The Conflict of the Domestic and Academic Roles: Examining the Lived Online Learning Experiences of UPM-CAS in the Household

Abstract

This paper explores the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on students' academic productivity as their education transitioned from face-to-face setup to online learning setup. It aims to explore how the pandemic has affected the students' overall perspective on their performance regarding their academic productivity while subsequently investigating and highlighting the potential differences between female and male students' experience and productivity as affected by the potential struggle of balancing academic and domestic work. The paper also aimed to see the relevance of the decision made by the government in its efforts to sustain the academic life of the students while under pandemic lockdown restrictions. The researchers sought UP Manila CAS (UPM-CAS) students who have experienced more than two years in an online learning setup and asked them to answer several questions, including open-ended questions that will allow the researchers to qualitatively assess their experiences. From the results derived from the students’ responses, it can be concluded that their academic performance and productivity has been adversely affected by their need to perform domestic work in the home environment. There were also several factors that contributed to the challenges they faced in the home environment that were worthy of noting. It was also discovered that there seemed to be no significant difference between the experiences of male and female, given that the majority of the respondents (both male and female) recognize that they have been adversely affected by having to perform domestic tasks while pursuing their education in the home environment.