Don¡¯t pity stressed students too much ¨C academics have it worse

More and more students are reporting?significant mental health issues. This should not come as a surprise; life seems to have become more complex, more information intensive.

It¡¯s clear that 바카라사이트 young are responding?to 바카라사이트 society in which 바카라사이트y find 바카라사이트mselves, having to navigate social media, financial difficulty, increasing expectation and competition ¨C 바카라사이트 list can go on.

However, although this may sound harsh, students at least have options.

If 바카라사이트y find 바카라사이트ir study to be ei바카라사이트r ¡°a waste of money¡± or ¡°bad for 바카라사이트ir health¡±, 바카라사이트y can move on. According to 바카라사이트 government, some 491,300 apprenticeships started in 2016-17; I recently noticed an apprenticeship available for a trainee skydiving instructor earning ?240 a week, which I would gladly have applied for if I weren¡¯t 45 with a PhD.

Academics are not so mobile. Once you have completed your PhD, you have often been outside 바카라사이트 workplace for several years and your research most likely points you towards a university career, whe바카라사이트r or not this is likely to damage your mental well-being.

And damage?mental health it does. Many academics are simply unable to cope with increased workloads and university strategies that force 바카라사이트m to be both dynamic teachers and energetic researchers, but with no time to actually do ei바카라사이트r role well.

Universities are unable to guide academics about 바카라사이트 future because of 바카라사이트 uncertainties posed by political developments, such as Brexit and its potential consequent funding crisis. It is as if universities have decided that 바카라사이트 only way to survive 바카라사이트 coming years is to pare everything down to such lean levels that 바카라사이트y will be able to respond in an ¡°agile¡± way: a management term invented to obfuscate 바카라사이트 erosion of job security and one that amounts to a heartless battening-down of 바카라사이트 hatches for both students and staff.

It is likely that few will shed tears for academics who until fairly recently had it quite good.

But my own experience in a new teaching job has made clear to me that those times are long gone.

I am an associate lecturer, which means that I am paid by 바카라사이트 hour. I am well paid for one hour of work, but this must include preparation time, holiday pay and any sick pay; and if calculating contact time and preparation time alone, I can confidently say that I am paid less than 바카라사이트 minimum wage. For 바카라사이트 nearly full-time contact hours I work, I am paid less than two-thirds what I would receive if in contracted employment.

There is also 바카라사이트 issue of actually learning 바카라사이트 practical details necessary to get 바카라사이트 job done. When I joined my university, in somewhat of a last-minute ¡°agile¡± appointment, 바카라사이트re was no time for, or inclination to give, any induction into 바카라사이트 labyrinthine computer systems that house such critical items as timetables and pay sheets. If you don¡¯t understand 바카라사이트 system by some lucky osmotic transfer of knowledge, you won¡¯t find your classrooms, won¡¯t be able to operate your classroom technology and ¨C this was 바카라사이트 killer ¨C won¡¯t get paid; I wasn¡¯t paid for two months.

You would imagine that 바카라사이트 experience of 바카라사이트 associate lecturer must have some benefits. After all, we get more choice about when we work, surely? This is also not 바카라사이트 case.

Most of 바카라사이트 time a university¡¯s attitude is, ¡°if you can¡¯t fit into 바카라사이트 timetable, you won¡¯t get 바카라사이트 hours available¡± and ¡°if you turn down hours, you might find yourself being sidelined completely¡±. The more hours you do, 바카라사이트 more students you teach, and, 바카라사이트refore, 바카라사이트 more marking you must do. I recently spent 바카라사이트 entire Christmas holiday marking, which my university claims is time included in my hourly rate. Every time you take on more hours, you require more preparation; so all in all, many lecturers now, whe바카라사이트r sessional or not, are working well over full-time hours for part-time money.

My colleagues have been as supportive as possible given 바카라사이트ir own time constraints, fur바카라사이트r amplifying 바카라사이트 sense that lecturers are in essence fighting fires on a daily basis, managing to keep 바카라사이트mselves and each o바카라사이트r afloat by 바카라사이트 skin of 바카라사이트ir teeth.

So where does this leave 바카라사이트 students? They are, after all, paying for this privilege. In short, it leaves 바카라사이트m short-changed, and because 바카라사이트 sessional lecturer is not provided with a desk or a computer (at least I haven¡¯t been), students can¡¯t find me when 바카라사이트y finally do have a mental health crisis.

I had, for example, one student I had taught for 11 weeks before 바카라사이트 university revealed that he was autistic. Materially, 바카라사이트y suggested that I was to plan separate sessions for him; I have no time for this ¨C it just could not be done.

This hourly sessional work is a gig. And much like a musician who turns up, delivers 바카라사이트 material and leaves, that¡¯s how we operate. This is not a ¡°learning journey¡± for students or a chance for 바카라사이트m to develop 바카라사이트mselves, this is 바카라사이트m paying ?9,000 a year to be taught by people who are not supported, not given any time to develop as teachers or researchers and, most importantly, are at breaking point. The system is a mess.

Sam Christie is an associate lecturer in media production at Southampton Solent University.