Purpose: The fear of COVID-19 has been identified as a significant predictor of adverse work-related outcomes. Grounded on conservation of resource theory, this study examines the impact of fear of COVID-19 on faculty members' job turnover intention (TI) and job insecurity, as well as the relationship between job insecurity and TI. Additionally, the authors investigate job insecurity as a potential mediating variable between the fear of COVID-19 and TI.Design/methodology/approach: Data were collected from faculty members (n = 226) working in Pakistan's public sector universities and analysed through PLS-SEM using SmartPLS software.Findings: The results indicated that fear of COVID-19 was positively and significantly associated with both TI and job insecurity. Furthermore, the results demonstrate that job insecurity has a positive correlation with TI. In addition, the study's findings endorsed the mediating role of job insecurity between fear of COVID-19 and TI.Practical implications: The study highlights the importance of addressing the fear of COVID-19 and job insecurity among faculty members, as they are significant predictors of TI. The findings suggest employers should prioritise providing a safe work environment and reducing uncertainty to retain their workforce during the pandemic.Originality/value: This study adds to the literature as it conceptualises the indirect mechanism that links fear of COVID-19 to TI and job insecurity and provides practical implications that may reduce faculty members' TI.

Telecommuting has been found to have a profound effect on employee turnover intention. However, the literature is vague in understanding the mechanism through which telecommuting affects employee retention (ER). Grounded on the conservation of resource (COR) theory and social exchange theory (SET), this study examined the impact of telecommuting on ER and fear of COVID-19 and the subsequent impact of fear of COVID-19 on ER. The study also investigated fear of COVID-19 as a mediating mechanism between telecommuting and ER. Data collected from 307 employees working in nonprofit and nongovernmental organisations in Balochistan, Pakistan was analysed using PLS-SEM. The findings showed that telecommuting was positively related to ER while its relationship was negative and significant with fear of COVID-19. Further analyses showed that fear of COVID-19 was negatively related to ER. The findings further revealed that fear of COVID-19 mediated the influence of telecommuting on ER. The overall results demonstrate the importance of telecommuting in strengthening ER and reducing fear of COVID-19. The study provides a tool for policymakers and management practitioners to set up plans for a situation like COVID-19 in the future.

Global innovation, economic growth, and societal advancement require excellence in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education. This study performed a bibliometric examination of articles related to STEM in education. A bibliographic dataset indexed in the Scopus database from 1980 to 2023 was analyzed using Excel and VOSviewer software. A total of 2,595 publications were taken for analysis. Bibliometric analysis results indicate that there has been a consistent growth in publications related to STEM education, and the highest number of publications was in 2022. The top three contributors are authors from North America, Oceania, Europe, and Asia. The United States was the most active contributor to STEM publications and had connections with Australia and Turkey. The most prolific journal is the International Journal of STEM Education, which has garnered 2,588 citations. Keywords such as “STEM,” “STEM education,” “STEM,” and “Education computing” were frequently used in these articles. Consequently, by shedding light on specific gaps in the existing literature, a comprehensive analysis of STEM education could aid scholars and practitioners in advancing their current understanding of this field.

Comprehensive analyses on incorporating the intersection of online education, humanizing teaching approaches, and digital tools remain scarce. To the best of the authors' knowledge, limited comprehensive studies integrate online pedagogy and digital tools to humanize teaching methods, enabling students to become engaged and personalized learners, while fostering empathy among educators. A systematic literature review (SLR) was conducted, utilizing databases from the Scopus, Web of Science (WoS), and Google Scholar. The study employed content and comparative analysis and advocated a grounded theory approach to inductively analyses and navigate the articles’ data for addressing three research questions. Based on a set of criteria for inclusion and exclusion, 34 research articles written in English between 2010 and 2024 were reviewed. Results indicated the community of inquiry (CoI) framework has been prominent over the past two decades and is considered suitable for integration with any digital tools when investigating pedagogical strategies at all education levels, aiming to make online learning student-centered or human-centered with the principle of ‘no child left behind'. The review offers significant implications for humanizing online learning to the educational technology community, particularly for policymakers and practitioners, to strategies, reflect on, and, if necessary, improve their practices for future sustainable education and efficient pedagogical performance.

HRMARS is well established journal publisher based in Pakistan. It is publishing prominent journals in social sciences since 2011.