Ibero-American higher education institutions facing COVID-19

Abstract

The article aims to identify the variables associated with the perception that the members of the educational community (professors and students) from higher education institutions in Ibero-America during, the first weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic. The study based on an Internet applied survey from April 6th to 20th of 2020, with 771 respondents (1-α = 95% and e = 3,5) from Argentina, Colombia, Chile, Spain, Mexico, and Puerto Rico. The main results reveal how the positive assessment of higher institutions depends on how professors and students perceived the risk of infection and other external variables (non-institutional) such as their previous experience in virtual environments. To a lesser degree, during the study period, professors and students with the most negative states of mind expressed more significant difficulties in managing academic activities. Therefore, it recommends that higher education institutions in Ibero-American work improve communication channels and implement programs of accompaniment that foster resiliency, starting from the construction of institutional bonds and strengthening the socioemotional skills of both professors and students. © 2020 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.