Academic Womxn and Their Partners: Managing Scholarly Expectations During the Coronavirus Pandemic With the Support of Intimate Relationships in Quarantine

• Published date: 01 October 2021
• Author: Kristina S. Brown,Sara Bender,Olga Vega,Deanna L. Hensley Kasitz
• Date: 01 October 2021
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/fare.12572

K S. B Adler University

S B Central Washington University

O V Florida International University

D L. H K Eastern Kentucky University

Academic Womxn and Their Partners: Managing

Scholarly Expectations During the Coronavirus

Pandemic With the Support of Intimate

Relationships in Quarantine

Objective: The purpose of this study was to

explore how academic womxn experience their

partnerships during quarantine and to deter-

mine the impact of those relational dynamics on

scholarly productivity.

Background: Past literature indicates trau-

matic events and extended quarantine is

associated with negative mental health out-

comes. While primary partnerships serve as

one protective factor, extended quarantine with

one’s partner introduces novel stress to a rela-

tionship, which may have unintended outcomes,

including those that affect productivity.

Method: An online survey was provided to aca-

demic womxn invested in scholarship.Responses

from participants who identied as in a relation-

ship (n=67) were coded using thematic analysis

through a feminist lens.

Couple and Family Therapy Department, Adler Uni-

versity, 17 N. Dearborn Avenue, Chicago, IL 60602

(kbrown@adler.edu).

KeyWords: Academia, communication, couple, productivity,

quarantine, scholarship, support.

Findings: Participants highlighted three major

themes across their responses: time and space,

communication, and needs. These ndings

reected stressorstypical within couple relation-

ships but highlighted important considerations

for partners of academic womxn in support of

their scholarly activity during quarantine.

Conclusion: Though the exibility available

during the pandemic for academic womxn pro-

vided time and space for some to nurture their

relationship as well as focus on scholar activity,

this was not consistent across partners.

Implications: Findings show the mixed experi-

ences of partners and conrm the importance of

communication, especially about time and space

and professional needs. Recommendations can

be extrapolated to other processionaland career

partnerships.

The COVID-19 pandemic has forced society to

face a highly contagious illness with potentially

dire health consequences for those who con-

tract it. Further, at the height of the pandemic,

evidence emerged that a person could contract

Family Relations 70 (October 2021): 939–954 939

DOI:10.1111/fare.12572

940 Family Relations

the virus and spread it days before becoming

symptomatic (Bai et al., 2020). As such, a

primary method to mitigate the spread of the

disease was prolonged quarantine and social

distancing. Past research correlates extended

periods of quarantine with an increase in nega-

tive mental health symptoms (Liu et al., 2012;

Tucci et al., 2017). Emerging studies regarding

the ongoing pandemic parallel this historic body

of literature with indications that COVID-19

quarantine negatively affects mental health

(Gonçalves et al., 2020; Pierce et al., 2020) and

contributes to increased experiences of trauma

and stress (Liu et al., 2020). Even with this pre-

liminary insight into the effects of COVID-19,

the scholarly literature contains limited ndings

about the impact of quarantine specically on

the couple relationship. Given that primary

relationships serve as a protective factor against

mental health dysfunction (Sayers et al., 1998),

it is important to understand relational dynamics

and risk factors of couples during quarantine.

The unprecedented experience of quarantine

associated with the COVID-19 virus resulted in

many people working remotely, teaching and

learning online, and social distancing. Across

higher education, practices to limit the spread of

the virus have had a severe impact. Forexample,

many incoming rst-year students decided to

defer their admissions for at least one year in the

hopes that they may pursue a more traditional

college experience at a later, safer time to do

so (Carnegie Dartlet, 2020). Consequently, col-

leges and universities have seen drops in enroll-

ment (Lorin, 2020), and many faculty and staff

have lost their jobs (Park, 2020; Yan, 2020).

Burki (2020) foreshadowed the dire impact the

pandemic may have on the long-term trajectory

of higher education: “In the absence of sub-

stantial nancial support, many of the world’s

colleges and universities are unlikely to sur-

vive the pandemic” (p. 758). As a consequence

of already-reduced resources, institutional scal

losses, and in an effort to avoid further detrimen-

tal impacts, many faculty now have increased

course loads, advising duties, and administra-

tive responsibilities. These distinctive negative

patterns seem particularly notable for academic

womxn (i.e., women, trans women, and non-

binary persons), especially as they impact aca-

demic productivity (Guarino & Borden, 2017).

Initial analyses suggest lower submission

and publication rates of scholarship by women

during the pandemic (Andersen et al., 2020;

Lambrechts et al., 2021; Muric et al., 2020).

Established gendered biases within academia

often result in women carrying a dispropor-

tionate level of academic service obligations

(Guarino & Borden, 2017). It is plausible that

academic womxn must sacrice their scholarly

endeavors in order to direct additional time

and effort towards service, mentorship, enroll-

ment, and retention. These circumstances place

womxn in higher education at risk to fall further

behind their male-identied colleagues during

the pandemic, which could have long-term

professional consequences by compromising

their ability to obtain full-time positions, senior

status, tenure, or position advancement. This

professional vulnerability is especially inten-

sied during this global health crisis where

women have been found to shoulder more

of the household load, including parenting,

which further detracts from their professional

efforts, including scholarly production (Bender

et al., 2021; Burk et al., 2020). Less studied

is the effect of academic demands on intimate

partnerships. This study provides valuable infor-

mation about the impact of the pandemic on the

couple relationship and relational support for

scholarship by academic womxn.

L R

Much of the extant literature related to traumatic

events, such as oods, earthquakes, and other

natural disasters, as well as events such as

terrorist attacks (e.g., Oklahoma City bombing,

9/11), describe onetime occurrences with com-

plicated aftermaths and lingering consequences

(Noy & duPont, 2016). These ndings provide

insight into common psychological responses

to trauma, extrapolate the impact of these

responses on family systems, and highlight the

importance of community in recovery (Mills

et al., 2007). Considered an extended trauma, the

COVID-19 pandemic is unique in presentation

compared to other disasters cited in the literature

due to the limited available knowledge on the

consequences of extended quarantine and social

isolation. These distinctions have not occurred

on a global scale since the 1918 Spanish u

pandemic when scholarly output outside of

medicine was scarce. With a lack of published

information regarding the potential impacts

of a pandemic from a historical perspective,

and how to effectively navigate such an event,

researchers across disciplines seek information