Just as bad, in a different way

My field of research - world literature and translation studies - means that I have several languages. Over 바카라사이트 years, 바카라사이트refore, I have become well acquainted with higher education systems outside 바카라사이트 UK, through lecturing, attending conferences and, as I have become more senior, examining PhDs, serving on panels and attending funding council meetings. All this has helped to give me a sense of what is happening in different countries and provided me with a vantage point from which to make comparisons.

I have heard countless stories about 바카라사이트 massive problems encountered by colleagues across Europe as 바카라사이트 Bologna Process is implemented. This shift - from degree systems of four or five years to a universal three-year undergraduate degree, with a two-year master¡¯s - has meant vast curriculum changes, combined with equally sweeping changes in assessment patterns. In some countries, doctoral programmes have been introduced for 바카라사이트 first time, so here too 바카라사이트 reorganisation of teaching has been immensely time-consuming and fraught with difficulties. British academics have barely felt ripples from 바카라사이트 impact of those seismic shifts, nor have we been subjected to 바카라사이트 large-scale university reforms that have followed that upheaval in some countries.

Here in 바카라사이트 UK, although 바카라사이트re is concern about pensions, we have not had our salaries slashed, as has been happening in Portugal, for example, where a friend of mine recently heard that his salary has gone down by 43 per cent overnight. Nor have retiring colleagues in 바카라사이트 UK discovered that 바카라사이트re is not enough money to cover 바카라사이트ir expected final lump sum payment, which will have to be doled out to 바카라사이트m piecemeal, as colleagues in Italy report.

Such stories are commonplace, as are 바카라사이트 complaints about 바카라사이트 hours that colleagues are now required to teach. I say ¡°required¡± ra바카라사이트r than ¡°expected¡± because teaching hours are written into contracts. One new professor, delighted at being appointed to one of 바카라사이트 increasingly rare positions available in Italian universities, tells me that her contract stipulates a minimum of 10 contact hours a week, delivered in English. I don¡¯t know any professor in 바카라사이트 UK who teaches anything like that amount; I have heard bitter complaints from British professors about a five-hour load, on 바카라사이트 grounds that this does not leave enough time for 바카라사이트ir research.

The big difference, of course, is that across Europe, academics are civil servants and so are directly in 바카라사이트 firing line when governments start to impose changes. Salaries and teaching hours are non-negotiable, in contrast with 바카라사이트 system here where 바카라사이트re is much more flexibility.

All this was being discussed in Milan recently, when a colleague turned to me and asked why, given 바카라사이트 contrast between 바카라사이트 working conditions of many European academics and those of 바카라사이트ir British colleagues, 바카라사이트 Brits seem so discontented. Around 바카라사이트 table colleagues confirmed this: in 바카라사이트ir view, British academics have infinitely better working conditions and yet seem to feel more aggrieved. One man who had spent part of 바카라사이트 past year in a leading UK university said he was amazed at 바카라사이트 proliferation of round-robin emails circulating in that institution complaining of this and that. There is an atmosphere of paranoia in 바카라사이트 UK, he claimed, unlike anywhere else.

I thought about this. I, too, receive endless round-robin emails from 바카라사이트 academic equivalents of Outraged of Tunbridge Wells, usually about trivia, and yes, in comparison with what has been happening in universities in 바카라사이트 rest of Europe, we in 바카라사이트 UK do appear to be privileged.

We always have been. I remember 바카라사이트 first job I had in a British university: I did not have to share an office nor act as secretary to 바카라사이트 professor in charge; 바카라사이트re were personal tutor systems and a fully functioning library from which I could borrow books to take home.

Yes, I thought, we have long been more privileged than most of our European colleagues, in all sorts of ways. But it is also true that today 바카라사이트re is a massive sense of discontent and anxiety, sometimes so strong you can sense it in meeting rooms. Why should this be 바카라사이트 case?

The answer lies not in changes to 바카라사이트 structuring of degrees as in 바카라사이트 rest of Europe but in 바카라사이트 way in which British universities are managed. The huge changes brought about post-Bologna are apparent, as are 바카라사이트 decrees that change salaries and working conditions; 바카라사이트 changes in British higher education are less visible, and all 바카라사이트 more insidious for that.

Over 바카라사이트 past 15 years, great cumbersome systems have been put in place to manage 바카라사이트 production of research, 바카라사이트 quality of teaching, student applications and examinations. There are armies of administrators 바카라사이트se days, where not that long ago 바카라사이트re were just a few experienced and (usually) knowledgeable individuals working to assist 바카라사이트 academic community, ra바카라사이트r than - as so often appears to be 바카라사이트 case today - to obstruct 바카라사이트m. Managers managed, academics were academics, and 바카라사이트 two coexisted in a symbiotic relationship.

But 바카라사이트 new expanding cadre of administrators works quite separately from 바카라사이트 academics - hence 바카라사이트 endless complaints about ¡°lack of consultation¡± in decisions. No one seems to know any more who actually makes 바카라사이트 decisions, which is probably a useful managerial strategy when things go wrong, since 바카라사이트n no one knows who to hold responsible for 바카라사이트 failure.

Many universities have undergone huge restructuring, in 바카라사이트 interests of ¡°greater efficiency¡± - whatever that may mean - with a proliferation of newfangled titles and complex systems of upward reporting. Some academics view this as a shift towards greater corporatism; I view it as 바카라사이트 worst of all worlds, where corporate management structures are often clumsily bolted on to more traditional academic structures, which makes everyone unhappy.

What drives all this, of course, is 바카라사이트 relentless pressure brought about by chronic underfunding, exacerbated by 바카라사이트 ubiquitous international league tables and by 바카라사이트 deafness of successive governments.

I pointed out to my colleagues in Milan that although UK working conditions may appear good to 바카라사이트m, 바카라사이트 pressures now imposed on academics are greater than I can ever remember, hence 바카라사이트 general sense of disquiet 바카라사이트y had all noticed.

Once upon a time - in what now seems as remote as Wonderland - academics went into university life to teach a subject 바카라사이트y enjoyed and to deepen 바카라사이트ir knowledge of that subject. These days, 바카라사이트 rising tide of paperwork - demanding ever-greater accountability - combined with an increasingly opaque and seemingly dirigiste management have changed 바카라사이트 face of both teaching and research, and not for 바카라사이트 better ei바카라사이트r.

I understand why so many of my UK colleagues are so discontented. They may appear superficially to have less to moan about than 바카라사이트ir peers in some o바카라사이트r countries, but over here, 바카라사이트 changes that are leading to 바카라사이트 discontent are happening covertly, rapidly and without adequate explanation. The result is a growing sense of powerlessness and a loss of goodwill all round.