EXPERIENCES OF MOTHERS AT UNIVERSITY DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC IN THE NORTHERN REGION OF BRAZIL

Abstract

With the COVID-19 pandemic, social isolation became a strategy to control disease dissemination. This strategy, however, required the population to readapt daily routines and home environment, in addition to using online classes to continue their studies. This work aimed to understand university mothers' experiences, permeated by challenges and sufferings intensified by social isolation and a large load of housework during the COVID-19 pandemic. Five university mothers linked to public and private higher education institutions participated in the research through a remote focus group. The results indicated work overload and exhaustion arising from the various professional and academic attributions and the university as a space where relationships are asymmetrical and with an unequal exercise of power. Despite being a significant temporal adversity, the pandemic contributed to the emergence of positive coping methods, which increased the mothers' potential for resilience.