Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown forced much of the academic world to telecommute. This work aims to analyze the effects of respectful leadership style and professional isolation in the adjustment of teleworking induced by the pandemic and its effects on the intention to continue teleworking. Self-administered surveys were applied to 302 university academics who were teleworking during confinement. The results of the structural equation analysis indicate that professional isolation has a high negative influence on adjustment to telework and the desire to continue teleworking, and respectful leadership style has a low influence on adjustment to telework and the intention to continue teleworking. It is concluded that, besides exercising respectful leadership, the heads must mainly promote actions that avoid feelings of isolation and loneliness of the academic staff that teleworks.