Change or Stability in Cohesion and Teamwork Adaptation Skills of Peruvian STEM Academics Over 6 Years

To effectively respond to unforeseen organizational changes, soft skills should be transferable, well-balanced, and consistently sustainable. For example, after the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, which forced remote work in academic sectors, soft skills became more important. Therefore, evaluating the psychosocial development of work teams is important to identify the factors involved in the adaptive process. Our study focuses firstly on the comparison of group cohesion and teamwork adaptation skills among Peruvian STEM academics, before and after institutional licensing and the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. We also sought to identify critical factors that need to be strengthened or improved to facilitate adaptation to unforeseen circumstances. Our study has a repeated cross-sectional design in two moments (2018, n = 30 academics; and 2023, 25 academics). The participants’ age was between 40 and 60 years, with 18.5 ± 4.2 years of academic experience. The change or stability of group cohesion was evaluated using sociograms, according to Moreno’s Sociometric Method. The perception of the skills needed for teamwork adaptation was assessed using a 22-item scale with adequate validity and reliability. In the group of Peruvian STEM academics, we identified (a) a substantial change in group cohesion and a significant change in the status of the leader’s choice over 6 years, (b) a high level of group stability that contributes to both autonomy in decision-making and improved communication of goals, (c) high satisfaction in management of interpersonal conflicts, and (d) a significant change in group identification over 6 years. It is noteworthy that the group of Peruvian STEM academics succeeded in avoiding nepotism and careerism attitudes. We conclude that, despite serious unexpected organizational changes, the group of STEM academics was able to maintain the levels of stability of group cohesion and to teamwork adaptation skills that they had achieved in the previous 6 years. The identification and communication of goals, and the proper management of interpersonal conflicts, played a significant role in this achievement. This study shows that the development of stable and efficient work teams would benefit from improving (a) group cohesion, (b) cooperation and coordination skills, and (c) integrity.