“I Feel Like a Lot of Times Women Are the Ones Who Are Problem-Solving for All the People That They Know”: The Gendered Impacts of the Pandemic on Women in Alaska
1
Department of Geography and Environment, The George Washington University, Washington, DC 20052, USA
2
ARCTICenter, University of Northern Iowa, Cedar Falls, IA 50614, USA
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Soc. Sci. 2025, 14(8), 498; https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci14080498
Submission received: 25 April 2025
/
Revised: 13 August 2025
/
Accepted: 14 August 2025
/
Published: 19 August 2025
(This article belongs to the Section Gender Studies)
Abstract
The impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and post-pandemic recovery in urban communities in the Arctic have been substantial, but their gendered aspects remain largely unknown. The goal of this study was to enhance the understanding of the gender-based impact on women in the urban areas of Alaska by exploring strengths and constraints to resilience in the social and economic domains of gender equality during and in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. Drawing on grounded theory methodology, this study is based on 29 in-depth, semi-structured interviews. The study methodology utilized a conceptual framework that integrated deficit-based and strength-based analytical perspectives. The paper implemented a voice-centered approach that drew on thematic interviews conducted with women in Anchorage and Nome. Alaska’s urban women demonstrated resilience rooted in self-empowerment and community caregiving. This was reflected in their critical re-evaluation of social and economic gendered structures, a reassessment of priorities in family and social relationships, and the mobilization of support networks. These acts of reflection and care transformed into processes of constructing new meanings of life during dramatic events and became a source of personal strength. The crisis also enabled a re-evaluation of entrenched gender dynamics and women’s ability to challenge gendered divisions in both the workplace and at home. Despite signs of resilience, the pandemic signified a setback for gender equality. It exacerbated pre-existing gender disparities within households, disrupted established pre-pandemic social support networks, increased unpaid domestic labor and a motherhood penalty, and deepened unemployment and income gaps. To further adapt to post-pandemic conditions, women need empowerment and greater representation in decision-making roles, which are critical to strengthening resilience in both the social and economic domains of gender equality.
1. Introduction
The COVID-19 pandemic severely impacted Arctic regions, with significant consequences for communities in Alaska (Petrov et al. 2021; Tiwari et al. 2024; van Doren et al. 2024). In general, the pandemic intensified pre-existing economic inequalities and highlighted persistent deep-rooted social problems globally (Azcona et al. 2020, 2021; Brysk 2023; Flor et al. 2022; Alon et al. 2020; Kabeer et al. 2021) and across Arctic jurisdictions (Markova et al. 2021; Lemieux et al. 2020; Cook and Johannsdottir 2021; Men and Tarasuk 2021; Golubeva et al. 2022; Rozanova-Smith et al. 2021). Despite the fact that gender-balanced political leadership is crucial, especially in response to crises such as a pandemic, gender imbalances in decision-making processes already existed in the Arctic prior to the pandemic (Rozanova-Smith et al. 2021). And, in some Arctic jurisdictions, during the pandemic, women were not equally involved in pandemic-related decisions (Tyner and Jalalzai 2022; Kwan et al. 2020; Rozanova-Smith et al. 2023b).
Across most Arctic jurisdictions, women were disproportionately impacted by the pandemic, exemplified by higher rates of labor market withdrawal, elevated work-related health risks (Lundgren et al. 2023; Smith et al. 2023; Freysteinsdóttir 2022), and intensified caregiving (childcare and eldercare) and domestic responsibilities (Hjálmsdóttir and Bjarnadóttir 2021; Haney and Barber 2022), and increased exposure to domestic violence and abuse (Nesset et al. 2021; Moffitt et al. 2022; Trudell and Whitmore 2020; Fried et al. 2022). In the Arctic, gender-based economic disparities widened as a result of the region’s underlying economic structures. Women were underrepresented in higher-earning jobs and leadership roles within the natural resources, transportation, construction, and other sectors typically associated with greater wealth (Glomsrød et al. 2025), as well as among business owners. In contrast, women were disproportionately concentrated in lower-paid and often undervalued roles across sectors such as childcare, healthcare, education, local government, social services, non-governmental organizations, and the expanding hospitality industry.
In Alaska, women were experiencing multifaceted gender equality disparities prior to the pandemic, which were further exacerbated during the crisis. The gender earnings gap was recorded at 28% in 2019 (Wiebold 2021, p. 4). Although the size of this gap varied across communities, particularly with Indigenous women in small-town and rural areas tending to engage in non-subsistence economic activities to a greater extent than men and earning larger and/or more stable wages, it nevertheless reveals deeply entrenched pre-existing economic vulnerability among women. Nearly one in four women in Alaska were employed in the healthcare and social assistance sector. Women accounted for the vast majority of workers in several key occupations: 80% of healthcare support workers, 89% of childcare workers, 87% of registered nurses, 94% of preschool teachers, and 81% of elementary school teachers (Wiebold 2021, p. 11). Also, women were overrepresented in sectors significantly impacted by the pandemic, such as the hospitality and tourism industry: women comprised 79% of employees in restaurants, lounges, and coffee shops; 74% of hotel, motel, and resort desk clerks; and 71% of waitstaff positions (Wiebold 2021). In our study regions, the entrepreneurial gender gap remains notable both in Anchorage, where women-owned businesses account for 32% of all businesses, and in Nome, where 34% of businesses are women-owned (U.S. Census Bureau 2022). Whereas some recent reports on Arctic economic development emphasize the importance of gender issues, discussions specifically addressing the role of women in Arctic economies remain limited (Glomsrød et al. 2021, 2025; Larsen and Fondahl 2014; Oddsdóttir and Ágústsson 2021; Karlsdóttir and Guðmundsdóttir 2024).
One of the most pressing social issues in Alaska is the persistently high rate of violence against women (Fried et al. 2022; Giacci et al. 2021; Agloinga 2021). Since 2014, the state has held the highest homicide rate in the nation for women killed by men (Violence Policy Center 2021). According to the 2020 Alaska Victimization Survey, economic factors played a significant role in the occurrence of intimate partner violence, sexual violence, or both during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, and women from households where the pandemic adversely impacted financial stability were nearly twice as likely to experience violence compared with those from households that did not suffer such financial effects (Alaska Criminal Justice Commission 2022, pp. 5–6). In many respects, women’s personal safety and broader social issues, such as homelessness, were closely linked to Alaska’s ongoing housing crisis, characterized by overcrowded households and substandard living conditions, particularly in smaller towns and villages (Pindus et al. 2017). During the COVID-19 pandemic, this crisis posed significant challenges in urban areas, which were experiencing acute housing shortages and affordability constraints (Nicewonger et al. 2021; Levy et al. 2017).
The body of literature examining the impacts of the pandemic on women in the Arctic communities is expanding (Prior and Smieszek 2023; Otonkorpi-Lehtoranta et al. 2021; Hjálmsdóttir and Bjarnadóttir 2021; Haupt and Lind 2021; Moffitt et al. 2022; Rozanova-Smith et al. 2025b), however, significant gaps remain in understanding the lived experiences of women in urban Alaska during and post-COVID-19. Given that Alaska’s population is predominantly urban, with approximately 64.9% residing in urban areas (U.S. Census Bureau 2020), studies focusing on urban women are critically important for supporting informed decision-making during future crises in the context of urban remote regions with complex and multifaceted insecurities. Among these are food insecurity, with 95% of food imported from out of state (University of Alaska Fairbanks 2022; Meter and Goldenberg 2014) and intensified by pandemic-related interruptions in delivery and access to subsistence resources (Nelson et al. 2024; van Doren et al. 2024; Johnson et al. 2022); physical and mental health insecurity resulting from limited availability of services due to insufficient public health infrastructure (van Doren et al. 2024; Bureau of Health Workforce 2024); low affordability in what is the most expensive healthcare system in the United States (Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development 2025), coupled with one of the highest suicide rates in the country (Alaska Department of Health 2024, p. 5) and high levels of substance misuse (Parker et al. 2023); insecurities associated with extreme climatic conditions and inadequate built infrastructure and connectivity (American Society of Civil Engineers 2025); social insecurities related to the lack of affordable and accessible childcare in Alaska (U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation 2021); housing shortages; and violence against women, among many others.
To address the existing gap in understanding women’s perspectives on the social and economic impacts of the pandemic through a resilience lens, this study draws on qualitative interview data, focusing on the urban community of Anchorage and the town of Nome.
Resilience is an important concept when discussing the effects of disruptive events on individuals, groups of people, and societies as a whole. Resilience as a general concept refers to the idea exhibiting strength when facing external stressors (Arctic Council 2016; Smyth and Sweetman 2015; van Doren et al. 2024; Petrov et al. 2016). Resilience thinking emphasizes the dynamic nature of a system that not only designates a capacity to return to original conditions after an impact (i.e., to recover), but an ability to dynamically adapt (Walker and Salt 2012). In other words, resilience refers to the process and ability “to survive and thrive in the face of adversity” (Meyer 2015, p. 210). Resilience thinking is a future-oriented, forward-looking process which emphasizes learning from crises and reorienting toward a more resilient future (Martin 2012), in addition to resilience-building through strengthening existing, and investing in new, capacities, institutions, and social relationships that collectively reduce risk (Smyth and Sweetman 2015). In this context, the concept of resilience is offering significant potential for practice- and policy-oriented research to inform decision-making. In the context of Arctic communities, resilience must be understood through a place-based perspective, given the communities’ geographic isolation, extreme climate, multifaceted human insecurities, and distinct social, economic, and cultural conditions (Arctic Resilience Forum 2020; Arctic Council 2016; Cueva et al. 2021; Olsen et al. 2022). These factors shape how communities respond to crises, making one-size-fits-all models of resilience inadequate (Karlsdóttir et al. 2023). Resilience thinking in the Arctic is place-bound and polycentric, dynamic and diverse. It combines scientific and Indigenous knowledge with social–political action to address adaptive capacity in a rapidly changing and fundamentally fragile Arctic natural and social systems (Graybill and Petrov 2020).
The study of resilience from a gender perspective is a relatively new area of research. As Smyth and Sweetman (2015), Le Masson (2015) and Sarker (2021) noted, crisis impacts are never gender-neutral; neither is resilience (Branicki et al. 2023). From a gendered perspective, social resilience refers to the capacity of individuals and groups to withstand, adapt to, and recover from crises, and enhance their agency in the aftermath, while considering gendered power relations alongside broader systemic and structural inequalities that influence these processes (Erman et al. 2021; Arctic Resilience Forum 2020; de Paz et al. 2020; Goyal et al. 2023; Akakpo et al. 2025; Branicki et al. 2023; Juncos and Bourbeau 2022; Bridges et al. 2023; Le Masson 2015; Smyth and Sweetman 2015). Studies that conceptualize resilience primarily at the individual level often frame a “lack of resilience” as a personal choice or deficit (Hagler et al. 2025; Rothe 2017). As a result, relational processes and the broader social, economic, and political structures that shape persistent patterns which either constrain or enhance resilience remain on the periphery of scholarly attention (Marks et al. 2020; Hart et al. 2016; Berry 2022). Generalizing women’s experiences risks concealing the multifaceted and nuanced dimensions of their lived experiences, as women encounter crises in differentiated ways, shaped by their positions within power hierarchies and the intersecting dynamics of social categories such as race, class, age, and ethnicity, as well as spatial factors such as locality (Kaijser and Kronsell 2014).
To contribute to bridging existing gaps in current knowledge, this study employs a grounded theory approach to examine resilience through women’s narratives, highlighting how it is situated within the broader social and economic contexts of Alaska’s urban communities.
1.1. Goal and Research Questions
This study aims to enhance the understanding of the gender-based impact on women in the urban areas of Alaska by exploring strengths and constraints to resilience in the social and economic domains of gender equality during and in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The research is structured around the following two questions:
What were the impacts of the pandemic on women in Alaska’s urban areas, and, specifically, what were the gendered implications within the social and economic domains of gender equality?
What were the strengths contributing to women’s resilience during the pandemic, and what were the constraints?
It is important to note that while the pandemic had particularly severe impacts on Indigenous Peoples in Alaska, the specific effects on Indigenous women, as well as immigrant women, are not addressed in this paper, as this topic requires a more targeted study. Some of the strengths and constraints affecting the resilience of Indigenous women have been explored in greater detail in previously published works (Fried et al. 2022, 2023; van Doren et al. 2023; Cueva et al. 2024; Smith 2023; Phillipps et al. 2022; Garcia et al. 2020; Rozanova-Smith et al. 2025a).
1.2. Conceptual Framework
Whereas much of the existing research on the COVID-19 pandemic employs a deficit-based approach, highlighting challenges and vulnerabilities, this study adopts a more holistic perspective by incorporating a strength-based framework that emphasizes women’s resilience, including their ability to withstand, adapt to, and recover from crises, and enhance their agency in the aftermath (Phillipps et al. 2022; Hamby et al. 2018; Marks et al. 2020). The model addressing resilience in key domains of gender equality in Alaska builds upon a framework previously developed by our multidisciplinary research team (Tiwari et al. 2024; Rozanova-Smith et al. 2023a). As the study progressed, the initial framework was revised and enriched by incorporating insights gathered from interviews. We also incorporated feedback from stakeholder consultations with the local advisory board of the COVID-GEA project, Anchorage public advisory board, and the Norton Sound Health Corporation, a non-profit organization focused on public health and childcare of the Indigenous residents in the Nome area, to more accurately describe the women’s lived experiences from the perspective of strengths and constraints. This approach that integrates the elements of grounded theory methodology (Charmaz and Belgrave 2012; Foley et al. 2021) played a critical role in guiding qualitative data analysis.
The original framework was adapted to incorporate resilience, as well as the strengths and constraints shaping it, in order to assess the gendered impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on women within the social and economic domains of gender equality (Figure 1).
This study framework includes two domains of gender equality: social and economic. These domains are analyzed through a dual lens—constraints, reflecting a deficit-based approach; and strengths, informed by a strength-based perspective—providing a comprehensive understanding of women’s experiences of resilience. The strengths lie in women’s individual responses to the COVID-19 crisis and its aftermath and the ways they demonstrated resilience in navigating challenges and contributing to the advancement of gender equality. This process is closely intertwined with women’s (self-)empowerment, broadly understood in this paper as the capacity to develop critical consciousness, redefine socially constructed gender roles, and exercise power and agency within the economic and social domains of gender equality (Narayan 2002; Adams 2008; Cornwall 2016; Kabeer 1999; Alsop et al. 2005; Rozanova-Smith et al. 2021). In contrast, the constraints reflect the broader structural conditions and systemic obstacles that shaped women’s lived experiences during the pandemic.
The social domain includes social aspects of women’s livelihoods, including family dynamics and gender norms, social support networks, motherhood, household responsibilities, domestic violence, and housing (Erman et al. 2021). During the pandemic, due to social distancing and stay-at-home orders, there were extended disruptions of social support networks and social services. An increase in pre-existing domestic violence blighted the lives of many women in urban Alaska communities, and this was compounded by limited access to support services and, in some cases, housing deficit problems—an issue that was particularly critical during lockdowns (Fried et al. 2022; Giacci et al. 2021). In many households, particularly those with young children, women often turned to more traditional roles as primary caregivers and caretakers, experiencing a decline in social expectations for gender equality.
The economic domain refers to key spheres of gender equality, such as labor force participation, employment, income, finances, career prospects, professional educational opportunities, digital connectivity, workplace environment, and childcare access, among others. These components reflect most critical issues associated with economic gender disparities (de Paz et al. 2020). As in other Arctic regions, where the natural resource economy and other male-dominated sectors are prevalent, pre-existing gender inequalities in the economic sphere leave women more vulnerable to COVID-19-related effects (Rozanova-Smith et al. 2021). The lack of accessible and affordable childcare and daycare services, combined with the necessity of homeschooling during the pandemic, forced many women with children to shift from full-time to part-time employment or to leave the workforce. Among other factors driving economic gender inequality are the persistent barriers of the “glass ceilings”—structural barriers in leadership positions for women—and “glass walls”, such as horizontal professional clustering, the segregation of women into lower-wage jobs and industries, gendered biases, and stereotypes surrounding “male” and “female” occupations, and employer-driven gender-based discrimination, often linked to the motherhood penalty (Lowe and Sharp 2021).
2. Methods
2.1. Study Region
This study draws on interviews conducted in Alaska during the period of November to December 2022, with follow-up feedback collected in August–October 2024. The study enrolled women living in the City of Anchorage and the hub community of Nome. Anchorage, Alaska’s largest city, with a population of 291,247, is located in the southern part of the state and accounts for nearly 40 percent of Alaska’s total population (U.S. Census Bureau 2020). It is a highly urbanized community with a diversified economy, and its labor market and infrastructure are comparable to those of other major cities in the United States. The town of Nome represents a fly-in and barge-accessible-only hub community on the southern Seward Peninsula coast, with 3699 residents (U.S. Census Bureau 2022), characterized by geographic isolation, harsh climatic conditions, limited urban infrastructure and services, and acute housing shortages accompanied by overcrowded households. The town is accessible year-round only by air, with additional access by barge during the ice-free summer months. In addition to public sectors, transportation, and mining, Nome’s residents, including women, are involved in subsistence non-monetary activities such as hunting, fishing, and gathering, as well as the cultural economy.
During the pandemic, Anchorage and Nome largely followed Alaska statewide mandates that limited travel to essential and critical personal needs, required quarantine, suspended in-person operations for nonessential businesses with work-from-home directives, enforced social-distancing rules and gathering caps, and closed schools, childcare facilities, and entertainment and recreational venues. In addition, Nome used its limited local authority to adopt stricter travel and quarantine measures through emergency orders (Office of the Governor, State of Alaska 2020), drawing on the memory of the 1918 influenza pandemic and Indigenous Peoples’ cultural priorities. The town integrated Indigenous governance into decision-making, and many policies were shaped in collaboration with regional tribal and corporate entities, such as a tribally owned and operated nonprofit healthcare organization, the Norton Sound Health Corporation (NSHC). By extending stricter travel requirements beyond the Alaska State’s timeline (to 1 July 2021), Nome brought COVID-19 cases under better control, enabling schools to reopen early in fall 2020 and remain largely open through the 2021 school year, unlike in Anchorage, where prolonged closures disproportionately affected mothers with school-age children.
At both the city level in Anchorage and the town level in Nome, COVID-19 policy measures were largely not gender-responsive, and in most cases, the needs of women were not prioritized (Rozanova-Smith et al. 2023a). Most gender-specific measures focused on two areas: support for mothers with young and school-aged children and the female-dominated childcare sector, and protections for women experiencing domestic and sexual violence. For instance, in Anchorage, the city funded childcare through the Child Care Assistance Program and Licensed Child Care Relief, and indirectly supported women with young and school-aged children by funding Anchorage Public Library programs. The city also allocated funds to Abused Women’s Aid in Crisis (AWAIC) to expand emergency shelter capacity. In Nome, women-focused measures were largely led by tribal partners: the Bering Sea Women’s Group continued operating the domestic violence and sexual assault shelter, and the tribal nonprofit Kawerak, together with the Norton Sound Health Corporation and the Norton Sound Economic Development Corporation, donated funds to the City of Nome to expedite processing of the sexual assault backlog amid rising violence against women during the pandemic (Slingsby 2020).
2.2. Research Approach
The research team adhered to principles for conducting research in the Arctic communities, including prioritizing practically oriented research that addresses community needs (Inuit Circumpolar Council (ICC) 2022), implementing “humanized” research procedures (Absolon 2010), and emphasizing a voice-centered approach (Kovach 2021; Martin and Mirraboopa 2003). “Humanized” research procedures included a welcoming, safe, and conveniently located physical space that was private and quiet, with a relaxed and informal atmosphere, where participants could feel less intimidated, so they would be more comfortable with open conversation. To implement a voice-centered approach to interpreting interview data, the research team incorporated extensive participant quotations. This allowed readers to engage directly with the voices of the interviewees and ensured that their experiences were conveyed in their own words, thereby strengthening credibility of the research findings (Rozanova-Smith et al. 2025a, Appendix).
The study draws on the elements of grounded theory methodology (Charmaz and Belgrave 2012; Foley et al. 2021) that allows in-depth exploration of women’s lived experiences and the meanings they attach to their social and economic environments. We implemented iterative and comparative coding, concurrent data collection and analysis, and theme development grounded in the interview data to ensure that theoretical insights arose from participants’ lived experiences. This process resulted in the emergence of the novel theoretical framework that incorporated new elements, such as resilience strengths and constraints within the social and economic domains of gender equality.
In examining interviews, the study utilized an intersectional analysis lens (Landry 2007; Collins 2019; Hankivsky 2014) to explore how distinct and overlapping identities contributed to the gendered impacts of the pandemic. We considered participants’ expressed identities as a part of the coding and theme development processes to articulate both commonalities and differences in women’s responses. The scope of intersectional analysis, however, was mainly limited by the sample size to several broad categories: gender, age, and place of residence.
A total of 29 in-depth interviews were conducted using open-ended questions, with 20 in Anchorage and 9 in Nome. This study draws on interviews conducted in Alaska during the period of November to December 2022, with targeted follow-up feedback collected in August–October 2024 to expand understanding and clarify data from certain interviews. The preliminary results of analysis were shared with these participants to solicit their feedback.
The semi-structured interviews were designed to capture the multifaceted impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on women’s social lives and economic realities, with particular attention to changes in gender roles and household responsibilities and social support networks, as well as transformations in labor force participation, workplace environment, employment status, and opportunities for professional development, among other aspects. Key themes also focused on identifying the challenges women faced, as well as on the sources of strength that contributed to their resilience during and after the pandemic crisis.
Participant selection was guided by the following recruitment parameters: age (21 years or older), gender identity (identifying themselves as females), and residence location during the COVID-19 pandemic (Anchorage and Nome). To examine a comprehensive spectrum of narratives, the research team strove to implement inclusive recruitment to attain a diverse pool of participants within the limits of our sampling techniques. The study interviewees represented various spheres of employment that included education workers (university education), small business entrepreneurs, independent artists, healthcare workers, community health workers, social workers, tribal organization professionals, non-profit workers, the retired, and those who experienced a job loss during the pandemic temporarily or continuing at the time of interview. Information on marital status, children, home ownership, etc. was provided on a voluntary basis. Among the participants were stakeholders (representatives of local non-profit organizations; Alaska Native entities, including a Native public health corporation; etc.), local decision-makers, as well as youth leaders.
Participant recruitment was carried out by Alaska project partners through several means: (1) personal contacts; (2) social media platforms (Facebook); (3) advertisement flyers at local objects of critical infrastructure (healthcare facilities, grocery stores, etc.); and (4) snowball sampling to approach the contacts of interview participants (Parker et al. 2019). In all recruitment techniques, standard procedures and ethical protocols were strictly followed. Furthermore, researchers whose personal contacts were used during participant enrollment did not take part in the interview process.
The interviews were conducted by Indigenous and non-Indigenous researchers. Each interview lasted on average approximately 80 min and was voice recorded. No personal health information was asked. The study also aimed to avoid sensitive topics. At the end of each interview, immediate feedback on interview notes was solicited to ascertain accuracy of interpretation and preliminary conclusions. As a next step, all personally identifiable information was removed from the recordings to protect the anonymity of participants. No direct identifiers were included in the interview database. The research team used an alphanumeric coded system to replace identifiers (e.g., Interviewee 1, Interviewee 2) for internal purposes to protect the confidentiality of personal contacts. The collected data was stored on secured computer hard drives, which were encrypted and password-protected. Only de-identified quotes were used in this paper. Collected data were analyzed using thematic coding, content and discourse annotation, and qualitative analysis, supported by the Atlas.ti software (25.0.1).
2.3. Authors Positionality
This paper is written by settler social scientists residing outside of the Arctic and Alaska, but who have spent years working in the region. Throughout all stages of the research, we collaborated closely with the local advisory board and Indigenous scholars and knowledge holders involved in the COVID-GEA project, recognizing and valuing their role as stewards of knowledge and culture.
3. Results
The interviews revealed the significance of the social and economic domains of gender equality in shaping the gendered impacts of the pandemic and women’s responses through the lens of resilience. The use of a voice-centered methodological approach, incorporating direct quotations from women interviewees, preserves the authenticity of their narratives and ensures that their perspectives are meaningfully represented. This approach also allows for a nuanced understanding of the unique Arctic context, ensuring that the research is properly contextualized and that regional specificities are accurately captured and reflected in the analysis. As mentioned, we consider strengths as a source of women’s resilience demonstrated through individual responses to the COVID-19 pandemic impacts, while the constraints reflect the broader structural and systemic conditions affecting this resilience. The key findings are summarized in Table 1, with a detailed gender analysis drawn from the interview narratives examined in detail below.
The findings below are organized thematically in a coherent sequence across social and economic domains of gender equality. It is important to note that, given the close interconnections between these domains, certain themes overlap. For example, the re-emergence of traditional gender roles in the household and the intensified gendered division of parenting were closely linked to heightened levels of unpaid domestic labor, which, in turn, collectively affected women’s ability to re-enter the workforce and pursue careers.
The analysis begins by highlighting the strengths demonstrated by research participants in response to the pandemic, and particularly their capacity to withstand, adapt to, and recover from crisis conditions; this is followed by an exploration of the constraints that limited women’s resilience, first within the social domain and then within the economic domain.
3.1. Social Domain
3.1.1. Strengths for Resilience Within the Social Domain
During the COVID-19 pandemic, women’s capacity for social resilience was demonstrated through their ability to redesign social support networks by creating these networks beyond their immediate families and forming small, trust-based “micro-communities.” Predominantly shaped around shared values and mutual agreement on COVID safety measures, these small “pods” allowed women to keep social connections and share caregiving responsibilities, and also highlighted their collective capacity to adapt during times of crisis. As our study participants shared,
“There were little pods formed. I think people were just looking for little pods that they would feel like you wouldn’t get infected. I thought it was a very creative move that a lot of women did create these pods to be able to meet their own needs and still fulfill their functions at work.”(Anchorage, 60s.)
“One thing that has positively come from the pandemic is, despite people being so disconnected and there being less opportunities for ’community,’ I feel like people have risen to the occasion… and created micro communities… that never existed before…”(Anchorage, 30s.)
Through the lens of our interviews, it was observed that during the pandemic, women demonstrated significant commitment to serving as community caregivers and addressing community needs, stepping into informal roles as problem-solvers for those around them:
“I feel like a lot of times women are the ones who are problem-solving for all the people that they know whether it’s their friends or their relatives or just trying to make sure that people are connected to the resources that they need or finding out what they are or all of that.”(Anchorage, 30s.)
Supporting others transformed these acts of care into processes of meaning-making and sources of personal strength:
“I’ve never taken kids to school or picked them up before. And then that kind of became just an active service that I could do for some of my friends with kids who needed to have a job interview at that time or needed to be in a meeting … So being able to help them out in those small ways has been really meaningful.”(Anchorage, 30s.)
A willingness to serve in mentorship roles was evident during the post-pandemic recovery. In supporting other women’s career advancement through the sharing of knowledge and experience, it also fulfilled a personal aspiration to contribute meaningfully to the empowerment of a younger generation of female professionals:
“I did a lot of mentoring and most of my mentoring was towards women… I found out … that it was one of the most positive sides of my job… Before I went back to work <after the pandemic–authors>, I was frustrated because I had all of this knowledge, 30 years of being a woman and working my way up, it was like, ’I’m wasted. I want to mentor again.’ Most of the employees that we had were female, and I got a lot of very positive feedback from women, and there’s a part of me that really liked being told that I was helpful.”(Anchorage, 60s.)
Women’s responses highlighted their capacity for critical reflection on personal and social values and the ability to foster change. For some women, the pandemic crisis created an opportunity to shift focus away from materialistic priorities toward more meaningful, relationship-centered values and connections. As explained in the interview, values became increasingly family-centered, with a renewed focus on strengthening bonds, embracing a slower pace of life, and spending quality time together, in contrast to more intensive parenting models predominant in the pre-COVID period:
“I’ve realized a couple things in the pandemic… We were forced to slow down… I was enjoying the times when we didn’t run around like chickens with our heads cut off, constantly driving kids to soccer practice or to choir concerts… It is nicer and calmer now that we can slow down and appreciate…the times where we can just be without having to hustle. And prior to the pandemic, my day was like clockwork–I’d get up early in the morning, make sure kid one gets to school, wake up second kid, make coffee for the husband, make sure lunches are packed, get myself to work, take my lunch break, go to the gym, pick up kid one from school, pick up kid two, come home, make dinner, make sure homework’s done, rinse, and repeat… <During the pandemic–authors> the personal time schedule has really changed… I have taught myself how to relax a little bit more.”(Anchorage, 40s.)
Interview narratives revealed women’s capacity to critically examine the supermom syndrome, which pressures women to overachieve simultaneously in motherhood, in careers, and also in personal appearance. In some instances, women exhibited reluctance to delegate responsibilities to their male partners due to deeply ingrained gendered roles. Notably, as reflected in one interview, expectations from other women also play a role in reinforcing this pressure, highlighting how gender stereotypes are internalized and sustained within women’s social circles:
“We have this myth of the supermom in which women can do everything. They can get pregnant and have a child and be back in a bikini in a month. And I think sometimes women hold each other to that standard as much as men hold women to that standard. We all need to give each other a break and understand we cannot do it altogether. And that whole striving to be everything for everybody, something’s got to give there. And not doing it all... and that will open space for other people, the men in our lives…to come forward and do more. It’s not the default responsibility of women by virtue of biology.”(Anchorage, 60s.)
Women from families with grown children described their ability to reconfigure household gender roles and foster more gender-equitable dynamics within the household. For instance, in cases where male partners retired early, traditional gender roles shifted, with women remaining in the workforce while their partners becoming the main caretakers of household responsibilities:
“I am still working. My husband is not currently working and so he is more responsible for the household stuff. Yes, he does a lot of the cooking and the laundry. So, that’s just the way it is.”(Anchorage, 60s.)
3.1.2. Constraints to Resilience Within the Social Domain
Our interviews, particularly with mothers, revealed that the COVID-19 pandemic led to re-emergence of traditional gender roles, further constraining women’s social resilience by intensifying their responsibilities as primary caregivers, emotional responders, homeschooling teachers, and household micromanagers. The crisis significantly amplified the burden of domestic invisible labor by increasing women’s mental load, defined as “the combination of the cognitive labor of family life—the thinking, planning, scheduling and organizing of family members—and the emotional labor associated with this work, including the feelings of caring and being responsible for family members but also the emotional impact of this work” (Dean et al. 2021). At the same time, men largely continued to be perceived in their more conventional roles of economic providers. As a result, the pandemic signaled a setback in the pursuit of more gender-equal relationships at home:
“I think a man is thought to be the provider, the breadwinner, the person that’s making the most money, and he’s probably gone the most for work. He provides the stability for the home in the forms of financial stability. But women are then put into this corner of being the emotional providers, the persons keeping track of every little detail <in the household–authors>.”(Anchorage, 30s.)
“The burden of childcare and schooling primarily falls on women. Their father was working a job that would not allow for any leeway during the pandemic, and so their education, health, safety fell to me.”(Anchorage, 40s.)
For some women, stepping into traditional family roles and facing the loss of professional prospects led to considerable mental health challenges. As one participant shared,
“I know personally several women who basically stepped back from their careers for their families, tried to work at home and have families… I’ve got one friend who she started seeing a therapist, and she went on some antidepressants because it just was overwhelming for her.”(Anchorage, 60s.)
Rooted in pre-existing structural and systemic inequalities, the gendered division of parenting intensified during the pandemic. Fathers continued to be often associated with the recreational aspects of parenting, while women disproportionately bore the increased burden of invisible, detail-heavy caregiving labor. This imbalance was further reinforced by limited or entirely unavailable institutional support for parents. As explicitly articulated in one interview,
“I tend to think that men get to do more of the fun things, so more of the playtime with the kids… let’s say maybe playing with kids like hockey or taking them to fish together… And women tend to take on the less fun tasks, just because we tend to be more detail oriented, but also can see the big picture of everything that’s at play and that needs to get done… I don’t want to sound too biased, I do think that men get to do more of the fun things…. And I think that that dynamic still exists in a lot of families. And that was hard <during the pandemic>. I think that really wears on women mentally, and it changes your relationship structure. And I think a lot of people underwent their relationship structure changing to an uncomfortable degree.”(Anchorage, 30s.)
In Alaska, women’s vulnerability was exacerbated by the housing crisis and an increase in domestic violence, alongside a simultaneous restriction of access to social protection services. The already limited network of shelters, or safe houses for women, became even less accessible during the pandemic, leaving many with no safe way out. Notably, pregnant women faced particularly heightened risks during the crisis:
“I know that domestic violence and murders have increased. I was really scared of what was happening to women. And murder of pregnant women has gone up so much since the start of the pandemic… Pregnancy in general is the highest risk time for women in abusive relationships and in terms of abuse. Always the time of escalation and risk.”(Anchorage, 40s.)
The housing crisis in the Arctic cities like Nome, marked by overcrowding and poor living conditions, contributed to women’s vulnerability during the pandemic, especially for those in abusive relationships:
“In Nome, there is a high rate of alcoholism, and women had to stay home <during the pandemic>. You had to stay in the same household with your abuser. You had nowhere else to go… One of the major issues we face in Nome is a housing crisis. There’s just not enough housing to go around… We do have a women’s shelter here, but there’s limited space as well. A lot of women just end up going back to their abusers… It seems like the amount of domestic violence and trauma to women and children I think went up in our region during the pandemic.”(Nome, 40s.)
“The majority of houses here are not safe for individuals, especially kids and women, to be in. Here, it’s typical for two to three families to live in one house where you’ve got 15 people, that are crowded, sleeping on couches, sleeping on the floor, and don’t have the options to isolate if they’re feeling sick.”(Nome, 20s.)
In addition, housing below acceptable standards had distinct gendered impacts on women, who primarily carry the responsibility for taking care of day-to-day domestic tasks. Inadequate heating in extreme Arctic climates, water outages during winter, limited access to washing machines, and overcrowded living conditions created severe hardships for women, who often were bearing the responsibility for maintaining household health and hygiene, which was crucially important during the pandemic:
“<In Nome>, there’s just not enough housing. We have a lot of lousy landlords. They rent dilapidated rentals that are probably not even up to code to people. I’ve heard stories of people going without heat for a year because the landlord won’t fix the furnace or the heaters. In winter, it’s worse because your pipes freeze and then you don’t have running water, or you can’t use the sink. You can’t shower, you can’t bathe, you can’t wash hands. And then illness just takes over because of that…”(Nome, 20s.)
During the COVID-19 pandemic, women, and particularly mothers, experienced a heightened “triple burden” of professional, caregiving, and homeschooling responsibilities. This resulted in increased burden of (parents’) feeling of guilt, as many parents, and especially mothers, struggled to meet the overwhelming demands during the crisis, highlighting how gendered expectations left women feeling as though they were failing at everything, despite carrying the greatest share of responsibilities:
“I just remember that horrible feeling a lot of times where I feel like I’m not doing a good job at work, I’m not doing a good job at home, I’m just trying to do everything.”(Anchorage, 60s.)
“I hear a lot about the parents’ guilt, they’re working these crazy hours trying to work from home and also trying to support their kids and not being able to really carve out any time for themselves. And that definitely impacts your mental health and your physical health, and the health of your family.”(Anchorage, 30s.)
The narratives brought to light the disrupted social support networks, political polarization, and family divides over pandemic measures. The breakdown of multifaceted social systems such as women’s groups and mothers’ networks left many women without essential emotional support and practical assistance:
“I think women are more social in general, and if they’re not working then they don’t get a lot of interaction with other women so going through all that just kind of made it worse. Everybody was more separated and less likely to gather together as a tribe.”(Anchorage, 30s.)
In smaller, remote Arctic towns like Nome, with high labor turnover, it is particularly challenging to establish social connections and support systems, especially during the pandemic. The “transient” nature of the town, with many people coming in only for short-term jobs, created a social environment where relationships are often temporary and trust is harder to build. As one interview explained, longtime community members coexist with a constantly shifting population, making it difficult for newcomers to integrate into stable support networks:
“Nome’s a very transient town… We have a lot of people from all over getting a job here, working for two years, and are gone, and then there’s a small core of people that have been here for many years… That affects a lot of the relationships.”(Nome, 20s.)
It was pointed out that, in some instances, online alternatives, such as virtual moms’ groups newly formed during the pandemic, proved largely insufficient, lacking the depth and meaningful connection of in-person interactions:
“Any in-person mom playdate groups were completely killed off by COVID… all of the new online parent groups… I really feel like isn’t ideal, because if you have a support structure already, I think you’re going to be okay, but if you’re in a place where you need to form a new support structure, then I think you’re really going to suffer, because all of those places where you can forge those really meaningful connections have moved online. There’s absolutely value in those things existing at all, in whatever form they take, but I don’t think it’s ever going to be as good as something where you can meet face to face.”(Anchorage, 20s.)
For some women, the loss of their social support system was combined with increasing politicization and polarization over pandemic-related measures within immediate and extended families, and this led to fractured relationships:
“There’s a hesitation of people in my family who believe in the pandemic, believe in health and safety, and then those that don’t and think that it’s a total hoax and think that the rest of us are crazy and we’re just being paranoid. It’s shifted a lot of relationship dynamics… It’s not like we’re not meeting as a whole united family despite different political stances, which we’ve always had. But now, the tensions are so high around it, that I feel like there is some irreparable damage that has been done where things are just really divisive… I would say relationships have not been restored after the pandemic.”(Anchorage, 30s.)
Women’s legitimate interests receive lower priority in public policy during the pandemic and its aftermath. Women, particularly mothers, were burdened by inadequate social infrastructure, including mostly inaccessible and unaffordable childcare and mental health services. This systemic overlooking of women’s interests was not only emotionally devastating but also exposed and exacerbated structural inequities that intensified during the crisis:
“COVID pandemic certainly changed us. I’m more profoundly and sadly aware of how little the United States cares… about children and women… <Regarding–authors> the administration here in Alaska—“Well, what about childcare? You can’t open the economy back up if there’s nowhere for kids to go. What are you going to do? Leave them at home alone?” I knew that the administration didn’t care about children or women, but to see it echoed in so many places was pretty heartbreaking.”(Anchorage, 40s.)
“Things have gotten worse, … all the inequities have gotten worse. Women were left in charge of holding the bag for the total societal refusal to prioritize babies and children first.”(Anchorage, 40s.)
An accessible and affordable mental health system was particularly important for women, as they were often disproportionately affected by increased mental load that heightened their vulnerability to stress and burnout during the pandemic and the recovery period. As emphasized by our research participants, these challenges in Alaska were further compounded by the geographical remoteness and isolation of smaller urban communities, harsh climatic conditions, the psychological toll of prolonged winters with minimal daylight, and the often prohibitive cost of mental health services:
“Mental health is the biggest thing… We’re <geographically> separated, so we already have the isolation issue… we deal with darkness here, we deal with seclusion, isolation, and then on top of having to isolate yourself from your friends and family even more <during the pandemic–authors>, it added more of a stressor to the whole thing… And then the fear of people now and adding all that in on top of having to keep a job down.”(Nome, 20s.)
“Everyone is falling through the cracks… Our healthcare system, things that were already spread thin… There aren’t enough therapists to meet with us… I wanted to see a personal therapist… I eventually found one, and it was months of waiting before I could even have my first appointment. And I had basically four months in between every appointment… and then my insurance didn’t cover it … and that was so cost prohibitive! I ultimately chose to stop seeing that therapist… The financial stress of this is going to cause my anxiety to go up more than it already is… It’s very challenging to have something as basic as… mental healthcare…in Alaska.”(Anchorage, 30s.)
3.2. Economic Domain
3.2.1. Strengths for Economic Resilience During the Pandemic
During the COVID-19 pandemic, women demonstrated strong adaptability and ability to productively use flexible and remote work schedules, emphasizing that, in some instances, remote and hybrid models during the crisis and its aftermath increased work productivity, highlighting women’s ability to thrive during pandemic-related disruptions:
“In academia, they’re just obsessed with meetings, and most of them are completely unproductive… Such a waste of time! Nowadays, we do it on Zoom and I can turn off my video and I can pipe in when needed. But meanwhile, I can do something useful at home… So, I find it very positive.”(This quote has been anonymized to protect the participant’s privacy.)
For women with children, it also created opportunities to provide caregiving responsibilities while continuing workforce participation:
“Work from home policies were helpful, because if you don’t have childcare, it’s better to at least be home with your kid than leave them home alone.”(Anchorage, 40s.)
Flexible work schedules were particularly beneficial in Alaska’s harsh climate, where remote work also reduced commuting stress:
“I would say, positively … working from home and less commuting… I get more done if I work from home. I can work more focused, I don’t have distractions… I live quite a ways out of town… and this place can be kind of hairy in the winter with snowstorms and whatnot…. I’ve done more during the pandemic, and I find it very much less stressful.”(Nome, 50s.)
Women’s ability to use education opportunities as a means of economic self-empowerment and professional growth was significantly enhanced by access to affordable training programs during the pandemic as a pathway to professional growth. Exploring new economic opportunities through virtual conferences and courses on entrepreneurship and women-led businesses also reflected women’s strategic responses to the crisis situation:
“One of the things that was good that did come out of the pandemic was… more access to different conferences that I wish I would’ve gone to in person before the pandemic and wasn’t able to. I was able to attend these conferences online and take language classes for free or a limited low amount of payment for the classes… And I really enjoyed the conferences that I had attended. One of them was… <on> small women businesses and how they’re boosting the local economy… And then in the midst of the pandemic, I was taking some classes to learn about starting my own business and… how to make business more successful.”(Anchorage, 40s.)
In remote Arctic urban communities like Nome, where professional options for women are limited, affordable online, community-needs-oriented training programs played an important role in sustaining their resilience. By enrolling in programs connected to the Arctic cultural economy, women were able to take important steps towards gaining independent income, thereby contributing to their economic empowerment within an Arctic constrained economic environment:
“… I think the thing that was most helpful was we got COVID funding for our Northwest Campus <University of Alaska Fairbanks–authors>, and you could take classes for a very reasonable price. That opened up a lot of doors for women to be more providers at home. For being able to learn how to make … parkas or learn how to knit so that they could make things to sell… The Campus really tries to reach the local needs …”(Nome, 20s.)
Amid a persistent housing crisis in Alaska, women demonstrated remarkable determination by pursuing higher education online, even while facing significant challenges of overcrowded living conditions. As one interview participant noted from her professional experience, many female students remained enrolled in and committed to higher education studies in environments with limited space and little support for their academic efforts:
“I teach a distance class, and I know a lot of my students live with other people in crowded conditions… Most of them are mothers and wives… And I feel bad for them because it’s clear they don’t have a quiet space to get away from it all. And apparently whoever else is in the house with them takes absolutely no regard to the fact that they’re trying to take a class…I totally admire them for that, because I could not focus in an environment like that. That might have been worse during the pandemic, when everybody was more cooped together.“(This quote has been fully anonymized to protect the participant’s privacy.)
Our interview participants highlighted pandemic-driven women’s capacity to critically reflect on workplace inequalities and challenge conventional norms, alongside a reassessment of how gendered notions of value are embedded in workplace culture. These reflections illuminated a shifting understanding of invisible emotional labor often shouldered by female employees who tend to focus on nurturing workplace relationships. Often unnoticed and unrewarded, these efforts led to growing disillusionment and a critical reassessment of the rationale behind their voluntarily undertaken, unpaid contributions:
“My colleagues, my team members, we are family… So, I started noticing how much extra…, like emotional labor or just colleague stuff, you put more of yourself into work that you’re really invested in. And when I started seeing more and more cracks <related to the gender pay gap–authors>, my perspective on work has definitely changed.”(Anchorage, 30s.)
The pandemic also triggered a re-evaluation of workplace relationships, leading to embracing ethical dimensions of mutual support and reciprocity—an approach that challenges the norms of conventional business hierarchies and transactional norms:
“Since I am looking for jobs and because I’ve had some traumatic work experience this year, I’m very much seeking an employer who respects me… I want to learn how they’ll support me as an employee rather than only focusing on what I can do for them. It’s about reciprocity really, and not just in terms of employment, but in all aspects of life.”(Anchorage, 30s.)
Through experience of disillusionment during the pandemic, the interview participant uncovered the gender pay gap and the inequity of leadership at the workplace. This realization also unveiled systemic devaluation of women’s labor, which, in turn, undermined their sense of worth:
“Perspective shifts… Almost all my team had to take a pay cut <during the pandemic–authors>, so we just worked one day less a week…. But I didn’t realize until the next summer that leadership didn’t take a pay cut even though they were working less… One of my <male–authors> colleagues, he was hired on at a higher pay than me. Not only is it appalling because I have 10 more years of work experience… It’s a gender pay gap situation… Then you start thinking about how you’re valued and how we’re placed in the workplace and in your work, your role… It makes you start feeling like you’re not very valuable…”(Anchorage, 30s.)
During the pandemic, some women began to prioritize meaningful personal connections and family over financial gain. This gendered shift in values is mostly incompatible with conventional Western workplace norms that prioritize economic gain and individual performance:
“I’ve realized… in the pandemic <that–authors> following the corporate dollar doesn’t really seem to have any interest to me anymore,– my relationships with others are more important than anything else…”(Anchorage, 40s.)
For some women, the pandemic served as a catalyst for self-empowerment, activating their capacity to transition into male-dominated professions and pursue new career paths:
“I was in the <one of the top managerial positions> in the company, where I worked for <many> years… And when the pandemic hit… the company made cuts, and my job was eliminated. I was retired for almost a year and a half and realized I was going absolutely crazy because…. I wanted to be in an office… There was an opening for a position…, which is basically fundraising… which I’d never done before, but I have a brain in my head. I applied for it and got it… My life has definitely changed in the last couple of years. Going from working full-time and being the most knowledgeable person in the room to being retired, and then back to working full-time but being the least knowledgeable person in the room was quite an adjustment.”(Anchorage, 60s.)
The study also documented a challenging career transition from the field of school education to a more male-dominated sector, such as information technology:
“I do miss the little kids… <but–authors> I ended up quitting my job because I couldn’t take it anymore. This past year was awful. We had very violent kids and just a lack of resources and support and everyone was really burned out. They <schools–authors> lost a lot of principals, a lot of teachers quit or retired early…, coming to the realization like, ‘My job isn’t worth … risking my life for.’ Now, I’m going to think about doing something different… I would think that technology, doing something with IT or tech would be cool…”(Anchorage, 30s.)
Another interviewee accentuated the benefits of entering traditionally male-dominated fields such as carpentry through self-teaching, describing how this approach strengthened sense of autonomy and self-empowerment, particularly in the absence of external support during the pandemic:
“In this place,… you can find a lot of guys with toolkits, but it’s hard to find someone who truly knows what they’re doing… I have found out that if I just do the work myself, I can do it just as well. So, I’ve spent a lot of my time learning how to replace windows, how to fix floorboards that have rotten, paint the walls, put in new floors, and how to do everything, really. I do it myself now. And what’s amazing is I feel very empowered!”(Nome, 50s.)
Women’s competence in versatile leadership proved especially vital during times of crisis. In particular, this leadership style, defined both by conventional task-focused professional responsibilities to maintain organizational stability, along with qualities such as empathy and mutual support, was considered especially effective. This adaptable leadership style also fostered employee loyalty and encouraged a reciprocal commitment through enhanced work performance:
“My boss is a phenomenal woman… who is very good at making decisions and very good at supporting her staff. And her goal was to make sure that everybody was taken care of while still making sure the organization could move forward and sustain itself <during the pandemic–authors>… I don’t mind working hard for her when I need to because she supports me on the flip side when I need to be there for my family. She supports that. Her leadership makes a huge difference.”(Anchorage, 30s.)
3.2.2. Constraints to Resilience Within the Economic Domain
Study participants emphasized heightened levels of unpaid domestic labor during the pandemic, as many women faced either a “double burden” of managing both paid work and household responsibilities, or a “triple burden” when children’s homeschooling was added during school closures:
“<During the pandemic–authors>, women are then put into this corner of being the emotional providers, the persons keeping track of every little detail regarding kids and house payments and bills and shots and all of the things. I think it’s really spreading women so thin. We were already spread thin <before the pandemic–authors>—the amount that we have to keep track of. Every woman I know with kids has a new to-go file organizer, and has all of the family’s vaccination cards… and keeping track of all these little details”(Anchorage, 30s.)
“I feel that women took the burden and the brunt of childcare. Some of us had to leave our jobs… we took the brunt of that, and it wasn’t just making sure that they were in childcare, but we also became teachers, we also became counselors, we became all the different things that our children couldn’t access because they were <at home–authors> with us.”(Anchorage, 40s.)
“It was really difficult for my friends with kids trying to deal with their own work at home and also having to supervise their kids with their online classes and even just having to be with their kids 24/7 was really challenging for them. I had a friend who said she had no idea that her kids were so difficult: ’I’d do anything, I’d pay teachers anything to just take my kids back. I don’t want them here all day long’.”(Anchorage, 30s.)
The interviews brought to light challenges of remote work, the gendered digital divide, and digital inequalities. While some women found remote or hybrid work schedules highly beneficial (see strengths in the economic domain), narratives from participants also illustrated challenges of remote work, which continued beyond the pandemic. These included longer working hours, lack of breaks, blurred boundaries between professional and personal life, and the constant expectation of availability, all of which are contributing to burnout:
“At the beginning of the pandemic, a lot of people were like, ’Oh, this is great <to work from home–authors>.’ But then we look at the reality of it, and people are even busier than they were when they were in the office because now that everything is Zoom, people schedule back-to-back meetings. There’s not even time for bathroom breaks… I think it’s made a lot of jobs feel more constant because there’s this new expectation that you will just work your bones off and never really stop.”(Anchorage, 30s.)
Insights from interviewees also highlighted the gendered dimensions of the digital divide, including discomfort with technology and digital tools that was more often experienced by women, hindering their work productivity. Limited access to reliable and affordable internet, especially in more remote smaller towns in Alaska, added an additional layer of constraint that further aggravated both existing geographic and digital inequalities in professional advancement:
“I was pushed into developing new technological skills that I hadn’t always practiced. I mean, everybody now knows how to Zoom or do Microsoft Teams. Those were not tools I used routinely…It seemed like a stressful time at work. I didn’t feel as much efficacy, I didn’t feel like I was doing as good a job.”(Anchorage, 60s.)
“Not everybody can afford internet here, because it can range anywhere from $200 to $500 a month… And that adds an extra stress…”(Nome, 20s.)
The pandemic widened the gender wage and unemployment gaps, magnifying structural barriers to women’s resilience. Persistent wage disparities and entrenched cultural expectations that position women as primary caregivers at home, combined with childcare and school closures, compelled many working mothers to leave the workforce or reduce their working hours:
“Women had to stay home to take care of their kids. Ninety percent of the time that’s the way it falls, because 90% of the time, men are making more than the women so it’s the women who have to take the step back and say, “Okay, I’ll stay home and take care of the kids.” Because there was zero childcare… to save your life.”(Anchorage, 40s.)
“I think more acutely and really noticeably, women are the primary caregivers in families typically. And we saw women drop out of the workforce at a much higher level than men. And it’s all tied into the childcare challenges, or even choice of life-work balance. And you always look to, ’Okay, if one of us is going to stay home or not work or work part time, who’s that going to be?’ And it tends to be the person who’s making less. And in our culture, we value women less everywhere, but especially professionally. And so, women dropped out. I think that’s a big problem following the pandemic, but it’s all connected.”(Anchorage, 40s.)
These decisions were often driven not by personal choice, but by systemic inequities in pay, exacerbating women’s economic vulnerability:
“<During the pandemic–authors>, the existing disparities heightened. Women were not getting promoted in the same way as men… This exposed all the ways in which gender inequities then lead to women having to drop out of the workforce, pick up the load. A lot of these things are cultural.”(Anchorage, 40s.)
“Ultimately, we just need to change our cultural framework because… It’s like, you’re a woman. You’re worth less… We’re probably going to pay you less. We know you’re not going to ask for more. It all builds and builds, and then suddenly you have a 40-year-old woman who’s making less than the 40-year-old guy doing the same thing. And so, it’s hard to change that, but I think real reflection on how we change it long term is needed.”(Anchorage, 40s.)
Not only during the pandemic but also in its aftermath, structural issues related to unaffordable and inaccessible childcare and daycare forced many employed women with children to stay in part-time work or never return to the workforce:
“A lot of women choose not to work and just to have their husband work because all of their income would be going towards childcare, so they might just stay home because it’s not worth it. I think that’s a really big thing that people spend $2000 to $3000 a month on childcare easily. To have that burden lifted so that they could have the potential for a career to work.”(Anchorage, 40s.)
“Single moms probably had it the worst because they had no one to fall back on. They had nowhere else to go, especially with those with multiple kids, because you can’t afford childcare for them. That’s why I never went back to work full time.”(Anchorage, 40s.)
“<After having a baby–authors>, eventually that was what stopped me from going back to work, was, if I’m going to be sinking all of my money into childcare, it’s more cost effective for me to just not work. The financial aspect was definitely a huge part of it, and especially as then people started returning to work and the cost of childcare kept increasing. Then, people were not able to afford it as much.”(Anchorage, 20s.)
The pandemic also contributed to lowering “glass ceilings,” a vertical clustering pattern characterized by gender imbalances in leadership positions in the form of unequal access for men and women to top leadership positions. In female-dominated occupations, gender-related vertical segregation results in women being disproportionately concentrated at the lower levels of leadership hierarchies across various economic sectors. While “glass ceilings” have remained a long-standing barrier to gender equality, women’s experiences suggest that this pattern was further reinforced during the pandemic:
“I think women always pre-pandemic have been dealing with a ‘glass ceiling,’ but I think that ceiling lowered in a negative way during the pandemic.”(Anchorage, 30s.)
“I think that in a lot of settings, women… are not listened to as much, it’s like their perspective isn’t as valuable… A lot of women are isolated from the decision-making and policy in the community because they have all the home duties <and this exacerbated during the pandemic–authors>.”(Anchorage, 60s.)
“Men in our society, they get paid more on the dollar. They rise in their careers faster than women. They’re the ones that are in more management positions. Women are the ones that take more parental leave and are assumed to be the primary caregivers and the ones getting their kids to their healthcare appointments and to school and picked up to soccer lessons… It’s an infuriating thing about our society… that women are not taken as seriously as men.”(Anchorage, 30s.)
Interview narratives link the persistence of “glass ceilings” in Alaska to entrenched masculine workplace cultures and enduring gender stereotypes, which continue to create additional barriers to women’s career advancement:
“Women always face more challenges in the realm of being respected and listened to in coming up with community solutions. And I think there’s always this vein of like, do these women really know? I think there’s a lot of misogyny built into our culture and also our political structures that expect these men, tough men, to solve problems.”(Anchorage, 40s.)
“I love Alaska, but there is sometimes some toxic masculinity here that needs to be talked about. It can be a difficult community to break a ‘glass ceiling’ in. I work for nonprofits where the leadership team is primarily men. I’ve been told that I wouldn’t understand certain things because I’m a woman, and ’It’s like snowmachining.’ But I’ve been riding the snow machine since I was 10 years old. I can out-ride most guys. But being a woman, I would not understand that. I know we can’t change everyone’s attitudes, but we need to be talking about what this is and why it’s so dangerous… Women are not going to be able to succeed when we’re constantly being held back in this way.”(Anchorage, 40s.)
”Glass ceilings” also contributed to women’s underrepresentation in critical decision-making positions both prior to and during the pandemic, resulting in policies and resource allocations that often did not give adequate consideration to women’s needs:
“The Federal CARES Act came into the state and then the state distributed it… The decisions <on childcare and other social services–authors> were being made by people who did not have children and women in mind.”(Anchorage, 40s.)
“We need more women in positions of leadership, and we need the means in place to allow them to do that while still feeling good about their choices to have a family. Women won’t take on extra leadership roles if they don’t have that support in their community and in their household to extend themselves. Because if we get more women in those positions of leadership, they’re going to be at the table when policymakers are having these conversations about what to do.”(Anchorage, 60s.)
Significant increase in caregiving responsibilities intensified the motherhood penalty restricting women with children’s ability to participate fully in the labor market during the pandemic and its aftermath. As one of our participants stated, in more lucrative, male-dominated spheres, often with inflexible work conditions, women with children might have experienced particularly acute issues in keeping jobs or getting jobs:
“There’s always the chance and childcare they keep closing… So, if you don’t have a job that is sympathetic… you can’t work from home with a one-year-old running around. It’s ridiculous… Productivity and just you’re online talking to some male colleagues, and they don’t understand that you have no choice but to have this child in the background… Especially when you look at these patriarchal companies that are a typical ’old boys club.’ … Energy, shipping, airline,… the tourism industry, cruises, trains, restaurants …—I feel like there are very male dominated for the upper levels.”(Anchorage, 40s.)
Women with children faced greater challenges in re-entering the workforce, particularly due to persistent structural barriers such as an inadequate support system for schoolchildren:
“In Anchorage, we started this school year with students back in, but no buses…We’re all back at the office, and we have no way to get our children back and forth to school… all the way across town. Let’s say you have two children who are in high school and in elementary. Well, the first one has to be at school at 7:30, then the second one has to be at school at 9… Then they need to pick up at 2 o’clock and 3:30. How many jobs are willing to give you that much time? I actually had an opportunity to interview for a job and asked, before I even did the interview, very clearly that I have children, I need a little assistance, and they told me, ’Why don’t you apply again when things are a little bit more normal?’ No accommodation willing. I understand that as a business, that’s their prerogative, but I feel like that automatically puts women into that position. I’m automatically told, ’Okay. Well, <you’re> probably going to hire a man or somebody who doesn’t have kids. Thanks.’(Anchorage, 40s.)
Many women who exited the labor market during the pandemic for the sake of their families are likely to face long-term consequences, including challenges in pursuing careers:
“Nine times out of 10, it was going to be a woman who was going to have to sacrifice her job, sacrifice her time to make sure that things kept running. And then by doing that, because you’ve taken time off… Maybe you had a really great job that would let you work from home. But if you didn’t, guess what? Now, you have a gap in your resume. Now, things don’t look so great. Why were you off for two years? It’s just another thing that makes us just a little bit less desirable to be hired.”(Anchorage, 40s.)
Participant narratives highlighted the emerging crisis in female-dominated occupations. The pandemic intensified pre-existing constraints on women’s resilience, particularly through its disproportionate impact on female-dominated sectors that are underappreciated, undercompensated, and characterized by excessive workloads and demands of performing multiple roles, heightened psychological pressure, disparities between educational attainment and employment outcomes, and an overwhelming increase in work overload:
“The women that I worked with <in childcare–authors>, I would say <handled the pandemic times> poorly. Some of the women were suffering all the same stuff that I was suffering–overworked, underpaid, underappreciated by the system.”(Anchorage, 20s.)
“There was a great deal of time and energy and effort that went into going back teaching in person. There was a lot of intense just fear as providers. We didn’t want to mess up, ’Oh my God, I don’t want to get them <children–authors> sick.’ You had to wipe everything down… We had department meetings, or individual school meetings… We had committees and contingency plans. It was quite the system… That was a nightmare after a while. Really disruptive to this being in school, in person learning and staff members getting sick.”(Anchorage, 30s.)
Greater health risks of contracting COVID-19 also were associated with these female-dominated occupations:
“We were supposed to go back to in-person school in February. I remember people just being livid: ’Do you want to open schools and there’s no vaccines and everyone’s going to be sick?…’ I think that caused a lot of distrust in the community, especially for teachers. Our district here is huge. It’s one of the largest employers in the city and a lot of people no longer trusted or thought that the government or the school district cared about teachers’ safety and felt like we were just peons that were easily replaced…”(Anchorage, 30s.)
Women in occupations, such as teaching, were expected to perform multiple roles simultaneously beyond their primary professional responsibilities, and without additional compensation. As one study participant stressed,
“Teachers were suddenly doing the role of not only a teacher, but also a kind of parent, mental health clinician, cook, providing all of these different things… And not just inundated with, you’re going to do five people’s jobs for the same amount of pay in all of these hours every week.”(Anchorage, 30s.)
The pandemic heightened psychological pressure on women, who could find themselves caught between conflicting expectations from individuals with polarized views on COVID-19 safety measures:
“I would have arguments from families saying, ’I don’t want to bring my kid here because you require masks,’ and the parent of one of the kids in my class who’s a real COVID denier tried to tell us that requiring masks is child abuse… and then other families saying, ’You’re not doing enough to be COVID safe.’(Anchorage, 20s.)
In the context of (post-)pandemic inflation, coupled with slower wage growth, study participants reported that female-dominated occupations were becoming increasingly undercompensated. Additionally, there were significant disparities between educational attainment and employment outcomes, where higher education did not correspond to better wages:
“The most highly paid employee <in our childcare–authors> makes, I think, just under $20 an hour, and that is somebody who has been there for nearly 10 years… No benefits, no healthcare. Some holiday pay, depending on if you were regularly scheduled during a holiday… <Regarding the new hires–authors>, I have seen people with bachelor’s degrees, asking for 18 bucks an hour and being told, ’No, we can do 15.’ It’s pretty insulting… to see somebody with a bachelor’s degree, somebody who’s really capable, somebody who’s really passionate, and say, ’Yeah, this is what you’re worth to the higher-ups’.”(Anchorage, 20s.)
Participant reflections brought attention to the overall worsening conditions in female-dominated occupations, contributing to a pattern of COVID-19-driven women’s exodus from female-dominated occupations and potentially deepening existing gender inequalities in economic security:
“I worked in childcare; I just left earlier this year.. I wasn’t too concerned about getting COVID … but just in that childcare environment, dealing with the emotional toll, dealing with everything there, the really toxic work environment that COVID had exacerbated,…–the underpayment, the long hours… I ended up working 10-hour days pretty regularly because of staffing shortage… You don’t go into childcare to get rich, you do it because you love it, and there’s a lot of turnover because the people who love it enough to pursue a degree in it, once they get that degree, are not going to be paid enough to stay in that..”(Anchorage, 20s.)
“Teachers are those first responders that see things. They get previews and hints of things that aren’t going well in a child’s life and in their home life, and they act as first responders… So many people quit that profession… because they became too much.”(Anchorage, 30s.)
Pandemic-driven women’s exodus from female-dominated sectors represents only one aspect of a broader challenge. The new generation of professionals may increasingly hesitate to enter these female-dominated occupations, further deepening workforce instability in these sectors:
“There are less, and less people inclined to fill those <female-dominated–authors> positions, so how do we make those career pathways desirable and meaningful again? I think it goes back to fair pay… It goes back to making supportive services like counseling and trauma-informed training more readily available…, and more just inspiration for them…”(Anchorage, 30s.)
4. Discussion
Our research identified gendered impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on women in Alaska, with a particular focus on the social and economic domains of gender equality. The analysis of interviews by combining grounded theory and an intersectional lens, enriched by the voice-centered approach to content interpretation, resulted in a revised conceptual framework that describes Alaskan urban women’s experiences during the COVID pandemic from the perspective of resilience within social and economic domains of gender equality (Figure 1). Women reported impacts of the pandemic and their responses to the crisis in a way that revealed strengths and constraints to resilience with both immediate and mid-term implications. The advantage of the conceptual framework is that it integrates both deficit-based and strength-based analytical perspectives, complemented by a voice-centered approach that draws on direct quotations to elucidate women’s lived experiences of resilience in urban environments in Alaska. The focus on these experiences provides profound insights into women’s own understandings of pandemic impacts and responses, as well as sources of strength and roots of constraints. Our study also revealed how deeply the social and economic domains are interlinked in shaping women’s experiences of resilience, with social structures conditioning women’s economic participation, career trajectories, and overall well-being.
Despite considerable constraints emerging or aggravating during the pandemic, Alaska urban women demonstrated remarkable resilience. This resilience was largely based on self-empowerment through the critical re-evaluation of social and economic structures, the reassessment of priorities in family and social relationships, the building of trust-driven, like-minded support networks, as well as the transforming of their livelihoods by meaning-making while concomitantly taking care of their communities. Furthermore, women showed the ability to take advantage of pandemic-driven online opportunities for professional growth and business development and ultimately challenge gendered divisions in the workplace (i.e., “glass walls”) by developing new strategies within employment sectors and demonstrating a versatile leadership style in response to the crisis and its consequences.
In the social domain, our findings suggest that one of the strengths contributing to women’s resilience in Alaska was their critical reflection on an intensified household division of labor and parenting, an issue also highlighted in the previous work by Dunatchik et al. (2021). In addition to re-examining gender roles at home, women also critically reflected on the entrenched supermom syndrome, which is an integral part of intensive parenting characterized by child-centered, time-consuming, and labor-intensive practices, as described by Hays (1996), Faircloth (2021, 2023), and Novoa et al. (2022), with profound adverse effects on mental well-being, as highlighted by Nylin et al. (2025) and Novoa et al. (2022). The diffusion of these parenting practices is also observed in other Arctic countries, such as Iceland, Finland, Sweden, and Norway, where scholars documented the growing prevalence of the “intensive mothering” model (Símonardóttir 2016; Símonardóttir and Arnalds 2024; Auðardóttir 2022; Hjálmsdóttir and Rafnsdóttir 2022; Silonsaari et al. 2024), which undermines work–life balance and limits opportunities for slower-paced, meaningful quality time, as noted by Craig and Brown (2017), Hjorthol and Fyhri (2009), and Hjálmsdóttir and Bjarnadóttir (2021).
While women experienced disruptions to previously established social support networks, often compounded by strained familial relationships due to polarized views on pandemic-related safety measures, they demonstrated adaptive capacity and empowerment by forming new networks and organizing trust-based support groups that also became the critical sources of resilience, as also stated in the work by Hagler et al. (2025).
The ability of individuals to engage in meaning-making from traumatic situations like the COVID-19 pandemic is central to resilience both during crisis and recovery (Park 2016; Todorova et al. 2021; Frankl [1946] 2006). While most pandemic-related studies on meaning-making processes by Venuleo et al. (2020), Weinstock et al. (2023), Yang (2020), and Eisenbeck et al. (2021) are more centered around the personal domain and autonomous individual experiences, our study findings in the social domain demonstrate that research participants found meaning in implementing their roles as community caregivers. They provided support to those in need in their circles and also served in mentor roles to guide the younger generation of women to foster both professional growth and personal empowerment, while also encouraging critical reflection on the systemic and structural inequalities that undermine women’s capacity to thrive. By meaningfully engaging in roles as community caregivers and trailblazers, women not only enhanced their own personal resilience but also played an important role in strengthening resilience at the community level. The study data also illustrate the complexities of women’s experiences, demonstrating how a single concept, such as care, can be perceived in contradictory ways. For some participants, particularly those in single-person households, the caregiver role emerged as a source of meaning-making. For others, especially in family contexts involving young and school-aged children, this was perceived as rather a constraint on resilience within the social domain, representing increased gender disparities and a significant setback in gender equality. These challenges were exacerbated by pre-existing disparities (Oddsdóttir and Ágústsson 2021) marked by the re-emergence of traditional gender roles in the households, a broadened gender-differentiated division of parenting responsibilities, and a rise in domestic violence (Johnson 2021; Violence Policy Center 2021), often linked to the worsening housing crisis in Alaska (Alaska Housing Finance Corporation 2018). While there are no studies that focus on changing gender roles in urban settings in Alaska during the pandemic, some of our study findings align with existing research, particularly pertaining to shifts in women’s roles during times of the pandemic crisis in the Arctic with additional pressures and burdens placed on women (Hjálmsdóttir and Bjarnadóttir 2021; Barkardóttir 2022) and beyond (Leap et al. 2023; Hank and Steinbach 2021; Azcona et al. 2021). The research results further substantiated previously observed deepening in gendered division of parenting responsibilities across Arctic jurisdictions (Otonkorpi-Lehtoranta et al. 2021; Arnalds et al. 2021; Thorsteinsen et al. 2022; Hillier and Greig 2020; Hjálmsdóttir and Bjarnadóttir 2021). The study also revealed increased mental (cognitive and emotional) overload placed on women during the pandemic (Dean et al. 2021; Reich-Stiebert et al. 2023; OECD 2021), causing not only physical burnout, as identified by Nadkarni and Biswas (2022), but also impacts on mental health, as stated by Seedat and Rondon (2021), Ervin et al. (2022), and Piovani and Aydiner-Avsar (2021). In Alaska, this situation was also exacerbated by limited mental health support services (Arctic Mental Health Working Group 2017).
Within the economic domain, the study identified a number of important strengths for resilience. Our interviews indicated that Alaskan women demonstrated the ability to effectively use flexible and remove work schedules. For example, some women were able to keep jobs and remain productive while taking care of children at home, as was also highlighted in previous research by Ding and Williams (2022). Viewed through an intersectional lens, these experiences varied significantly and were shaped by the interplay of factors, including age; motherhood; marital status; household composition; gender dynamics and caregiving responsibilities at home; housing conditions, such as the absence of overcrowding; digital access; place of residence; and other circumstances. For instance, in our study, women living alone, those in households with a more gender-balanced distribution of responsibilities, those with access to affordable and reliable internet more available in larger Arctic cities such as Anchorage, and those living far from their workplace tended to view the flexibility in their work schedule as beneficial.
Women also found a source of strength in their capacity to critically reflect on workplace inequalities and challenge conventional norms that sometimes resulted in a post-pandemic transition into new and male-dominated professions. Although a tendency for women to gradually advance their presence in gender-integrated and traditionally male-dominated occupations (Wiebold 2024; Scott 2024; Karlsdóttir and Dalen 2025) preceded the COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic workplace crisis in female-dominated industries, such as education, childcare, and healthcare, elevated the risks and worsened working conditions to levels that many women were no longer willing to accept. Thus, some of the participants expressed a desire to shift to occupations with more financial advantages, reduced emotional strain, and lower health risks, particularly those that are gender-integrated and tend to offer greater flexibility in work arrangements (Magnusson 2019). This dynamic is likely a sign of a “female exodus” from traditionally female-dominated sectors of care economy toward male-dominated fields observed in other regions of the Arctic (Wiebold 2024; Teel 2022; Scott 2024) and a cause for a potential labor deficit in traditionally female domains (Women and Gender Equality Canada 2021). L. Norton-Cruz argued that this loss has not been met with adequate investment to attract and retain new professionals. However, between 2023 and 2025, the State of Alaska increased funding for childcare beyond previous levels in an effort to address the crisis caused by the expiration of pandemic-era support and to stabilize an already fragile sector (L. Norton-Cruz, personal communication, 6 August 2025). On the other hand, it appears that, at least for some women, the pandemic accelerated the re-evaluation of professional roles and opportunities under dominating gender-based occupational clustering and contributed to breaking professional “glass walls” (Scott 2024; Rozanova-Smith et al. 2021).
The study participants exhibited a strong ability to use education and professional training, particularly in entrepreneurship opportunities, as a means of economic empowerment and professional growth during the pandemic and its aftermath. Such efforts have the potential to become a long-term investment and a factor to exercise power and agency through access to economic resources, including higher-wage roles across various occupational sectors, ultimately contributing to women’s greater economic resilience (see Heintz 2021; Robson and Tedds 2022; Women and Gender Equality Canada 2021; Ferguson 2016).
A setback in gender equality in the economic domain is signified by the heightened levels of unpaid work at home, intensified gender wage and unemployment gaps, lowering “glass ceilings,” increased motherhood penalty, and persistent challenges in re-entering the workforce and pursuing careers. These patterns are similar to other regions in the Arctic (Rozanova-Smith and Petrov 2025). However, as evidenced in this paper, in Alaska, these setbacks were amplified by housing and childcare crises, as well as the digital divide, related to the affordability and reliability of Internet connection. In our study, research participants who were mothers of young children and/or lived in overcrowded homes with inadequate housing conditions, and who experienced the digital divide, a reality prevalent in smaller urban Arctic communities like Nome, faced significant constraints when working or studying from home, which further entrenched structural inequalities (Zheng and Walsham 2021).
An increased gender unemployment gap resulted from Alaskan women leaving their employment, or the labor force altogether, due to job-related burnout, drop-out, and time-out, a pattern also identified in other places (Petts et al. 2021; Zamberlan et al. 2021). Certain groups were affected more acutely, deepening pre-existing disparities. This includes women working in female-dominated sectors, such as healthcare, education, social services, and childcare, who confronted severe burnout and heightened exposure to health risks due to their roles on the pandemic’s frontlines (Smith et al. 2023). Female front-line workers in healthcare, K-12 education, and essential retail roles endured disproportionate exposure to the virus, severe mental health pressures, and insufficient financial compensation. Many women with children faced a motherhood penalty: they were forced to drop out and take time out from the labor force as they confronted a heightened financial instability due to job losses and limited access to childcare services (Cox et al. 2025). A burnout and time-out will likely keep affecting economic productivity in the foreseeable future as women continue to face challenges in returning to work or maintaining full time positions after the pandemic. As identified in a survey conducted by the Anchorage and Alaska Chambers of Commerce, the lack of childcare during and after the pandemic has had significant impacts on workforce participation among 77% of parents and was the second-biggest barrier to workforce development after the lack of qualified applicants (U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation 2021).
The lingering impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic potentially create a long-term crisis in female-dominated occupations. Before the pandemic, female-dominated sectors in Alaska were associated with better employment stability. However, during the pandemic, these industries were severely affected by closures and quarantines and/or demonstrated elevated health risks, leading to voluntary or involuntary job losses among female workers. Women, especially those in lower-wage positions and without substantial savings, were disproportionately affected by financial instability, with mothers particularly vulnerable to income loss and economic insecurity, as well as dissatisfaction with their professional careers (Freysteinsdóttir 2022).
Another constraint to resilience was increased unpaid domestic labor. A significant spike in women’s household and caregiving responsibilities and the widespread closure of schools and childcare services further restricted women’s ability to fully participate in the labor market. Alaskan women reported that the burden of unpaid domestic work increased significantly, compounding economic challenges during the pandemic. Importantly, the narratives shared with us also highlighted the (post-)pandemic-related link between increased mental overload and women’s unpaid household labor and their lowered capacity for empowerment in public and political life, as well as their overall workplace advancement. This observation also contributes to the new body of research on this important issue, including the works of Weeks (2024) and Helgøy and Weeks (2025).
The study interviews also revealed growing inequalities in the gendered division of labor in household and parenting responsibilities during the pandemic, exacerbated by the lack of affordable and accessible childcare infrastructure in Alaska (U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation 2021). This dynamic further amplified broader gender disparities and set limitations in women’s engagement in other spheres of life. At the same time, gender imbalance in leadership positions was one of the major constraints to resilience. These dynamics resulted in professional, occupational, and leadership segregation. While women are playing an increasingly prominent role in business and administrative sectors, their presence in leadership positions, especially in the government, remains limited. In this context, women’s legitimate interests, particularly those of mothers, were not strongly advocated for, due to limited female representation in political leadership prior to the pandemic (Rozanova-Smith et al. 2021), and were also deprioritized in pandemic policy responses prepared by decision-makers who did not focus on women’s needs (Goodfield et al. 2023; Rozanova-Smith et al. 2023b), including support for social infrastructure and measures to prevent domestic violence.
Limitations and Future Research
While this study provides valuable insights into women’s resilience during the COVID-19 pandemic and its aftermath, it is important to recognize certain limitations in this study. Additional longitudinal studies are needed to more fully track the dynamics of resilience by examining not only women’s ability to withstand and adapt to crises, but also an essential component of the longer-term processes of recovery and (self-)empowerment. Future research should examine how the policy context during the COVID-19 crisis shaped women’s experiences and outcomes. It should also assess how the study findings generalize to gender equality in Alaska and beyond. Another limitation is that the study’s findings are based on the experiences of a limited pool of participants in Alaska’s urban context, and they should be interpreted with caution when generalizing to other urban Arctic areas. Also, there remains a need to better understand the gendered impacts of the pandemic in other domains of gender equality, including civic and political life, as well as across other demographic groups. In particular, further studies should also incorporate male perspectives to develop a more comprehensive and holistic understanding of how gender roles and expectations in the household, in parenting, and in the workplace shape gender dynamics and influence overall resilience across various domains of gender equality in the context of crises. It is also important to explore the experiences of migrant women in Alaska during the crisis and the recovery period, as their narratives received limited attention.
5. Conclusions
This study aimed at improving the understanding of the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on women in the urban areas of Alaska by examining strengths and constraints to resilience within the social and economic domains of gender equality during the pandemic and its aftermath. The study implemented a narrative-centered and place-based perspective that elevated participants’ own voices and supported contextualized analysis. It also highlighted the interconnectedness of social and economic gender equality domains in respect to resilience during a crisis, such as the COVID-19 pandemic.
Alaska’s urban women were severely affected by the pandemic. However, they demonstrated resilience that was centered around self-empowerment and community caregiving. Self-empowerment was driven by critically re-evaluating social and economic gendered structures, reassessing priorities in family and social relationships, and mobilizing support networks. Along with community caregiving, which was central to Alaskan women’s role during the pandemic, it became instrumental in shaping women’s livelihoods by transforming acts of reflection and care into processes of meaning-making and sources of personal strength. In addition, women demonstrated the ability to successfully capitalize on pandemic-driven opportunities, such as by advancing their professional development (e.g., through online education) and critically reflecting on female-dominated occupations, exploring the potential for transitioning into new, male-dominated fields. The crisis also enabled a re-evaluation of a deeply entrenched gender dynamic and facilitated women’s ability to challenge gendered divisions in both the workplace and at home.
At the same time, the pandemic marked a substantial setback for gender equality across both social and economic domains. In the social domain, it exacerbated pre-existing gender disparities, as traditional gender roles within households re-emerged and parenting responsibilities became increasingly unequal. A significant constraint was the disruption of well-established pre-pandemic social support networks, primarily due to intensified political polarization and intra-family disagreements over pandemic-related safety measures. An increase in domestic violence was also observed, highlighting the crisis’s disproportionate impact on women, particularly those experiencing housing insecurity characterized by both overcrowding and inadequate housing conditions. Additionally, decision-making processes in social policy, especially in areas concerning social infrastructure and safety measures, often placed lower priority on women’s legitimate interests. In the economic sphere, the pandemic widened unemployment and income gaps and decreased economic security for women. Increased unpaid domestic labor and a motherhood penalty became particularly severe. These processes will likely have long-lasting implications. The looming demise of female-dominated sectors, stricken by the female flight from the “care economy”, exacerbated wage gap, persistent or lowering “glass ceiling,” and dissatisfaction with traditional employment options and choices may drive further restructuring of female employment and coincide with the childcare services crisis to threaten Alaska’s economic future.
It is important to point out that the pandemic recovery is not over in respect to social and economic implications and will likely last for some time. Women need continuous support to further adapt to post-pandemic conditions, including childcare and professional development in gender-inclusive or male-dominated domains, to reduce wage gaps and improve the working environments in female-dominated occupations. Ultimately, advancing women’s empowerment and ensuring greater representation in decision-making roles are critical to strengthening resilience in both the social and economic domains of gender equality.
Author Contributions
Conceptualization, M.R.-S. and A.N.P.; methodology, M.R.-S. and A.N.P.; formal analysis (Atlas.ti coding), M.R.-S.; investigation (interviews), M.R.-S.; data curation, M.R.-S.; writing—original draft preparation, M.R.-S. and A.N.P.; writing—review and editing, M.R.-S. and A.N.P.; project administration, M.R.-S.; funding acquisition, M.R.-S. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.
Funding
This research was funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation (Project “Understanding the Gendered Impacts of COVID-19 in the Arctic” (COVID-GEA), award number PLR 2137410, and Project “Measuring Urban Sustainability in Transition” (MUST), awards PLR 2127364 and PLR 2127366).
Institutional Review Board Statement
This study was conducted in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki and approved by the Institutional Review Board of The George Washington University (approval NCR213739), the Alaska Area Institutional Review Board (IRB) (approved on 17 April 2022), and the Norton Sound Health Corporation Research Ethics and Review (NSCH RERB) Board (approved on 4 October 2022).
Informed Consent Statement
Informed consent was obtained from all research participants involved in the study.
Data Availability Statement
The original contributions presented in the study are included in the article, and further inquiries can be directed to the corresponding author. Restrictions may apply to primary sources of information based on principles of Indigenous data sovereignty. Precautions will be taken to protect the privacy of research participants and maintain the confidentiality of their personal information.
Acknowledgments
We sincerely thank all the study participants and our COVID-GEA project partners. We extend our heartfelt gratitude to Charlene Apok for her leadership role in Alaska and overall invaluable contribution to the COVID-GEA project, and Stacey Lucason for her valuable contributions to team discussions, field activities, participant recruitment, and support in organizing conference presentations of research findings. Our sincere gratitude goes to Laura Norton-Cruz, a member of the COVID-GEA Project Advisory Board, documentary film producer, and early childhood advocate, for her invaluable guidance and expertise on the pandemic’s gendered impacts on women and the state of the childcare system in Alaska throughout the course of this study. We are grateful to the Norton Sound Health Corporation Research Ethics and Review (RERB) Board and the members of the COVID-GEA project advisory board for their support. Finally, our sincere thanks go to the Social Sciences journal Editorial team, as well as the anonymous reviewers for their highly valuable comments and great ideas for future research directions. Land acknowledgement: The COVID-GEA Project honors the ancestral stewards of the Indigenous lands included in our study areas in Alaska. Among these stewards are the Eklutna Dena’ina, the K’enaht’ana, and the Iñupiat. We acknowledge and respect their knowledge and wisdom.
Conflicts of Interest
The authors declare no conflicts of interest.
References
- Absolon, Kathy. 2010. Indigenous Wholistic Theory: A Knowledge Set for Practice. First Peoples Child & Family Review 5: 74–87. [Google Scholar]
- Adams, Robert. 2008. Empowerment, Participation and Social Work. London: Palgrave Macmillan. [Google Scholar]
- Agloinga, Christina. 2021. Indigenous Women: Violence, Vulnerability, and Cultural Protective Factors. Ph.D. dissertation, Walden University, Minneapolis, MN, USA. [Google Scholar]
- Akakpo, Afi Florence, Koffi Sodokin, and Mawuli Kodjovi Couchoro. 2025. Social Capital, Gender-Based Resilience, and Well-Being among Urban and Rural Households in Togo. Journal of International Development 37: 251–99. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Alaska Criminal Justice Commission. 2022. Domestic Violence in Alaska. Anchorage: Alaska Criminal Justice Commission. Available online: https://www.ajc.state.ak.us/acjc/docs/rr/domestic_violence_in_alaska.pdf (accessed on 2 April 2025).
- Alaska Department of Health. 2024. Statewide Suicide Prevention Council Annual Report 2024. Available online: https://health.alaska.gov/media/0umechcc/sspcannualreport2024.pdf (accessed on 4 April 2025).
- Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development, Research and Analysis. 2025. Alaska Economic Trends (Monthly Economic Trends Magazine). July. Available online: https://live.laborstats.alaska.gov/trends-magazine/2025/July/the-cost-of-living-in-alaska (accessed on 2 August 2025).
- Alaska Housing Finance Corporation. 2018. 2018 Alaska Housing Assessment. Available online: https://www.ahfc.us/pros/energy/alaska-housing-assessment/2018-housing-assessment (accessed on 19 April 2025).
- Alon, Titan, Matthias Doepke, Jane Olmstead-Rumsey, and Michèle Tertilt. 2020. The Impact of the Coronavirus Pandemic on Gender Equality. Covid Economics: Vetted and Real-Time Papers 4: 62–85. [Google Scholar]
- Alsop, Ruth, Nina Heinsohn, and Abigail Somma. 2005. Measuring Empowerment: An Analytic Framework. In Power, Rights and Poverty: Concepts and Connections. Edited by Ruth Alsop. Washington: World Bank. [Google Scholar]
- American Society of Civil Engineers, Alaska Section. 2025. 2025 Report Card for Alaska’s Infrastructure: Full Report. Available online: https://infrastructurereportcard.org/state-item/alaska/ (accessed on 23 April 2025).
- Arctic Council. 2016. Arctic Resilience Report 2016. Available online: https://oaarchive.arctic-council.org/items/894931be-6903-4e89-a333-512851b64bc3 (accessed on 2 March 2025).
- Arctic Mental Health Working Group. 2017. Alaska’s Mental Health Care Workforce Shortage; U.S. Arctic Research Commission. Available online: https://www.arctic.gov/uploads/assets/mental_health_workforce_10-2-17.pdf (accessed on 2 April 2025).
- Arctic Resilience Forum. 2020. Arctic Resilience Forum 2020. Available online: https://sdwg.org/what-we-do/projects/arctic-resilience-forum-2020/ (accessed on 24 February 2025).
- Arnalds, Ásdís Aðalbjörg, Ann-Zofie Duvander, Guðný Björk Eydal, and Ingólfur Vilhjálmur Gíslason. 2021. Constructing Parenthood in Times of Crisis. Journal of Family Studies 27: 420–35. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Auðardóttir, Auður Magndís. 2022. From progressiveness to perfection: Mothers’ descriptions of their children in print media, 1970–1979 versus 2010–2019. European Journal of Cultural Studies 26: 212–29. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Azcona, Ginette, Antra Bhatt, Jessamyn Encarnacion, Juncal Plazaola-Castaño, Papa Seck, Silke Staab, and Laura Turquet. 2021. From Insights to Action: Gender Equality in the Wake of COVID-19. United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women). Available online: https://www.unwomen.org/en/digital-library/publications/2020/09/gender-equality-in-the-wake-of-covid-19 (accessed on 19 February 2025).
- Azcona, Ginette, Antra Bhatt, Sara E. Davies, Sophie Harman, Julia Smith, and ClareWenham. 2020. Spotlight on Gender, COVID-19 and the SDGs: Will the Pandemic Derail Hard-Won Progress on Gender Equality? United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women). Available online: https://eprints.lse.ac.uk/105826/ (accessed on 26 March 2025).
- Barkardóttir, Freyja. 2022. The Gendered Effects of the COVID-19 Crisis in Iceland. Stockholm: Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung. Available online: https://library.fes.de/pdf-files/bueros/stockholm/19732.pdf (accessed on 8 February 2025).
- Berry, Marie. 2022. Radicalizing Resilience: Mothering, Solidarity, and Interdependence among Women Survivors of War. Journal of International Relations and Development 25: 946–66. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Branicki, Layla, Holly Birkett, and Bridgette Sullivan-Taylor. 2023. Gender and Resilience at Work: A Critical Introduction. Gender, Work & Organization 30: 129–34. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Bridges, Donna, Elizabeth Wulff, and Larissa Bamberry. 2023. Resilience for Gender Inclusion: Developing a Model for Women in Male-Dominated Occupations. Gender, Work & Organization 30: 263–79. [Google Scholar]
- Brysk, Alison. 2023. Pandemic Patriarchy: The Impact of a Global Health Crisis on Women’s Rights. In Rights at Stake and the COVID-19 Pandemic. London: Routledge, pp. 168–88. [Google Scholar]
- Bureau of Health Workforce, Health Resources & Services Administration. 2024. Designated Health Professional Shortage Areas Statistics: Designated HPSA Quarterly Summary, as of December 31, 2024; U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Available online: https://data.hrsa.gov/topics/health-workforce/shortage-areas (accessed on 22 April 2025).
- Charmaz, Kathy, and Linda Liska Belgrave. 2012. Qualitative Interviewing and Grounded Theory Analysis. In The SAGE Handbook of Interview Research: The Complexity of the Craft. Edited by Jaber Gubrium, James Holstein, Amir Marvasti and Karyn McKinney. Thousand Oaks: Sage. [Google Scholar]
- Collins, Patricia Hill. 2019. Intersectionality as Critical Social Theory. Durham: Duke University Press. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Cook, David, and Lára Johannsdottir. 2021. Impacts, Systemic Risk and National Response Measures Concerning COVID-19—The Island Case Studies of Iceland and Greenland. Sustainability 13: 8470. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Cornwall, Andrea. 2016. Women’s Empowerment: What Works? Journal of International Development 28: 342–59. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Cox, Laura, Elin Alfredsson, and Elia Psouni. 2025. Mothers’ Experiences of Family Life during COVID-19: A Qualitative Comparison between Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Community, Work & Family 28: 254–71. [Google Scholar]
- Craig, Lyn, and Judith Brown. 2017. Feeling Rushed: Gendered Time Quality, Work Hours, Nonstandard Work Schedules, and Spousal Crossover. Journal of Marriage and Family 79: 225–42. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Cueva, Katie, Elizabeth Rink, Josée Lavoie, Gwen Healey Akearok, Sean Guistini, Nicole Kanayurak, Jon Petter Stoor, and Christina Viskum Lytken Larsen. 2021. From Resilient to Thriving: Policy Recommendations to Support Health and Well-Being in the Arctic. Arctic 74: 550–58. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Cueva, Katie, Malory Peterson, Ay’aqulluk Jim Chaliak, and Rebecca Ipiaqruk Young. 2024. A Qualitative Exploration of the Impacts of COVID-19 in Two Rural Southwestern Alaska Communities. International Journal of Circumpolar Health 83: 2313823. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
- Dean, Liz, Brendan Churchill, and Leah Ruppanner. 2021. The Mental Load: Building a Deeper Theoretical Understanding of How Cognitive and Emotional Labor Overload Women and Mothers. Community, Work & Family 25: 13–29. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- de Paz, Carmen, Miriam Muller, Ana Maria Muñoz Boudet, and Isis Gaddis. 2020. Gender Dimensions of the COVID-19 Pandemic. Washington: World Bank. Available online: http://hdl.handle.net/10986/33622 (accessed on 4 April 2025).
- Ding, Regina, and Allison Williams. 2022. Places of Paid Work and Unpaid Work: Caregiving and Work-from-Home during COVID-19. The Canadian Geographer 66: 156–71. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Dunatchik, Allison, Kathleen Gerson, Jennifer Glass, Jerry Jacobs, and Haley S Stritzel. 2021. Gender, Parenting, and the Rise of Remote Work during the Pandemic: Implications for Domestic Inequality in the United States. Gender & Society 35: 194–205. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Eisenbeck, Nikolett, José Antonio Pérez-Escobar, and David Carreno. 2021. Meaning-Centered Coping in the Era of COVID-19: Direct and Moderating Effects on Depression, Anxiety, and Stress. Frontiers in Psychology 12: 648383. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
- Erman, Alvina, Sophie Anne de Vries Robbé, Stephan Fabian Thies, Kayenat Kabir, and Mirai Maruo. 2021. Gender Dimensions of Disaster Risk and Resilience: Existing Evidence. Available online: https://srhr.dspace-express.com/server/api/core/bitstreams/bb8ad2f9-31c4-4568-8f53-ce30b15008bb/content (accessed on 18 January 2025).
- Ervin, Jennifer, Yamna Taouk, Ludmila Fleitas Alfonzo, Tessa Peasgood, and Tania King. 2022. Longitudinal Association between Informal Unpaid Caregiving and Mental Health amongst Working Age Adults in High-Income OECD Countries: A Systematic Review. EClinicalMedicine 53: 101589. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Faircloth, Charlotte. 2021. When Equal Partners Become Unequal Parents: Couple Relationships and Intensive Parenting Culture. Families, Relationships and Societies 10: 231–48. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Faircloth, Charlotte. 2023. Intensive Parenting and the Expansion of Parenting. In Parenting Culture Studies. Cham: Palgrave Macmillan. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Ferguson, Sarah-Jane. 2016. Women and Education: Qualifications, Skills and Technology; Ottawa: Statistics Canada. Available online: https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED585396.pdf (accessed on 28 January 2025).
- Flor, Luisa, Joseph Friedman, Cory Spencer, John Cagney, Alejandra Arrieta, Molly Herbert, and Emmanuela Gakidou. 2022. Quantifying the Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Gender Equality on Health, Social, and Economic Indicators: A Comprehensive Review of Data from March 2020 to September 2021. The Lancet 399: 2381–97. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Foley, Geraldine, Virpi Timonen, Catherine Conlon, and Catherine Elliott O’Dare. 2021. Interviewing as a Vehicle for Theoretical Sampling in Grounded Theory. International Journal of Qualitative Methods 20: 1–10. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Frankl, Viktor. 2006. Man’s Search for Meaning. Translated by IlseLasch. Boston: Beacon Press. First published 1946. [Google Scholar]
- Freysteinsdóttir, Freydís Jóna. 2022. Social Workers in Iceland in the Pandemic: Job Satisfaction, Stress, and Burnout. In Social Work—Perspectives on Leadership and Organisation. London: IntechOpen. [Google Scholar]
- Fried, Ruby, Micah Hahn, Lauren Gillott, Patricia Cochran, and Laura Eichelberger. 2022. Coping Strategies and Household Stress/Violence in Remote Alaska: A Longitudinal View across the COVID-19 Pandemic. International Journal of Circumpolar Health 81: 2149064. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
- Fried, Ruby, Micah Hahn, Patricia Cochran, and Laura Eichelberger. 2023. ‘Remoteness Was a Blessing, but Also a Potential Downfall’: Traditional/Subsistence and Store-Bought Food Access in Remote Alaska during the COVID-19 Pandemic. Public Health Nutrition 26: 1317–25. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
- Garcia, Gabriel, Joy Mapaye, Rebecca Van Wyck, Katie Cueva, Elizabeth H. Snyder, Jennifer Meyer, Jennifer Miller, and Thomas Hennessy. 2020. Needs Assessment Related to COVID-19 with Special Populations: Brief Report. Anchorage: University of Alaska Anchorage. Available online: https://scholarworks.alaska.edu/handle/11122/12951 (accessed on 24 January 2025).
- Giacci, Elena, Kee Straits, Amanda Gelman, Summer Miller-Walfish, Rosemary Iwuanyanwu, and Elizabeth Miller. 2021. Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence, Reproductive Coercion, and Reproductive Health among American Indian and Alaska Native Women: A Narrative Interview Study. Journal of Women’s Health 31: 13–22. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Glomsrød, Solveig, Gérard Duhaime, and Iulie Aslaksen, eds. 2021. The Economy of the North—ECONOR 2020. Tromsø: Arctic Council Secretariat. Available online: https://www.ssb.no/en/natur-og-miljo/artikler-og-publikasjoner/the-economy-of-the-north-econor-2020 (accessed on 8 April 2025).
- Glomsrød, Solveig, Gérard Duhaime, and Iulie Aslaksen, eds. 2025. The Economy of the North—ECONOR 2025. Tromsø: Arctic Council Secretariat. Available online: https://www.ssb.no/en/natur-og-miljo/miljoregnskap/artikler/the-economy-of-the-north--econor-2025 (accessed on 30 May 2025).
- Golubeva, Elena, Anastasia Emelyanova, Olga Kharkova, Arja Rautio, and Andrey Soloviev. 2022. Caregiving of Older Persons during the COVID-19 Pandemic in the Russian Arctic Province: Challenges and Practice. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 19: 2775. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
- Goodfield, Laura, Anissa Ozbek, Riya Bhushan, Sophie Rosenthal, Alicia Glassman, and Marya Rozanova-Smith. 2023. Understanding the COVID-19 Pandemic Gendered Policy Responses in Alaska through the Prism of a Holistic Wellness Concept. In Arctic Yearbook 2023. Edited by J. Spence, H. Exner-Pirot and A. Petrov. Akureyri: Northern Research Forum & University of the Arctic. [Google Scholar]
- Goyal, Rita, Nada Kakabadse, Andrew Kakabadse, and Danielle Talbot. 2023. Female Board Directors’ Resilience against Gender Discrimination. Gender, Work & Organization 30: 197–222. [Google Scholar]
- Graybill, Jessica, and Andrey Petrov. 2020. Arctic Sustainability, Key Methodologies and Knowledge Domains. In Arctic Sustainability, Key Methodologies and Knowledge Domains. Edited by Andrey Petrov. London: Routledge, pp. 1–22. [Google Scholar]
- Hagler, Matthew, Elizabeth Taylor, Michelle Wright, and Katie Querna. 2025. Psychosocial Strengths and Resilience among Sexual and Gender Minority Youth Experiencing Homelessness: A Scoping Review. Trauma, Violence, & Abuse 26: 327–41. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Hamby, Sherry, John Grych, and Victoria Banyard. 2018. Resilience Portfolios and Poly-Strengths: Identifying Protective Factors Associated with Thriving after Adversity. Psychology of Violence 8: 172–83. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Haney, Timothy, and Kristen Barber. 2022. The Extreme Gendering of COVID−19: Household Tasks and Division of Labour Satisfaction during the Pandemic. Canadian Review of Sociology 59: 26–47. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Hank, Karsten, and Anja Steinbach. 2021. The Virus Changed Everything, Didn’t It? Couples’ Division of Housework and Childcare before and during the Corona Crisis. Journal of Family Research 33: 99–114. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Hankivsky, Olena. 2014. Intersectionality 101. Vancouver: Institute for Intersectionality Research and Policy, Simon Fraser University. [Google Scholar]
- Hart, Angie, Emily Gagnon, Suna Eryigit-Madzwamuse, Josh Cameron, Kay Aranda, Anne Rathbone, and Becky Heaver. 2016. Uniting Resilience Research and Practice with an Inequalities Approach. SAGE Open 6: 1–13. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Haupt, Marlene, and Viola Lind. 2021. Gender Crisis, or Not? A Comparative Analysis of the Impact on Gender Equality in Sweden and Germany Due to the COVID-19 Pandemic. In Social Policy Review 33. Bristol: Policy Press, chap. 7. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Hays, Sharon. 1996. The Cultural Contradictions of Motherhood. New Haven: Yale University Press. [Google Scholar]
- Heintz, James. 2021. Stalled Progress: Why Labour Markets Are Failing Women. In Women’s Economic Empowerment: Insights from Africa and South Asia. Edited by Kate Grantham, Gillian Dowie and Arjan de Haan. Abingdon: Routledge, pp. 51–74. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Helgøy, Anna, and Ana Catalano Weeks. 2025. Crowded Out: The Influence of Mental Load Priming on Intentions to Participate in Public Life. British Journal of Political Science 55: e29. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Hillier, Kimberly, and Christopher Greig. 2020. Motherhood and Mothering during COVID-19: A Gendered Intersectional Analysis of Caregiving during the Global Pandemic within a Canadian Context. Journal of Mother Studies 5: 1. [Google Scholar]
- Hjálmsdóttir, Andrea, and Guðbjörg Linda Rafnsdóttir. 2022. Gender, Doctorate Holders, Career Path, and Work–Life Balance Within and Outside of Academia. Journal of Sociology 60: 192–208. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Hjálmsdóttir, Andrea, and Valgerður Bjarnadóttir. 2021. ‘I Have Turned into a Foreman Here at Home’: Families and Work–Life Balance in Times of COVID-19 in a Gender Equality Paradise. Gender, Work & Organization 28: 268–83. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Hjorthol, Randi, and Aslak Fyhri. 2009. Do Organized Leisure Activities for Children Encourage Car-Use? Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice 43: 209–18. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Inuit Circumpolar Council (ICC). 2022. Circumpolar Inuit Protocols for Equitable and Ethical Engagement. Anchorage: ICC. Available online: https://www.inuitcircumpolar.com/project/circumpolar-inuit-protocols-for-equitable-and-ethical-engagement/ (accessed on 8 March 2025).
- Johnson, Ingrid. 2021. 2020 Statewide Alaska Victimization Survey: Final Report; Anchorage: University of Alaska Anchorage Justice Center. Available online: https://scholarworks.alaska.edu/handle/11122/12259 (accessed on 3 March 2025).
- Johnson, Noor, Kaare Sikuaq Erickson, Daniel Ferguson, Mary Beth Jäger, Lydia Jennings, Amy Juan, Shawna Larson, Wendy K’ah Skaahluwaa Smythe, Colleen Strawhacker, Althea Walker, and et al. 2022. The Impact of COVID-19 on Food Access for Alaska Natives in 2020. Washington: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Juncos, Ana, and Philippe Bourbeau. 2022. Resilience, Gender, and Conflict: Thinking about Resilience in a Multidimensional Way. Journal of International Relations and Development 25: 861–78. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Kabeer, Naila. 1999. Resources, Agency, Achievements: Reflections on the Measurement of Women’s Empowerment. Development and Change 30: 435–64. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Kabeer, Naila, Shahra Razavi, and Yana van der Meulen Rodgers. 2021. Feminist Economic Perspectives on the COVID-19 Pandemic. Feminist Economics 27: 1–29. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Kaijser, Anna, and Annica Kronsell. 2014. Climate Change through the Lens of Intersectionality. Environmental Politics 23: 417–33. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Karlsdóttir, Anna, and Hanne Marit Dalen. 2025. Gender Distribution in the Nordic Primary Industry with a Focus on the Blue Economy. In The Economy of the North—ECONOR 2025. Edited by Sverre Glomsrød, Gérard Duhaime and Iulie Aslaksen. Tromsø: Arctic Council Secretariat, pp. 129–131. [Google Scholar]
- Karlsdóttir, Anna, and Hjördís Guðmundsdóttir. 2024. Ensuring Gender Equality in Nordic Blue Economy: Results from the Salmon and Equality Project. Copenhagen: Nordic Council of Ministers. [Google Scholar]
- Karlsdóttir, Anna, Jean-Michel Huctin, Jeanne-Marie Gherardi, Tanguy Sandré, and Jean-Paul Vanderlinden. 2023. Working with and for Arctic Communities on Resilience Enhancement. Arctic Yearbook. Available online: https://arcticyearbook.com/arctic-yearbook/2023/2023-scholarly-papers/495-working-with-and-for-arctic-communities-on-resilience-enhancement (accessed on 17 February 2025).
- Kovach, Margaret. 2021. Indigenous Methodologies: Characteristics, Conversations, and Contexts. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. [Google Scholar]
- Kwan, Vivien, Johnson Chun-Sing Cheung, and Jenny Wai-Chi Kong. 2020. Women’s Leadership in the COVID-19 Pandemic. Political Insight 11: 13–15. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Landry, Bart, ed. 2007. Race, Gender and Class: Theory and Methods of Analysis, 1st ed. New York: Routledge. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Larsen, Joan Nymand, and Gail Fondahl. 2014. Arctic Human Development Report II: Regional Processes and Global Linkages. Copenhagen: Nordic Council of Ministers. [Google Scholar]
- Leap, Braden, Marybeth Stalp, and Kimberly Kelly. 2023. Reorganizations of Gendered Labor during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Review and Suggestions for Further Research. Sociological Inquiry 93: 179–200. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Le Masson, Virginie. 2015. BRACED Working Paper: Gender and Resilience. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Lemieux, Thomas, Kevin Milligan, Tammy Schirle, and Mikal Skuterud. 2020. Initial Impacts of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Canadian Labour Market. Canadian Public Policy 46: S55–S65. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
- Levy, Diane, Jolie Biess, Alexandra Baum, Nancy Pindus, and Brian Murray. 2017. Housing Needs of American Indians and Alaska Natives Living in Urban Areas: A Report from the Assessment of American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian Housing Needs. Washington: U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Available online: https://www.urban.org/research/publication/housing-needs-american-indians-and-alaska-natives-tribal-areas (accessed on 11 April 2025).
- Lowe, Marie, and Suzanne Sharp. 2021. Gendering Human Capital Development in Western Alaska. Economic Anthropology 8: 46–60. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Lundgren, Gunnel, Maria Bengtsson, and Anna Liebenhagen. 2023. Swedish Emergency Nurses’ Experiences of the Preconditions for the Safe Collection of Blood Culture in the Emergency Department during the COVID-19 Pandemic. Nursing Open 10: 1619–28. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Magnusson, Charlotta. 2019. Flexible Time—But Is the Time Owned? Family Friendly and Family Unfriendly Work Arrangements, Occupational Gender Composition and Wages: A Test of the Mother-Friendly Job Hypothesis in Sweden. Community, Work & Family 24: 291–314. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Markova, V. N., K. Alekseeva, A. N. Neustroeva, and E. V. Potravnaya. 2021. Analysis and Forecast of the Poverty Rate in the Arctic Zone of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia). Studies on Russian Economic Development 32: 415–23. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Marks, Amy, Alice Woolverton, and Cynthia García Coll. 2020. Risk and Resilience in Minority Youth Populations. Annual Review of Clinical Psychology 16: 151–63. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Martin, Karen, and Booran Mirraboopa. 2003. Ways of Knowing, Being, and Doing: A Theoretical Framework and Methods for Indigenous and Indigenist Research. Journal of Australian Studies 27: 203–14. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Martin, Ron. 2012. Regional Economic Resilience, Hysteresis and Recessionary Shocks. Journal of Economic Geography 12: 1–32. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Men, Fei, and Valerie Tarasuk. 2021. Food Insecurity amid the COVID-19 Pandemic: Food Charity, Government Assistance, and Employment. Canadian Public Policy 47: 202–30. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Meter, Ken, and Megan Phillips Goldenberg. 2014. Building Food Security in Alaska. Minneapolis: Crossroads Resource Center. [Google Scholar]
- Meyer, Ilan. 2015. Resilience in the Study of Minority Stress and Health of Sexual and Gender Minorities. Psychology of Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity 2: 209–13. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Moffitt, Pertice, Wendy Aujla, Crystal J. Giesbrecht, Isabel Grant, and Anna-Lee Straatman. 2022. Intimate Partner Violence and COVID-19 in Rural, Remote, and Northern Canada: Relationship, Vulnerability and Risk. Journal of Family Violence 37: 775–86. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
- Nadkarni, Ashwini, and Jhilam Biswas. 2022. Gender Disparity in Cognitive Load and Emotional Labor—Threats to Women Physician Burnout. JAMA Psychiatry 79: 745–46. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Narayan, Deepa, ed. 2002. Empowerment and Poverty Reduction: A Sourcebook. Washington: World Bank. [Google Scholar]
- Nelson, Katie, Alexandra Jackson, Cassandra Nguyen, Carolyn Noonan, Clemma Muller, Richard MacLehose, Spero Manson, Denise Dillard, and Dedra Buchwald. 2024. Food Insecurity in Urban American Indian and Alaska Native Populations during the COVID-19 Pandemic. BMC Public Health 24: 903. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Nesset, Merete Berg, Camilla Buch Gudde, Gro Elisabet Mentzoni, and Tom Palmstierna. 2021. Intimate Partner Violence during COVID-19 Lockdown in Norway: The Increase of Police Reports. BMC Public Health 21: 1–9. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
- Nicewonger, Todd, Lisa McNair, and Stacey Fritz. 2021. COVID-19 and Housing Security in Remote Alaska Native Communities: An Annotated Bibliography. Edited by Lisa D. McNair, Todd E. Nicewonger and Stacey Fritz. Washington: Department of the Interior, Bureau of Indian Affairs. Available online: https://pressbooks.lib.vt.edu/alaskanative/ (accessed on 11 April 2025).
- Novoa, Consuelo, Félix Cova, Gabriela Nazar, Karen Oliva, and Pablo Vergara-Barra. 2022. Intensive Parenting: The Risks of Overdemanding. Trends in Psychology 33: 53–66. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Nylin, Anna-Karin, Stefanie Mollborn, and Sunnee Billingsley. 2025. Does Intensive Parenting Come at the Expense of Parents’ Health? Evidence from Sweden. Stockholm Research Reports in Demography. Stockholm: Stockholm University. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Oddsdóttir, Embla Eir, and Hjalti Ómar Ágústsson, eds. 2021. Pan-Arctic Report: Gender Equality in the Arctic. Akureyri: Iceland’s Arctic Council Chairmanship, Arctic Council Sustainable Development Working Group, Icelandic Arctic Cooperation Network, Icelandic Directorate for Equality, Stefansson Arctic Institute. [Google Scholar]
- OECD. 2021. Caregiving in Crisis: Gender Inequality in Paid and Unpaid Work during COVID-19. OECD Policy Responses to Coronavirus (COVID-19). Paris: OECD Publishing. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Office of the Governor, State of Alaska. 2020. COVID-19 Health Mandates. In State of Alaska; March 28. Available online: https://gov.alaska.gov/home/covid19-healthmandates/ (accessed on 7 August 2025).
- Olsen, Bjørn, Andrey Mineev, Erlend Bullvåg, Sissel Ovesen, Alexandra Middleton, Elena Hoff, and Andrey Bryksenkov. 2022. Business Index North: A Periodic Report with Insights to Business Activity and Opportunities in the Arctic: Socio-Economic Resilience in the Barents Arctic. Bodø: Nord University Business School. Available online: https://businessindexnorth.com/sites/b/businessindexnorth.com/files/bin_rapport-2022-v2_lq_1.pdf (accessed on 20 March 2025).
- Otonkorpi-Lehtoranta, Katri, Milla Salin, Mia Hakovirta, and Anniina Kaittila. 2021. Gendering Boundary Work: Experiences of Work–Family Practices among Finnish Working Parents during COVID-19 Lockdown. Gender, Work & Organization 29: 1952–68. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Park, Crystal. 2016. Meaning Making in the Context of Disasters. Journal of Clinical Psychology 72: 1234–46. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Parker, Charlie, Sam Scott, and Alistair Geddes. 2019. Snowball Sampling. In SAGE Research Methods Foundations. London: SAGE Publications. [Google Scholar]
- Parker, David, Jennifer A. Meyer, and Marissa Abram. 2023. National Data and the Applicability to Understanding Rural and Remote Substance Use. Journal of Primary Prevention 44: 491–500. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Petrov, Andrey, Mark Welford, Nikolay Golosov, John DeGroote, Michele Devlin, Tatiana Degai, and Alexander Savelyev. 2021. The ‘Second Wave’ of the COVID-19 Pandemic in the Arctic: Regional and Temporal Dynamics. International Journal of Circumpolar Health 80: 1925446. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Petrov, Andrey, Shauna BurnSilver, Stuart Chapin, III, Gail Fondahl, Jessica Graybill, Kathrin Keil, Annika Nilsson, Rudolf Riedlsperger, and PeterSchweitzer. 2016. Arctic Sustainability Research: Toward a New Agenda. Polar Geography 39: 165–78. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Petts, Richard, Daniel Carlson, and Joanna Pepin. 2021. A Gendered Pandemic: Childcare, Homeschooling, and Parents’ Employment during COVID-19. Gender, Work & Organization 28: 515–34. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Phillipps, Breanna, Kelly Skinner, Barbara Parker, and Hannah Tait Neufield. 2022. An Intersectionality-Based Policy Analysis Examining the Complexities of Access to Wild Game and Fish for Urban Indigenous Women in Northwestern Ontario. Frontiers in Science and Environmental Communication 6: 762083. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Pindus, Nancy, Thomas Kingsley, Jennifer Biess, Diane Levy, Jasmine Simington, and Hayes Christopher. 2017. Housing Needs of American Indians and Alaska Natives in Tribal Areas: A Report from the Assessment of American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian Housing Needs; Washington: U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Policy Development and Research. Available online: https://www.huduser.gov/portal/sites/default/files/pdf/HNAIHousingNeeds.pdf (accessed on 22 March 2025).
- Piovani, Chiara, and Nursel Aydiner-Avsar. 2021. Work Time Matters for Mental Health: A Gender Analysis of Paid and Unpaid Labor in the United States. Review of Radical Political Economics 53: 579–89. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Prior, Tahnee Lisa, and Malgorzata Smieszek. 2023. Women of the Arctic. Polar Record 59: e2. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Reich-Stiebert, Natascha, Lara Froehlich, and Jan Voltmer. 2023. Gendered Mental Labor: A Systematic Literature Review on the Cognitive Dimension of Unpaid Work within the Household and Childcare. Sex Roles 88: 475–94. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Robson, Jennifer, and Lindsay Tedds, eds. 2022. Impacts of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Women in Canada. Ottawa: Royal Society of Canada. Available online: https://rsc-src.ca/sites/default/files/pdf/Women%20PB_EN.pdf (accessed on 16 April 2025).
- Rothe, Delf. 2017. Gendering Resilience: Myths and Stereotypes in the Discourse on Climate-Induced Migration. Global Policy 8: 40–47. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Rozanova-Smith, Marya, and Andrey Petrov. 2025. Arctic economies from a gender perspective: Persistent, recent, and emerging trends. In The Economy of the North—ECONOR 2025. Edited by Solveig Glomsrød, Gérard Duhaime and Iulie Aslaksen. Tromsø: Arctic Council Secretariat, pp. 125–29. [Google Scholar]
- Rozanova-Smith, Marya, Andrey Petrov, and Charlene Apok. 2023a. Gendered Impacts of COVID-19: Designing a COVID-19 Gender Impacts and Policy Responses Indicators Framework for Arctic Communities. In Arctic Yearbook 2023: Arctic Pandemics (Special Issue). Edited by James Spence, Heather Exner-Pirot and Andrey Petrov. Akureyri: Northern Research Forum & University of the Arctic. Available online: https://arcticyearbook.com/arctic-yearbook/2023-special-issue (accessed on 25 March 2025).
- Rozanova-Smith, Marya, Andrey Petrov, Korkina Williams Varvara, Absalonsen Joanna, Alty Rebecca, Arnfjord Steven, Apok Charlene, Biscaye Elizabeth (Sabet), Black Jessica, Carothers Courtney, and et al. 2021. Gender Empowerment and Fate Control. In Gender Equality in the Arctic. Edited by Embla Eir Oddsdóttir and Hjalti Ómar Ágústsson. Akureyri: Iceland’s Arctic Council Chairmanship, Arctic Council Sustainable Development Working Group, Icelandic Arctic Cooperation Network, Icelandic Directorate for Equality, Stefansson Arctic Institute, pp. 224–67. Available online: https://arcticgenderequality.network/phase-3/pan-arctic-report (accessed on 20 March 2025).
- Rozanova-Smith, Marya, Charlene Apok, and Andrey Petrov. 2025a. “I Think Even in Challenging Times We Can Still Be Uplifting”: Indigenous Women’s Experiences of Resilience to the COVID-19 Pandemic in Alaska. Societies 15: 122. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Rozanova-Smith, Marya, Embla Eir Oddsdóttir, and Andrey N. Petrov. 2025b. ‘I Feel Like the Most Important Thing Is to Ensure That Women Feel Included…’: Immigrant Women’s Experiences of Integration and Gender Equality in Iceland during Times of Crisis. Sustainability 17: 4069. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Rozanova-Smith, Marya, Laura Goodfield, Riya Bhushan, Anissa Ozbek, Sophie Rosenthal, and Harshit Aggarwal. 2023b. The COVID-19 Gender-Responsive Policies in the Arctic (2020–2022). Arctic Data Center. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Sarker, Mou Rani. 2021. Labor Market and Unpaid Works Implications of COVID-19 for Bangladeshi Women. Gender, Work & Organization 28: 597–604. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Scott, Katherine. 2024. Work in Progress: Women in Canada’s Changing Post-Pandemic Labour Market. Bumpy Ride Series, Spring 2024 Update. Ottawa: Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives. Available online: https://policyalternatives.ca/sites/default/files/uploads/publications/National%20Office/2024/05/CCPA%20report%20Work%20in%20Progress%20EMBARGOED%20TILL%20May%208%202024.pdf (accessed on 2 April 2025).
- Seedat, Soraya, and Marta Rondon. 2021. Women’s Wellbeing and the Burden of Unpaid Work. BMJ 374: n1972. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Silonsaari, Jonne, Mikko Simula, and Marco te Brömmelstroet. 2024. From Intensive Car-Parenting to Enabling Childhood Velonomy? Explaining Parents’ Representations of Children’s Leisure Mobilities. Mobilities 19: 116–33. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Símonardóttir, Sunna. 2016. Constructing the ‘Attached Mother’ in the ‘World’s Most Feminist Country. Women’s Studies International Forum 56: 103–112. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Símonardóttir, Sunna, and Ásdís Arnalds. 2024. Excluding the Involved Father: Having a Child During the COVID Pandemic in Iceland. NORA—Nordic Journal of Feminist and Gender Research 32: 363–74. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Slingsby, Danielle. 2020. Kawerak, NSEDC and NSHC Provide Donation to City of Nome to Expedite Processing of Sexual Assault Backlog Cases. Kawerak. September 16. Available online: https://kawerak.org/kawerak-nsedc-and-nshc-provide-donation-to-city-of-nome-to-expedite-processing-of-sexual-assault-backlog-cases/ (accessed on 24 April 2025).
- Smith, Jacqueline. 2023. Thrivance During the Pandemic: Urban Indigenous Women and Mental Wellness. Ph.D. dissertation, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK, Canada. [Google Scholar]
- Smith, Liris, Mark Christopher, and Michelle Leach. 2023. The Impacts of COVID-19 on Yukon’s Frontline Healthcare Workers. In Arctic Yearbook 2023: Arctic Pandemics (Special Issue). Edited by James Spence, Heather Exner-Pirot and Andrey Petrov. Akureyri: Northern Research Forum & University of the Arctic. Available online: https://arcticyearbook.com/arctic-yearbook/2023-special-issue/2023-special-scholarly-papers/471-the-impacts-of-covid-19-on-yukon-s-frontline-healthcare-workers (accessed on 12 April 2025).
- Smyth, Ines, and Caroline Sweetman. 2015. Introduction: Gender and Resilience. Gender & Development 23: 405–14. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Teel, Sara. 2022. The Child Care Shortage. Alaska Economic Trends 42: 6, Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development. Available online: https://labor.alaska.gov/trends/trends2022.htm (accessed on 2 April 2025).
- Thorsteinsen, Kjærsti, Elizabeth Parks-Stamm, Marie Kvalø, Marte Olsen, and Sarah Martiny. 2022. Mothers’ Domestic Responsibilities and Well-Being During the COVID-19 Lockdown: The Moderating Role of Gender Essentialist Beliefs About Parenthood. Sex Roles 87: 85–98. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Tiwari, Sweta, Andrey Petrov, Nikolay Golosov, Michele Devlin, Mark Welford, John DeGroote, Tatiana Degai, and Stanislav Ksenofontov. 2024. Regional Geographies and Public Health Lessons of the COVID-19 Pandemic in the Arctic. Frontiers in Public Health 11: 1324105. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Todorova, Irina, Liesemarie Albers, Nicole Aronson, Adriana Baban, Yael Benyamini, Sabrina Cipolletta, and Asya Zlatarska. 2021. ‘What I Thought Was So Important Isn’t Really That Important’: International Perspectives on Making Meaning During the First Wave of the COVID-19 Pandemic. Health Psychology and Behavioral Medicine 9: 830–57. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Trudell, AnnaLise, and Erin Whitmore. 2020. Pandemic Meets Pandemic: Understanding the Impacts of COVID-19 on Gender-Based Violence Services and Survivors in Canada. Ottawa, ON: Ending Violence Association of Canada. Available online: https://endingviolencecanada.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/FINAL.pdf (accessed on 20 February 2025).
- Tyner, Katie, and Farida Jalalzai. 2022. Women Prime Ministers and COVID-19: Within-Case Examinations of New Zealand and Iceland. Politics & Policy 50: 1076–95. [Google Scholar]
- University of Alaska Fairbanks. 2022. Alaska Food Policy Council, and 2022 Governor’s Task Force on Food Security and Independence. Alaska Food Security and Independence Task Force 2022 Report. Available online: www.alaskafoodsystems.com (accessed on 17 April 2025).
- U.S. Census Bureau. 2020. QuickFacts: Anchorage Municipality, Alaska. Available online: https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/anchoragemunicipalityalaska/POP010220 (accessed on 1 March 2025).
- U.S. Census Bureau. 2022. QuickFacts: Nome Census Area and Anchorage Municipality, Alaska. Available online: https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/nomecensusareaalaska,anchoragemunicipalityalaska/POP010220 (accessed on 2 March 2025).
- U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation, and Alaska Chamber. 2021. Untapped Potential: How Childcare Impacts Alaska’s Workforce Productivity and the State Economy. Available online: https://www.uschamberfoundation.org/sites/default/files/EarlyEd_ALASKA_2021_DIGITAL.pdf (accessed on 12 April 2025).
- van Doren, Taylor, Deborah Zajdman, Ryan A. Brown, Priya Gandhi, Ron Heintz, Lisa Busch, Callie Simmons, and Raymond Paddock. 2023. Risk Perception, Adaptation, and Resilience During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Southeast Alaska Natives. Social Science & Medicine 317: 115609. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- van Doren, Taylor, Ryan Brown, Guangqing Chi, Patricia Cochran, Katie Cueva, Laura Eichelberger, Ruby Fried, Stacey Fritz, Micah Hahn, Ron Heintz, and et al. 2024. Beyond COVID: Towards a Transdisciplinary Synthesis for Understanding Responses and Developing Pandemic Preparedness in Alaska. International Journal of Circumpolar Health 83: 2404273. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Venuleo, Claudia, Tiziana Marinaci, Alessandro Gennaro, and Arianna Palmieri. 2020. The Meaning of Living in the Time of COVID-19: A Large Sample Narrative Inquiry. Frontiers in Psychology 11: 577077. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
- Violence Policy Center. 2021. When Men Murder Women. Washington: Violence Policy Center. Available online: https://vpc.org/when-men-murder-women/ (accessed on 24 February 2025).
- Walker, Brian, and David Salt. 2012. Resilience Thinking: Sustaining Ecosystems and People in a Changing World. Washington: Island Press. [Google Scholar]
- Weeks, Ana Catalano. 2024. The Political Consequences of the Mental Load. Working Paper. Available online: https://anacweeks.github.io/assets/pdf/Weeks_ML_July2024.pdf (accessed on 3 April 2025).
- Weinstock, Madison, Sara Moyer, Nancy Jallo, Amy Rider, and Patricia Kinser. 2023. Perinatal Meaning-Making and Meaning-Focused Coping in the COVID-19 Pandemic. Journal of Reproductive and Infant Psychology 42: 896–914. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
- Wiebold, Karinne. 2021. The Gender Wage Gap. Alaska Economic Trends 41: 11. Available online: https://labor.alaska.gov/trends/trends2021.htm (accessed on 22 March 2025).
- Wiebold, Karinne. 2024. Alaska Women in Construction. In Alaska Economic Trends; June. Available online: https://live.laborstats.alaska.gov/trends-articles/2024/06/alaska-women-in-construction (accessed on 5 April 2025).
- Women and Gender Equality Canada. 2021. 2021 Transition Binder Two: Gender Equality in Canada. Ottawa: Government of Canada. Available online: https://www.canada.ca/en/women-gender-equality/transparency/ministerial-transition-binder/2021-transition-binder-two/gender-equality-canada.html (accessed on 14 March 2025).
- Yang, Mark. 2020. Resilience and Meaning-Making amid the COVID-19 Epidemic in China. Journal of Humanistic Psychology 60: 662–71. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Zamberlan, Anna, Filippo Gioachin, and Davide Gritti. 2021. Work Less, Help Out More? The Persistence of Gender Inequality in Housework and Childcare during UK COVID-19. Research in Social Stratification and Mobility 100: 583. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Zheng, Yingqin, and Geoff Walsham. 2021. Inequality of What? An Intersectional Approach to Digital Inequality under COVID-19. Information and Organization 31: 100341. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
Figure 1.
Strengths and constraints shaping women’s resilience during the pandemic within the social and economic domains of gender equality. Source: Based on input from Alaskan communities.
Figure 1.
Strengths and constraints shaping women’s resilience during the pandemic within the social and economic domains of gender equality. Source: Based on input from Alaskan communities.
Table 1.
Strengths and constraints to women’s resilience across social and economic domains of gender equality during the COVID-19 pandemic and its aftermath.
Table 1.
Strengths and constraints to women’s resilience across social and economic domains of gender equality during the COVID-19 pandemic and its aftermath.
| Social | Economic | |
|---|---|---|
| Strengths | Capacity to redesign women’s social support networks Commitment to serving as community caregivers and addressing community needs Willingness to serve in mentorship roles Capacity for critical reflection on personal and social values and the ability to foster change Ability to reconfigure household gender roles Capacity to critically examine the supermom syndrome | Ability to productively use flexible and remote work schedules Ability to use education opportunities as a means of economic empowerment and professional growth Capacity to critically reflect on workplace inequalities and challenge conventional norms Capacity to transition into new and male-dominated professions Competence in versatile leadership during crisis |
| Constraints | Re-emergence of traditional gender roles in the household Intensified gendered division of parenting Housing crisis and increase in domestic violence Increased burden of (parents’) guilt Disrupted social support networks, political polarization, and family divides over pandemic measures Women’s legitimate interests receive lower priority | Heightened levels of unpaid domestic labor Challenges of remote work, the gendered digital divide, and digital inequalities Widened gender wage and unemployment gaps Lowered “glass ceilings” Intensified motherhood penalty Challenges in re-entering the workforce and pursuing careers Unfolded crisis in female-dominated occupations |
Disclaimer/Publisher’s Note: The statements, opinions and data contained in all publications are solely those of the individual author(s) and contributor(s) and not of MDPI and/or the editor(s). MDPI and/or the editor(s) disclaim responsibility for any injury to people or property resulting from any ideas, methods, instructions or products referred to in the content. |
© 2025 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
Share and Cite
MDPI and ACS Style
Rozanova-Smith, M.; Petrov, A.N. “I Feel Like a Lot of Times Women Are the Ones Who Are Problem-Solving for All the People That They Know”: The Gendered Impacts of the Pandemic on Women in Alaska. Soc. Sci. 2025, 14, 498. https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci14080498
AMA Style
Rozanova-Smith M, Petrov AN. “I Feel Like a Lot of Times Women Are the Ones Who Are Problem-Solving for All the People That They Know”: The Gendered Impacts of the Pandemic on Women in Alaska. Social Sciences. 2025; 14(8):498. https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci14080498
Chicago/Turabian StyleRozanova-Smith, Marya, and Andrey N. Petrov. 2025. "“I Feel Like a Lot of Times Women Are the Ones Who Are Problem-Solving for All the People That They Know”: The Gendered Impacts of the Pandemic on Women in Alaska" Social Sciences 14, no. 8: 498. https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci14080498
APA StyleRozanova-Smith, M., & Petrov, A. N. (2025). “I Feel Like a Lot of Times Women Are the Ones Who Are Problem-Solving for All the People That They Know”: The Gendered Impacts of the Pandemic on Women in Alaska. Social Sciences, 14(8), 498. https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci14080498
Note that from the first issue of 2016, this journal uses article numbers instead of page numbers. See further details here.
