THE IMPACT OF WORK-LIFE BALANCE ON MENTAL WELL-BEING OF REMOTE WORKING GENERATION Y ACADEMICIANS DUE TO THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC IN TURKEY

Year 2021, Volume: 43 Issue: 2, 266 - 284, 31.12.2021

Nazlı YÜCEOL Ayşe Merve URFA Pınar SARP Ceylan Merve BİNİCİ

Abstract

The Covid-19 pandemic has profoundly affected labor markets and working styles. Within the scope of
the precautions taken to ensure social isolation worldwide, remote working, one of the flexible working
practices, has started to be used compulsorily in many sectors. With the transition to distance education
in higher education, academicians have started to work remotely. Due to all these developments, the work
and family life of the employees came together, and this situation brought many questions about work-life
balance and mental well-being. The main objective of the paper is to determine the impact of remote
working on mental well-being of generation Y academicians, due to the Covid-19 pandemic in Turkey.
In this context, surveys were applied to 397 generation Y academicians working at public and private
universities, and the relations were analyzed with the SPSS program. Based on the results, we confirmed
the hypothesis that the work-life balance of the generation Y academicians who started working remotely
due to the Covid-19 outbreak had a statistically significant positive effect on mental well-being. On the
other hand, it was observed that the demographic characteristics and academic titles of the participants did
not make a significant difference on work-life balance and mental well-being.

Keywords

Covid-19 Pandemic, Generation Y, Mental Well-being, Remote Working, Work-Life Balance

TÜRKİYE’DE COVID-19 PANDEMİSİ NEDENİYLE UZAKTAN ÇALIŞAN Y KUŞAĞI AKADEMİSYENLERİN MENTAL İYİ OLUŞ HALİNİN İŞ-YAŞAM DENGESİNE ETKİSİ

Abstract

Covid-19 pandemisi, işgücü piyasalarını ve çalışma tarzlarını derinden etkilemiştir. Dünya genelinde
sosyal izolasyonu sağlamak için alınan önlemler kapsamında esnek çalışma uygulamalarından biri olan
uzaktan çalışma birçok sektörde zorunlu olarak kullanılmaya başlanmıştır. Yükseköğretimde uzaktan
eğitime geçişle birlikte akademisyenler uzaktan çalışmaya başlamışlardır. Tüm bu gelişmeler nedeniyle
çalışanların iş ve aile yaşamı bir araya gelmiş ve bu durum iş-yaşam dengesi ve mental iyi oluş ile ilgili pek
çok soruyu beraberinde getirmiştir. Makalenin temel amacı, Türkiye’de Covid-19 salgını nedeniyle uzaktan
çalışmanın Y kuşak akademisyenlerin mental iyi oluşları üzerindeki etkisini belirlemektir. Bu kapsamda
kamu ve özel üniversitelerde görev yapan 397 Y kuşağı akademisyene anket uygulanmış ve ilişkiler SPSS
programı ile analiz edilmiştir. Sonuçlardan yola çıkarak, Covid-19 salgını nedeniyle uzaktan çalışmaya
başlayan Y kuşağı akademisyenlerin iş-yaşam dengesinin ruh sağlığı üzerinde istatistiksel olarak anlamlı
bir olumlu etkisi olduğu hipotezi doğrulanmıştır. Öte yandan, katılımcıların demografik özelliklerinin ve
akademik unvanlarının iş-yaşam dengesi ve ruh sağlığı üzerinde anlamlı bir fark yaratmadığı görülmüştür.

Keywords

Covid-19 Pandemisi, Y Kuşağı, Mental İyi Oluş, Uzaktan Çalışma, İş-Yaşam Dengesi

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