Digital-Insecurity and Overload: the Role of Technostress in Lecturers’ Work-Family Balance

While the Covid-19 emergency revealed some vulnerabilities in the Italian higher education system, it also enhanced its resiliency: in a short time, most Italian universities were able to ensure the continuity of teaching activities, replacing face-to-face experiences with online ones. The pandemic required stakeholders (including lecturers) to redesign teaching activities using distance learning methods, even if they were not prepared to do so. In addition to the difficulties of accepting and using information technologies, lecturers faced the challenge of planning and designing new forms of teaching that would ensure students’ attendance and guarantee high levels of learning. Increasing attention has been paid to different forms of technological stress and their repercussions on students’ well-being. Less attention has been paid to how technostress affects lecturers’ quality of working life and work-family balance. This paper reflects on the experience of lecturers at the University of Milan Bicocca, discussing the outcomes of a survey administered to them. Data were analyzed through Structural Equation Modelling (SEM), focusing on the impact of two main dimensions of technostress (techno-overload and techno-insecurity) on lecturers’ work-family balance in light of their perception of digital availability, gender, parenthood and relationship status.