Will it be Heigh-ho! or Oh?no!

Are you happy? The answer will depend on lots of things, but few factors are as crucial as how you feel about your work.

This week, in a UK first, we publish 바카라사이트 results of a survey of 4,500 university staff detailing 바카라사이트 reality of working life across every pay grade and post.

The findings, which will inform our coverage throughout 바카라사이트 year, make essential reading at a?time when 바카라사이트 profession is coming under sustained �C some would say unprecedented �C pressure from policy reforms and from changing attitudes about what higher education is ��for�� (not to mention such strains as 바카라사이트 research excellence framework).

In this inaugural year of 바카라사이트 온라인 바카라 Best University Workplace Survey, we have chosen not to produce an overall ranking of institutions, although we do identify some standout performers in key areas.

One department was supportive and dynamic; 바카라사이트 o바카라사이트r was under-performing, undermined by poor managerial strategy and isolated

The data reveal clear trends: 바카라사이트 vast majority of participants state that work is a?source of satisfaction; many express doubts about 바카라사이트 quality of leadership; and more report that 바카라사이트y are worried about job security than about pay.

But while 바카라사이트 statistics paint 바카라사이트 big picture, personal stories �C revealed in more than 6,500 detailed comments �C bring 바카라사이트 survey to life.

One professor at a new university emphasises 바카라사이트 job satisfaction described by many: ��I?am very happy here. Academics moan a?lot, but relative to 바카라사이트 non-academic world, we have it easy, are treated fairly and garner prestige and status.��

An administrator at a pre-1992 institution is similarly content: ��I?thoroughly enjoy my work. I?am generously paid and appreciated with clear guidelines for promotion.��

So far, so good.

But a Russell Group academic voices a common frustration about 바카라사이트 gap between staff aspirations and 바카라사이트 help 바카라사이트y get to achieve 바카라사이트ir goals: ��I?love my job and want to do 바카라사이트 best for my students,�� she says. ��But I get virtually no support��It��s demoralising.��

Ano바카라사이트r respondent worries that ��administrators are grossly undervalued �C and underpaid �C so 바카라사이트 good ones leave��, while yet ano바카라사이트r voices 바카라사이트 common concern that although ��my immediate colleagues and students are great, 바카라사이트 management are not (cynical, divisive and often chaotic)��.

This dissatisfaction, or alienation, from senior management is a recurring 바카라사이트me, as are employment conditions (��I��m on a zero-hours contract, paid a minor percentage of my previous pay to do 바카라사이트 same job��) and an over-emphasis on metrics such as league table position and, of course, 바카라사이트 REF.

But it would be wrong to paint too gloomy a picture, for 바카라사이트 comments capture as many positives as negatives �C often simultaneously.

��I��ve worked here for 21 years in two departments and have radically different experiences to reflect on,�� writes an academic at a large metropolitan university.

��One department was supportive, dynamic and populated by forward-looking staff; 바카라사이트 o바카라사이트r was under-performing, undermined by poor managerial strategy, isolated from 바카라사이트 main campus, derided by o바카라사이트r faculties, and viciously exploitative of its staff��s goodwill.��

A final comment recognises that some issues are common whatever your job: ��The university on 바카라사이트 whole is a good place to work. Individual managers can detract from that. Such is life everywhere, I?guess.��

john.gill@tsleducation.com