The Covid pandemic caused well-documented problems across the education sector, with research from the University of Maine regarding the challenge as a “wicked” one.

“We view the pandemic as a wicked problem for higher education, because it forced decision-makers to develop urgent and dramatic solutions to prevent viral spread, such as travel restrictions, transition to online teaching and safety measures for labs and classroom facilities,” the researchers explain.

Amplifying challenges

They highlight the amplifying impact Covid had on the pre-existing challenges affecting the sector, including inequality, financial instability, and difficulties creating connections and communities on campus.

The study finds that nearly 80% of respondents said that they had seen their research productivity fall, due both to reduced access to research fields and increased work responsibilities.

This forced many participants to adapt in order to sustain their productivity in the face of the restrictions imposed during the pandemic. The use of virtual tools was commonly cited as a key way of achieving this.

“Scientific conferences going online is a huge boon,” the researchers explain. “Saves TONS of time and money and creates great opportunities for undergrad and grad students to attend whereas they otherwise would be excluded due to the high costs.”

In terms of health and well-being, nearly a third of survey participants (29%) highlighted mental health issues, including anxiety and fear about the pandemic, burnout/exhaustion and increased stress.

The authors say their findings suggest that resuming pre-pandemic operations is not a viable option for higher education institutions moving forward.

“There’s a need to collaboratively develop new sets of guidelines to help researchers and scholars optimize operational responses based on what we have learned from the pandemic conditions,” they argue.

They also suggest that other colleges and universities undertake similar studies to “provide a basis for comparisons of institutions in varied geographic settings and demographic situations to guide holistic strategies for higher education at a national level.”