COVID-19 pandemic as a crisis for higher education institutions? Challenges and turning points based on teachers' perspectives

Abstract

During COVID-19 pandemic, higher education institutions (HEIs) implemented new types of working, teaching and communicating quickly. Thereby, faculty staff faced multiple challenges in professional regards. They were in a ‘sandwich position’ between the HEIs and the students and they presumably took on the role of ‘on site’ crisis managers who often had to embed the situation communicatively. Against this background, this article addresses the questions: What challenges for HEIs revealed during the COVID-19 pandemic from the teachers’ perspective? And: To what extent can assumptions about turning points in the higher education (HE) system be derived from this? Answers are based on the triangulation of a literature review and data from an online survey. The results point to human, organizational and technical challenges, and opportunities in terms of communication, teaching, resilience and crisis management. At the end, some assumptions are derived that can be used for further research.