The ‘Zoomification’ of Collaboration: How Timely Technology has Affected Academic Research

We use the term “Zoomification” to refer to the primary mode of research collaboration used by academic researchers during much of the COVID-19 pandemic. While neither video-enabled technology or remote collaboration is new, the technology developments and needs that occurred during the pandemic pro...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Minerva (London) 2023-12, Vol.61 (4), p.467-493
Main Authors: Bozeman, Barry, Gaughan, Monica
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Careers
Collaboration
College Faculty
Colleges & universities
Cooperation
Cooperative Learning
COVID-19
Equipment and supplies
Equipment costs
Higher Education
Laboratories
Laboratory animals
Laboratory equipment
Pandemics
Science and Technology Studies
Social Sciences
Students
Technology
Technology Uses in Education
Universities and colleges
Videoconferencing
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Summary:We use the term “Zoomification” to refer to the primary mode of research collaboration used by academic researchers during much of the COVID-19 pandemic. While neither video-enabled technology or remote collaboration is new, the technology developments and needs that occurred during the pandemic proved exceptional, indeed a step-change in approaches to research collaboration. This study, based on in-depth interviews with 65 tenured and tenure track professors in dozens of United States universities in a wide variety of STEM disciplines, focuses on collegial effects of Zoomification on research collaboration, including research with graduate students. We find diverse impacts according to career status, with younger faculty and doctoral students faring least well with an absence of face-to-face communication. As expected, impacts vary according to the nature of work, including the need to work in the field, reliance on laboratory equipment, laboratory animals, samples and high cost, centralized equipment. The effects of remote collaboration are to some extent predictable but there are results that point toward realignment in some of the ways research collaboration is established and maintained. We conclude with speculations about the long-range implications of Zoomification of research collaboration.
ISSN:0026-4695
1573-1871
DOI:10.1007/s11024-023-09500-4