Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and pursuant to the governments’ order of citizens remaining at home, several countries were required to transition from face-to-face instruction to an online model to provide higher education to their students. While factors affecting the use of online learning are diverse and have been studied by models of use and acceptance of technology, this cross-sectional study explores the factors unique to the current emergency situation that influence students’ use and acceptance of emergency online learning. Moreover, it proposes a model to predict a student’s cognitive engagement in Mexico, Peru, Turkey, and the USA. This is a quantitative study with an exploratory and descriptive scope and cross-sectional design. Data was collected from 1009 students from the four countries, who completed surveys anonymously. The factors analyzed were attitude, affect, and motivation, perceived behavioral control (ease of use, self-efficacy, and accessibility), and cognitive engagement. The data was analyzed using descriptive, correlation, and regression analysis. The predictive model shows that students’ attitude toward online learning impacts their cognitive engagement in Mexico, Peru, and the USA. Furthermore, self-efficacy is a significant moderator for cognitive engagement in all four countries. The model also shows that each country has different determinants for cognitive engagement. Understanding the factors that affect the use of emergency online learning is essential for the success and/or achievement of its maximum benefits in situations like a global pandemic. Limitations of this study have been identified as use of convenience sampling, and an inability to explore factors related to instruction and system attributes. Professors who did not teach online learning lacked knowledge about online educational strategies and used the technological resources that were immediately available to them. Therefore, research that explores the use of instructional strategies and the use of technological systems during emergency online learning is necessary. This study includes suggestions to incorporate open educational resources that use microlearning and emphasizes the importance of student self-efficacy; because it was predictor of cognitive engagement in all four countries. Faculty and higher education institutions can and should develop strategies to increase students’ sense of self-efficacy.
Telework has become a very popular arrangement that has grown rapidly worldwide, most recently due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It is important to deepen our knowledge about the performance of companies and employees in the context of telework because the results of previous studies are contradictory. The present study examines the relationship among telework, job performance, work–life balance (WLB) and family supportive supervisor behaviour (FSSB) in the context of COVID-19. The data ( N = 519), which are collected from large private service companies in Colombia during the COVID-19 pandemic, are analysed using partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM). The results do not indicate a correlation between telework and job performance or WLB in the context of the pandemic. However, positive relationships are found between job performance and both FSSB and WLB, and between FSSB and WLB. The findings help us to understand both the importance of WLB and FSSB for teleworkers and the way these factors impact job performance. The present results could help companies design strategies for the implementation of telework after COVID-19.
Recent years have been characterized by women's increased participation in economic activity. The International Labor Organization (ILO 2016) estimated that the global rate of female participation in the labor force is 49.6%. In Latin America and the Caribbean, the female labor force increased from 48.5% in 2006 to 49.6% in 2015, while male participation decreased in the same period (75.5% in 2006 to 75.1% in 2015). Female business activities and contributions have also increased in recent years (Minniti 2010). It is estimated that, globally, women own and manage more than one-third of companies, including independent workers (or the self-employed) and micro, small, medium, and large-sized enterprises (ILO 2015).Women's barriers to participating in business activities are related to the lack of access to financing sources, stereotypes, negative perceptions about women as entrepreneurs, and challenges of balancing work and family life, among others problems (SELA 2010). Several studies stated that the start-up, development, and growth of women-owned businesses are influenced by social, cultural, and institutional environments (networks, information, legal, and political framework barriers); therefore, these businesses can't achieve the same performance as men-owned businesses (
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