The Endless Juggle: Differential Effects of the Pandemic for Criminal Justice Scholars

Abstract

While inequalities in scholarly productivity have long existed, the long-term implications on productivity due to the COVID-19 pandemic are not well documented. Using data from a survey of policing scholars, we conduct a mixed-methods analysis to determine the differential impacts of the pandemic on scholarly productivity, focusing on the intersectional effects by gender, childcare responsibilities, academic rank, and teaching load. Findings suggest that the effects of the pandemic were not evenly experienced by criminal justice and criminology researchers with the effects of productivity influenced by gender, rank and childcare responsibilities. We specifically discuss the longer-term implications of the pandemic on academic careers.

Keywords:

• COVID-19
• pandemic
• gender
• productivity
• academic career

Acknowledgement

We extend our profound gratitude to our participants, without whom we could not do this important work. Our appreciation for your participation in the survey and thoughtful comments during a stressful time cannot be overstated. Additionally, we thank the editor and anonymous peer reviewers for their guidance and helpful comments throughout the review process.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1 This list of email addresses was constructed as part of a different project related to [topic redacted for peer review]. Due to the difficulty securing email lists from criminal justice professional organizations as part of that project, the current research team elected to use this already-constructed list for the current project in the interest of time and expediency.

2 The research was approved by the University of North Carolina at Charlotte Institutional Review Board (Protocol #21-0478).

3 Due to the severe overrepresentation of white respondents (see Table 2), we did not include race or ethnicity as variables of interest in our analyses. This is addressed in much greater detail in the discussion.

4 Response options provided in the survey included cis-gender or transgender male, cis-gender or transgender female, other, and prefer not to say. Three respondents selected other or prefer not to say; due to small cell size concerns, these responses were removed from the sample.

5 This refers to the number of courses taught on a semester system (i.e., a 2/2 load means two courses are taught each fall and spring semester).

6 As an example, if a respondent had submitted 5 articles in 2020/2021 and 10 articles in 2018/2019, the value for the articles submitted variable would be -5.

7 This is similar to research demonstrating that men use paternity leave to be more professionally productive, whereas women use maternity leave to care for their newborn (Antecol et al., 2018). As such, a clock stop is a true “stop” for women, but an extra year of productivity for men. It is likely that a similar dynamic plays out here, but our study is unable to determine the extent to which this might be true, thus, future research should address this possibility.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Janne E. Gaub

Janne E. Gaub, PhD, is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Criminal Justice & Criminology at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. She studies policing, with particular emphasis on technology, specialty units, misconduct, and gender. Her research has appeared in outlets including Criminology, Criminology & Public Policy, Police Quarterly, and Women & Criminal Justice.

Melissa S. Morabito

Melissa S. Morabito, PhD, is an Associate Professor in the School of Criminology & Justice Studies at University of Massachusetts Lowell and an affiliate of the Center for Women & Work. Dr. Morabito’s research interests include the intersection between public health and policing with an emphasis on examining interactions between the police and people with mental illness, the attrition of sexual assault cases, and understanding the factors that influence the adoption of innovation among police agencies. Her research has appeared in outlets including Criminology & Public Policy, Victims & Offenders, Journal of Interpersonal Violence, and Policing: A Journal of Policy and Practice.