Background: Previous studies of social workers suggest that psychosocial working conditions and social position may interfere with both short-term and long-term recovery. But it is unclear whether this holds for individuals who work in higher education, a particularly knowledge-intensive sector of the labor market.

Purpose: This study investigates how employment (contract type) and psychosocial working conditions (effort and reward) relate to different aspects of recovery among women and men. Specifically, three aspects of recovery were included: recovery 1) in the morning, 2) after a weekend, and 3) after a longer holiday.

Method: Self-reports in questionnaires were collected in 2016 (n: 920 women/717 men) and 2021 (n: 1290 women/1416 men) from two different study cohorts in Swedish academia.

Results: There were no significant relationships between contract and recovery. Higher effort was consistently associated with all aspects of recovery among both women men in the two study cohorts. Higher reward was associated with better recovery across cohorts, for both women and men. However, findings for reward were less consistent in 2016 (women: promotion; men: esteem).

Conclusions: Among the highly educated, contract type has no important role, which may relate to most individuals having a permanent employment contract. Psychosocial working conditions were associated with all aspects of recovery, with associations seeming more consistent in 2021, which may relate to the better representativity of this cohort. Overall, the findings underscore the importance of providing sustainable psychosocial working conditions that allow recovery opportunities for both women and men working in higher education.