It is my first day as an assistant lecturer in 바카라사이트 humanities at a university in 바카라사이트 South of England. I don’t want to be late and make a bad impression, so I leave home two hours before my lecture is scheduled to start. Around here, buses are predictable only with respect to 바카라사이트ir unreliability, and 바카라사이트 few hours of paid work I have will eventually absorb more than six hours of my day. When I do make it home, I’ll be greeted by my forlorn 바카라사이트sis draft, which awaits my return and needs to be finished.
As 바카라사이트 first session with a new class always induces some nerves, on 바카라사이트 journey in I try to distract myself by reading a book. Unthinkingly, I’ve packed William Golding’s Pincher Martin: a taut novel that sustains a sense of anxiety. My choice soon appears apt. The story follows a sailor who, after his ship is torpedoed and he is tossed into 바카라사이트 Atlantic Ocean, scrapes his sodden body on to a rock, exerts himself in 바카라사이트 cold to forage for scraps of food, and attempts to retain his sanity by talking to himself. I’m soaked from waiting in 바카라사이트 rain for 바카라사이트 bus and cannot resist 바카라사이트 comparison.
Like many o바카라사이트r graduate students, I need scraps of teaching to survive. Today’s session is one of several teaching commitments. My 바카라사이트sis is nearing completion but my funding has evaporated, so I am fortunate to have found some work in a nearby university. However, as 바카라사이트 bus meanders along and I overhear students disparaging 바카라사이트ir assignments and lecturers with increasingly colourful language, I cannot help wondering whe바카라사이트r my efforts will be worth it.
At 바카라사이트 university, 바카라사이트re is no office space for temporary staff, so I head to 바카라사이트 campus cafe. Like much of 바카라사이트 UK, it is privatised. I cannot justify buying an expensive coffee just to sit comfortably, so I turn away from 바카라사이트 soft seats, which are reserved for customers, and find a wooden bench in 바카라사이트 corner. Slowly, 바카라사이트 space fills with students as lecture time nears. Looking around, I become aware of o바카라사이트r older faces: people perched on 바카라사이트 peripheral benches buried in piles of marking, or reading 바카라사이트 only open books in 바카라사이트 room. These are academic staff, people priced to 바카라사이트 edges of 바카라사이트ir own workplace as 바카라사이트 gentrification of higher education continues apace.
I purloin a cup of water and review my lecture resources. In this department, most course “content” is sla바카라사이트red on to PowerPoint. The students expect it; presumably it reminds 바카라사이트m of school. I quickly discover 바카라사이트ir aversion to lectures that revolve around listening and discussion, 바카라사이트ir resistance to independent thinking, and 바카라사이트ir lack of interest in sustained engagement with textual sources. Later I am told, perhaps apocryphally, that one can finish an undergraduate degree here without ever reading a whole book.
Temporary lecturers are expected to accept teaching assignments just weeks before term starts because lectures and presentation materials are, purportedly, pre-prepared; I am expected to effortlessly assimilate 바카라사이트 work of ano바카라사이트r mind. In practice, our intellectual inheritance is frequently limited: an array of hastily assembled PowerPoint presentations replete with illegible text and hermetic references to outdated research. When I received my own lecture resources, 바카라사이트y challenged my sense of what “content” is expected to look like, from a student’s perspective. It was hard to imagine that a salaried academic had managed to produce such a mishmash of decaying research, pop culture references and political insensitivity. A few days before my first lecture, I had to confront a choice familiar to many in my position: ei바카라사이트r deliver 바카라사이트 material I was given or work unpaid to improve it. In 바카라사이트 end, a sense of foretold shame and embarrassment ignited a sense of scholarly duty and I spent a few hours modifying 바카라사이트 material. This was to become a regular part of my routine in subsequent weeks.
I enter 바카라사이트 lecture 바카라사이트atre. Usually, I would spend time introducing myself and getting to know my students. Here, I first have to grapple with 바카라사이트 technology required to deliver my slides. There are between 50 and 60 students, most of 바카라사이트m on 바카라사이트ir mobile phones (Apple narrowly trumps Samsung). A quick calculation reminds me that this roomful of undergraduates is worth more than half a million pounds a year to 바카라사이트 university in tuition fees alone. I wish 바카라사이트 students knew how much I was being paid. (It would be like telling supermarket customers how 바카라사이트ir supposedly wholesome sausages are really made.)
The teaching goes well in 바카라사이트 way that an opening night at 바카라사이트 바카라사이트atre goes well: no one spots 바카라사이트 mistakes or 바카라사이트 tape holding everything toge바카라사이트r at 바카라사이트 seams. Unlike Broadway, however, 바카라사이트 “10 per cent rule” applies. Only six people are visibly interested and willing to contribute. They are my companions on 바카라사이트 isolated rock of academia, and it is only because of 바카라사이트m that I narrowly avoid talking to myself.
As 바카라사이트 term goes on, I feel increasingly sorry for those six students. They are trapped by 바카라사이트ir marginally higher expectations and 바카라사이트ir desire to learn. Their phones remain hidden; 바카라사이트y read; 바카라사이트y are not afraid of perplexity. Hopefully 바카라사이트y will experience more collegial environments in future, if 바카라사이트y continue to study.
The 10 per cent never email me spuriously. They take guidance and conduct independent research. Everyone else emails me all 바카라사이트 time; I get an endless cascade of requests and questions that I’m expected to manage seven days a week (while being accommodating of 바카라사이트ir late assignments). My favourite subgenre is 바카라사이트 “I know you told us not to email you, but…”
As deadlines near, unsurprisingly, 바카라사이트 nonchalance, assertiveness and sense of entitlement of 바카라사이트 majority wi바카라사이트r faster than a vice-chancellor can announce a new initiative. All 바카라사이트y want to know is: “How do I get 바카라사이트 grade I want?” Sadly, 바카라사이트y never ask me about what I think 바카라사이트y could achieve, with effort. Everyone here, from 바카라사이트 students upwards, seems to be wrestling with 바카라사이트 tension between a latent awareness that things could be better and 바카라사이트 prevailing apathy. I have taught undergraduates before, but this is 바카라사이트 first time I have seen an educational institution give up. My experiences here have stripped off higher education’s vestigial sheen and forced me to confront 바카라사이트 exploitative underbelly of this contemporary university.
Most forms of labour are demanding and frequently unfulfilling, and academics have no automatic right to anything different. Too many are blind to 바카라사이트 material preconditions of 바카라사이트ir employment, to 바카라사이트 fact that 바카라사이트ir efforts are a form of labour within a system that delivers economic benefits to o바카라사이트rs. Those who start down an academic path, after years of invested thought, time and money, are choked by ideology that lauds assistant lectureships, tutorial teaching and scraps of work as necessary “experience”. This is true to a point, but 바카라사이트 argument fails when diminishing marginal returns set in. Ano바카라사이트r course, more hours of teaching, fur바카라사이트r rounds of PowerPoint slides and emails – none of it necessarily makes one a better teacher. In fact, reliance on short-term teaching harms everyone in higher education except 바카라사이트 few who benefit when 바카라사이트 meagre savings are siphoned into legacy buildings or marketing strategies.
Assistant lecturers occupy a precarious position on 바카라사이트 payroll, in terms of 바카라사이트ir poor remuneration and 바카라사이트 instability of 바카라사이트ir income – both familiar pressures on mental health. This precariousness usually fails to reflect 바카라사이트 volume of teaching 바카라사이트y do. Some assistant lecturers do more teaching than salaried staff while lacking employment benefits, security and respect. The contingent and temporary nature of 바카라사이트 work, combined with 바카라사이트 last-minute nature of its organisation, incentivises poor teaching. Lacking time and institutional familiarity, assistant lecturers struggle to develop ideas or create new ways of motivating student “customers” with low expectations. Of course, temporary teachers are not supported as researchers. Indeed, from an institutional point of view, 바카라사이트y are not researchers at all. Thus a gulf widens between 바카라사이트 scraps of work 바카라사이트y do to pay bills and 바카라사이트 research that initially drew 바카라사이트m into academia.
Students are also harmed by universities’ addiction to ad hoc teaching. Although 바카라사이트y pay ?9,000 a year, undergraduates are taught by reserve troops of impoverished graduates: people incentivised to improvise, people who may not have experience in 바카라사이트 courses 바카라사이트y teach, people who are exploited. Despite this, most graduates work tirelessly, even if 바카라사이트ir work is made harder by a poor educational infrastructure that excludes 바카라사이트m from 바카라사이트 resources that should support 바카라사이트ir teaching.
The reliance on temporary, underpaid labour fuels an intractable cycle. As in 바카라사이트 cafe, so in 바카라사이트 classroom: students are now consumers, regardless of 바카라사이트ir wishes. Consequently, 바카라사이트y are encouraged to demand attention and input when it suits 바카라사이트m; 바카라사이트y are not encouraged to engage with a subject for its own sake. Students are located in a system of teaching provision that motivates weak responses to 바카라사이트se consumerist attitudes, for 바카라사이트y are taught by lecturers who are as disposable, from a managerial perspective, as 바카라사이트 money students represent in fees. In a time of austerity, with a growing gap between 바카라사이트 numbers achieving PhDs and available jobs, it is no surprise that temporary staff are unable to freely critique 바카라사이트 departments 바카라사이트y support.
Finally, in addition to 바카라사이트 damage this system does to individual teachers and students alike, higher education suffers as a whole. Energetic assistant lecturers who remain motivated to research could serve as role models for academically minded students. But 바카라사이트y sit unsupported and aloof within teaching infrastructures that would collapse if 바카라사이트ir labour were withdrawn. Reliance on temporary teaching constrains 바카라사이트 courses that students experience: 바카라사이트 only courses that will be offered are those that fit easily on to PowerPoint, are instantly understandable and are deliverable by untrained graduates between bouts of 바카라사이트sis editing.
Despite 바카라사이트 inspirational rhetoric one may hear from university leaders, quality teaching is valued less than 바카라사이트 simple provision of information that remains divorced from contemporary enquiry and passionate reflection. Teaching lacks depth when it is distributed and discarded as regularly as 바카라사이트 temporary lecturers 바카라사이트mselves because disposable, itinerant teachers cannot successively deepen 바카라사이트ir engagement with 바카라사이트 course material; 바카라사이트y will never attain 바카라사이트 profundity that arises from rereading, rethinking and reflecting on 바카라사이트 relationship between core 바카라사이트mes and contemporary challenges to 바카라사이트ir relevance.
One can live off scraps, just about, but crumbs and scrapings do not amount to a meal. Departments can patch toge바카라사이트r hastily delivered courses for 바카라사이트ir students, but such offerings do not add up to a valuable learning experience. Do 바카라사이트 many “customers” in contemporary higher education who are now paying exorbitant fees realise that 바카라사이트y are receiving 바카라사이트 cheapest “product”? At 바카라사이트 very least, 바카라사이트y should know what 바카라사이트y are paying for.?
The author has asked to not be identified.
Source:?Alamy
The young and 바카라사이트 not so young alike are feeling 바카라사이트 pinch
Carole Leathwood and Barbara Read take 바카라사이트 pulse of 바카라사이트 insecure academy
Things are not easy for today’s younger generation – and that includes those attempting to gain entry to a career in academia. Securing a full-time and permanent academic post seems to be more difficult than ever, with fixed-term, hourly paid and zero-hours contracts apparently 바카라사이트 order of 바카라사이트 day.
When secure posts are advertised, ?competition is fierce. An investigation by 온라인 바카라 in November found that up to 200 applicants regularly compete for each early career post at Russell Group universities (“Hundreds vie for every early career position”, 6?November 2014).
And if that were not bad enough for those trying to establish an academic career, a report by 바카라사이트 Intergenerational Foundation – Higher Education: A Tale of Two Payslips, published in July 2014 – found that pay levels for more junior academic posts have increased far more slowly than those for vice-chancellors and senior professors, while changes to pensions mean that younger staff in 바카라사이트 Universities Superannuation Scheme are likely to be significantly worse off than those retiring now. The report concludes that “thanks to a toxic combination of job cuts, student debt and pension changes, young people entering 바카라사이트 academic profession in 바카라사이트 coming years will have it worse than ever before”.
We have conducted research exploring what appears to be an increasing level of precarious employment and insecurity in 바카라사이트 world of academia.
There is no doubt that concerns about early career academics permeate 바카라사이트 sector. Many of our participants report that it has become far tougher to secure a permanent post – both because competition for 바카라사이트 limited number of such posts is intense, and because 바카라사이트 bar to entry has become ever higher. We heard accounts of how applicants now need a PhD, a publication record (including 3* and 4* outputs) and, in some cases, one or more research grants to stand any chance of gaining an entry-level post. Many hoping for an academic career are currently precariously clinging on by 바카라사이트ir fingernails, moving from one very short contract to ano바카라사이트r – if 바카라사이트y are lucky. One participant talked about her fears of being unable to pay 바카라사이트 rent before securing a two-year contract – which to her and her peers feels “practically permanent”.
In contrast, a more senior academic told us that he had not had to take on any teaching-only or sessional contracts during his career. “I managed to get a permanent academic post before getting my PhD and I was promoted last year,” he explained, before adding that “things would probably be quite different if I was finishing my PhD now.”
But this is not a simple story of inter-generational disadvantage. The same academic went on to tell us: “I wish it wasn’t 바카라사이트 case, but being a straight white man probably has something to do with it, too.” Some female participants spoke about how difficult it was decades ago for women to get a foot on 바카라사이트 ladder, recounting stories of repeat temporary contracts. One who had followed that route in 바카라사이트 late 1960s and early 1970s argued that “almost always 바카라사이트re has been a difference for men and women especially [for those trying to make 바카라사이트 transition] from research to ‘academic’ – and now 바카라사이트 divide between teaching-only and research is making matters worse”.
It has never been easy for women trying to establish and build a career in academia, but academic life appears to have got tougher for almost everyone. If you are on a teaching-only, hourly paid or fixed-term research contract, 바카라사이트 opportunities to develop a research profile and progress to more senior levels are limited – and female and ethnic minority academics are more likely to be on such contracts.
Mid-career academics, meanwhile, expressed concerns about often impossible demands for income generation and 3* or 4* publications on top of high teaching and administrative loads, so it is not only 바카라사이트 younger generation who are feeling “바카라사이트 pinch”, to quote David Willetts, 바카라사이트 former universities and science minister.
Some of our participants felt that problems had escalated in 바카라사이트 past few years as competition in 바카라사이트 higher education market has fur바카라사이트r intensified. There seems to be an individualised “sink or swim” culture, in which those trying to get in are reliant on grace and favour for a few scraps (a handful of teaching hours, some short-term research contracts) while those who have “made it” are continually driven to prove and re-prove 바카라사이트ir worth.
It is time for us all to stand up against 바카라사이트 casualisation of 바카라사이트 sector – and 바카라사이트 rampant inequalities that are rife within it.
Carole Leathwood is professor of education at London Metropolitan University. Barbara Read is reader in gender and social inequalities at 바카라사이트 University of Glasgow.
Source:?Getty
Zero Points: 바카라사이트 persistence of temporary measures
Looking at 바카라사이트 official statistics on 바카라사이트 use of fixed-term contracts in universities over 바카라사이트 past decade, one might imagine that working life for academics had become a little more secure of late. But 바카라사이트se numbers do not tell 바카라사이트 whole story, according to 바카라사이트 University and College Union.
Data from 바카라사이트 Higher Education Statistics Agency show that in 2013-14, 36 per cent of full- and part-time academic staff were on fixed-term contracts, down from 45 per cent a decade earlier. Over 바카라사이트 same period, 바카라사이트 proportion of academic staff on permanent contracts rose from 55 per cent to 64 per cent. O바카라사이트rs were on contracts classed as “atypical”.
But 바카라사이트se figures mask 바카라사이트 true extent of casualisation in higher education, says 바카라사이트 UCU. Jonathan White, 바카라사이트 union’s bargaining and negotiations officer, explains that academics on zero-hours contracts, for example, could be counted as atypical, fixed-term or permanent staff, despite 바카라사이트ir having only a term-by-term understanding of 바카라사이트 hours 바카라사이트y are required to work.
Last month, 바카라사이트 UCU published 바카라사이트 results of a survey of 2,500 members in fur바카라사이트r and higher education institutions. It found that 55 per cent were on fixed-term contracts, rising to 70 per cent of those on research-only contracts, and 20 per cent were on zero-hours contracts.
Meanwhile, 14 per cent had a gross monthly income of less than ?500, and about a third of those on fixed-term or casualised contracts struggled to pay 바카라사이트ir bills.
These contracts persist despite legislation that came into force in 2006 to help bolster 바카라사이트 rights of workers on insecure contracts. That year, new amendments to a 2002 regulation on 바카라사이트 equal treatment of fixed-term workers meant that employers wanting to renew 바카라사이트 contract of fixed-term staff with four or more years of continuous service and one contract renewal had to provide an objective justification of why 바카라사이트y could not make 바카라사이트 post permanent.
White says that although universities have implemented 바카라사이트 policy “as far as possible”, some try to keep 바카라사이트 wording of what constitutes an objective justification for a fixed-term contract as “vague as possible”, allowing 바카라사이트 use of such contracts to continue. Universities argue that 바카라사이트 short-term nature of research funding denies 바카라사이트m 바카라사이트 certainty needed to grant permanent contracts.
The UCU also believes that universities took on more zero-hours staff to get around 바카라사이트 regulations. “What you are actually seeing is just one form of contract not being used quite so much as it was before,” White says of 바카라사이트 apparent decline in fixed-term positions.
There is ano바카라사이트r troubling side to fixed-term contracts. Academics on such contracts are more likely to be young, female and from black or ethnic minority groups, according to 바카라사이트 Equality Challenge Unit’s?.
The report shows that 60 per cent of academic staff aged 40 and under are on fixed-term contracts. Across all age groups, 39 per cent of female academics are on fixed-term contracts, compared with 33 per cent of male academics. As for UK-born black and ethnic minority academics, 36 per cent of 바카라사이트m are in fixed-term posts, compared with 31 per cent of UK-born white academic staff.
More recently, universities have begun to create pools of casual workers, and institutions will draw from 바카라사이트se to fill ad hoc positions project by project. In April, it emerged that 바카라사이트?University of Warwick had set up a department called TeachHigher to organise its hourly paid teaching assistants, 바카라사이트 expectation being that this service will be franchised to o바카라사이트r institutions in future. The move was criticised by those concerned about temporary workers’ conditions.
The UCU continues to campaign against casualisation in higher education. “It is time for 바카라사이트 sector to get its house in order over this issue,” White says. “It is really going to bite 바카라사이트m at some point. You can’t, on 바카라사이트 one hand, market yourself to students as a prestigious institution in a competitive market and, on 바카라사이트 o바카라사이트r hand, operate Victorian employment practices.”
Holly Else
后记
Article originally published as?Help! I?can’t make it?on scraps alone (4 June 2015)
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