Unveiling the gendered challenges of balancing reproductive and paid labour during the COVID-19 pandemic in academia

This thesis investigates the role of the COVID-19 pandemic on the gendered balance of paid and reproductive labour in academia. For this reason, data was collected through semi-structured interviews with female and male academics from the Erasmus School of Social and Behavioural Sciences (ESSB) from the Erasmus University Rotterdam (EUR). Due to the gendered nature of this research, the focus of the interviews was set on the distinctive experiences of men and women working in academia during the pandemic. However, this question cannot solely be answered on the basis of gender. Moreover, factors emerging from the academic work infrastructure and arrangements within households have been observed to impact the possibility of balancing reproductive and paid work throughout the pandemic. As a result, a combination of the flexible academic work environment as well as the division of reproductive labour among the couple, have been found to collectively determine the balance of paid and reproductive labour during the COVID-19 pandemic. This advantage allowed male academics, as well as academics compared to their non-academic partners with more rigid work conditions to participate in reproductive labour duties. Consequently, the flexible academic setting countered the generally prevalent gender inequality in the division of reproductive labour. Nevertheless, gender still plays a crucial role as it impacts these variables emerging from the academic work infrastructure and arrangements within households, and thus the reconciliation of reproductive and paid labour during the COVID-19 pandemic.