Being a Higher Education Professional Today: Working in a Third Space

Whitchurch, Celia

doi:10.1007/978-981-10-1607-3_31-1

Cited by 3 publications

(1 citation statement)

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“…While recent studies have considered the impact of a transition to remote-working on academic staff caused by the pandemic (McGaughey et al, 2021 ; Shankar et al, 2021 ; Watermeyer et al, 2021b , c ), scant attention has been paid to the impact on non-academic and/or ‘para-academic’ (Macfarlane, 2010 ) staff working in the ‘third space’ (Whitchurch, 2013 ) of universities’ professional services arms. Such an oversight is not without precedent, with much research literature on work in higher education settings neglecting study of the professional services (Whitchurch, 2018 ). Yet, those referred to in this article as ‘professional services staff’ (PSS) are a major constituent of the UK higher education community (HESA, 2021 ) playing a significant role in the operation of universities as complex organisations (Shattock, 2010 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

‘Living at work’: COVID-19, remote-working and the spatio-relational reorganisation of professional services in UK universities

et al. 2022

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The COVID-19 pandemic has been the source of large-scale disruption to the work practices of university staff, across the UK and globally. This article reports the experiences of n = 4731 professional services staff (PSS) working in UK universities and their experiences of pandemic-related work disruption. It specifically focuses on a transition to remote-working as a consequence of social restrictions and campus closures, presenting both quantitative and qualitative findings that speak to the various spatio-relational impacts of PSS working at distance from university campuses. These survey findings contribute to a new narrative of work organisation in higher education which addresses the potential of remote-working as a means for boundary crossing, social connectedness and trust relationships in universities in the immediate context and strongly anticipated post-pandemic future.

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