The psychosocial risks of being ‘always on standby’ as an academic in the post-pandemic digital era have been highlighted in a new paper.
Analysing the impact of digital availability on their own lives, Dr Janine Arantes and Associate Professor Mark Vicars from Victoria University have created a narrative analysis assessing ‘the toll of digital labour on academics’ well-being’.
“Academic work involves the constant blurring of boundaries between home and work. Virtually all our interactions now revolve around technology, which has arguably led to increased forms of digital exhaustion in academia.”
“Consequently, academics find themselves navigating the implications of the blurred line between work and personal life as the demands of digital labour extend beyond traditional workloads, expectations, and affordances.”
The results, “emphasize the importance of balancing virtual and physical spaces, fostering supportive policies, and institutions providing mechanisms for academics to have more control over their workloads and environments.”
Conscious separation of work and home life, creating clearer boundaries and opportunities for silence and mindfulness would help individuals, and calls for institutions to automate more everyday tasks to reduce reliance on online digital labour of academic staff.
