engagement, and stress levels. Research by Mattern et al., (2021) revealed that knowledge workers can adjust quickly to the transfer from a physical office to a home office and suffer fewer hassles than in the past. (e.g., better organisational support, no marginalisation of home office workers). Social isolation is a requirement in the workplace that adds to increased stress, which has negative effects on other job outcomes (Toscano & Zappalà, 2020).
3. Methodology
The targeted respondents of this study were the lecturers in UiTM Terengganu campuses. An online questionnaire was distributed through online survey platform. The online self- administered questionnaire was promoted by disseminating the link of the survey through social networking sites among lecturers at UiTM Terengganu campuses (Dungun, Bukit Besi and Kuala Terengganu). The questionnaire was divided into two sections: section A measured the respondents’ demographic information and section B measured the challenges faced by lecturers when working from home. The questionnaire consisted of 40 items covering six factors: (1) distraction, (2) time management, (3) social isolation, (4) focus and staying motivated, (5) new technology and (6) stress. A 10-point response scale was adopted where 1 indicates absolute disagreement and 10 indicates absolute agreement. The respondents were encouraged to forward the survey link to others which was available as a SurveyMonkey Form.
The sampling method applied in this study was convenience sampling in which affordable responses can be collected effectively (Ngah et al., 2019). In total, 39 valid responses were returned and the data were analysed descriptively. SSPS (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences) was used to produce a frequency distribution that depicted the respondents' demographic characteristics. The mean score for each main factor were calculated to find the most major obstacle confronting lecturers who work from home.
4. Result And Discussion
4.1 Reliability
To check the consistency of results over a period, Cronbach Alpha test was applied using SPSS V20. The reliability analysis of all variables (distraction, time management, social isolation, focus, technology, and stress) were found in the range 0.85 to 0.91. Related to the result, Sekaran & Bougie, (2011) suggested that an adequate and appropriate score value to proceed with further analysis as all the values were above 0.70. The Cronbach’s Alpha values support that there is a consistency of measured items for all variables.
4.2 Descriptive Analysis of the Respondents
A total of 39 lecturers from various academic backgrounds from three campuses in UiTM Terengganu Branch participated as respondents in the study. Majority of the respondents are female lecturers (89.7%) while 10.3% are male lecturers. Regarding the marital status, 82.1%
of the respondents are married and 17.9% of the respondents are single. Most of the respondents are 31 to 40 years old, followed by 25.6% respondents from 41 to 50 years old. 76.9% of the respondents has at least one child while 23.1% has no children.
Table 1: Demographics of Respondents
Variable Category Frequency Percentage (%)
Gender Male 4 10.3
Female 35 89.7
Age (Year) 21-30 1 2.6
31-40 26 66.7
41-50 10 25.6
51-60 2 5.1
Marital Status Single 7 17.9
Married 32 82.1
No. Of Children At least one child 30 76.9
No Children 9 23.1
4.3 Challenges Experienced By Lecturers When Working From Home
The mean and standard deviation scores for each of the six variables are shown in Table 2. The highest mean score for the challenges that lecturers encounter when working from home was social isolation (mean: 6.05), then followed by distraction (mean: 5.54), focus (mean: 4.87), technology (mean: 4.82), time management (mean: 4.29) and stress (mean: 3.76). This is consistent with the findings by Hayes et al., (2020) who reported that the most significant challenges faced by the respondents were primarily related to communication and collaboration with work colleague. According to Toscano & Zappalà (2020) ,being absent from coworkers not only reduces job satisfaction, but also creates a stressful environment for individuals who worked from home during the pandemic. The results revealed that the lecturers also agreed that they are distracted when working from home. According to research conducted by Xiao et al., (2021), working from home may be more difficult for women, as females are often more responsible for domestic duties and other household tasks. Working mothers can feel double the pressure at home due to lack of support with home schooling and taking care of children.
This study revealed that most of the lecturers disagree that they have poor time management (mean score: 4.29) Time management factor includes deadlines, work and use of time efficiently. The finding implies that focus, technology, time management and stress are not the
major challenges while working from home. After all, catching deadlines has been a common routine for lecturers even before the implemew21qntation of WFH. It can be assumed that most of the lecturers were able to deal with WFH during the COVID-19 pandemic. The stress associated with WFH is presumably manageable as they are gradually adapting themselves with the new norm during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Table 2: Descriptive Statistics of Challenges Faced by Lecturers when work from home
Items Rank Mean Score Standard Deviation
Distraction 2 5.54 2.63
Time Management 5 4.29 2.33
Social Isolation 1 6.05 2.68
Focus 3 4.87 2.31
Technology 4 4.82 2.40
Stress 6 3.76 2.24
5. Conclusion
This study demonstrated that lecturers may face six distinct obstacles prior achieving WFH.
During WFH, social isolation was identified as the leading source of stress for lecturers. This includes the inability to socialise, interact with coworkers, and engage in physical activity. Due to Movement Control Orders (MCO), lecturers are unable to interact with people who can assist them in dealing with stress. To assure the mental health of lecturers, it is necessary to examine not only the issue of social isolation, but also the factor of distraction. Distraction elements include conditions in the home where children and family members assemble, social media, a noisy environment, and housework. They feel distracted when working from home because housework and children are potential interruptions. Despite the challenges of working from home, lecturers from UiTM Terengganu who participated in this study are able to manage their time and remain focused and are therefore unlikely to feel pressured to acquire technology quickly and experience stress. However, this study has several drawbacks. First, it employs a technique of non-probabilistic sampling when inferential statistics are not possible. The use of convenience sampling limits the generalizability of the results to all lecturers at UiTM Terengganu. The second limitation of this study is that it performs descriptive analysis on a small sample size. Future research will require a larger sample size for inferential analysis to provide a thorough view of the challenges lecturers in Malaysia face. Nonetheless, the results shed light on the literature regarding the problems faced by lecturers at UiTM Terengganu during WFH. It is advantageous and pertinent for university to provide programmes or training to lecturers who may need additional support to manage their mental health.
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