“Have you been
following what happened at the University of Virginia?” That was a question
appearing in a live chat sponsored a couple weeks ago by the Guardian’s higher education blog.
Also referenced, early
on, was an old favorite from AAUP on the bleakness of things, in 2010, which
had a subheading “the Collapsing Faculty Infrastructure.”
Which, really, was the
main subject of the Guardian's Friday the 13th conversation,
entitled, “Freelance, part-time or fixed-term: is this the future of academic careers?”
This produced comments
so rich, and varied, that I have taken the liberty of excerpting a number of
them, with enough editing to yield “one-liners.” I think I have not altered anyone’s fundamental views.
Now, although
they were obviously aware of grim parallels in the United States, the
respondents seem to be mostly British, no surprise, an Australian or American here
and there, and mostly lecturers—limited term and part/or part-time,
“fractionals”—and graduate students. There were also some “staff” folk, and at
least one senior tenured professor, and a gaggle of panelists who are listed here.
The chat was kicked
off by the news that a job advertisement, from the University of Birmingham,* had elicited applications for a "voluntary postdoctoral position.” Well,
even in Britain they’re not going for an entirely voluntary higher education
faculty yet, and so the comments more often involved “fractional” and other
sorts of arrangements that are very familiar to American adjunct and contingent
faculty.
Of course, anyone can
see the original comments whenever they wish, but I read them all, in one bleak
and unbroken binge, and I am trying to convey here what I heard as a sort of opera,
with voices of despair, grief, cynicism, solidarity, resignation, sadness,
amusement (not much), anger, and resolve.
Um, before we go on, have you seen New Faculty Majority's new website? That will help you get through this or, after you've read the whole thing, get over this.
Ok, it was a downer, altogether. I didn’t, for instance, read anything that sounded like good fun. You know, a bunch of teenagers preparing to toss a
burning motorcycle through a bank
window, that sort of stuff.
And I guess I was a bit surprised by the lack of revolutionary zeal.
Also, not much about
fattening administrative salaries or pharaonic building projects.
And not much class-based chat either. Some, not much: Brits, we really do rely on you for this. What
gives?
Well. Here it
is-almost everything is in order of appearance, with a few switches, and a few
parenthetical indications, for the sake of intelligibility. I didn’t sample
every single comment, but most of them. Also, I’ve linked here and there to
some sites that explain some special topics.
__________________________________________
Sad to hear that this is
happening.
Sector is just broken.
Fractional contracts
insufficient to live on.
Interactions lead to
inequalities....nobody has managed to eliminate them.
Unless/until full time
staff begin to value part timers and support them.
Existence of contingent
faculty downgrades the value of every professor.
In America, the
pundits are continually asking why isn't college cheaper?
Declare a fiscal
emergency and tenure goes out the window.
Short-term, part-time
contract was perfect. (Then)
[But] Opportunities
for permanence are not so forthcoming. (now).
Their career is
something they're passionate about.
Supporting the status
quo....actually part of the problem
Underpay and overwork
new entrants to the profession.
Blight of
casualisation.
UCU Day of Action on Casualisation great opportunity.
Universities know they
are losing out to entrepreneurs.
Universities tend to
be appalling employers.
Mundane
factors...eating and sleeping and having basic job security.
Support...that you
hope to get from senior colleagues...patchy.
Closed off to workers
on casualised contracts...getting a mortgage.
PGWA resists...
increasing exploitation of PhD students.
Someone who completed
her PhD...working as a “honorary” research fellow!
Concordat says
"value and afford equal treatment...regardless of contract.
Boggles the mind what
they think they can and.. actually get away with.
Has the concordat
actually made any difference?
Tend to avoid these
kind of discussions because they fill me with panic.
Very long way from
being paid fairly for the work they do.
Wait until you have to
compete against every Ph.D. all around the globe.
Women academics are
also twice as likely to work part-time.
I have been advocating
the 'branded academic' and portfolio professional.
The level of
responsibility that senior academics do or don’t’ feel.
The HE equivalent of
selling off the family assets in order to survive today.
It’s about
intergenerational responsibility, innit?
Can't get a job in
academia, need to look outside it(?) Seems a tad harsh.
There's clearly
something rotten in the industry that needs to be sorted.
I'm more keen on
tackling these problems than just throwing my hands up.
How about having
limits on the numbers of PhD students trained?
Wish I could be as
optimistic about the future as you.
Administrators
primarily have cutting labor costs in mind.
Have you been
following what happened at the University of Virginia?
Replace professors
with machines...few people left to fight for ...education.
In terms of solutions,
unfortunately, there are no easy fixes
Personally happy to (at
least have accepted that I'll) work part-time.
What disheartens me is
that this is expected.
Burden this puts on
people not as lucky as I am in having partner who earns.
In US and Australia
university teaching is casualised to a staggering rate.
Fraction of the cost
of meaningful salaries.
Absolutely no business
incentive whatsoever to higher education institutions.
We all hate to think
that this is what's happening.
Try to find
constructive answers.
The problem now
goes...beyond individual academic career disappointment.
Someone looks at the
evidence and decides it is time to do something else?
Many were working
below the UK minimum wage.
Knock on impacts are
huge... impacts upon support staff.
Casualization....going
hand in had with relentless drive of marketisation.
Increasingly seeing privatization of higher education.
There is a LOT rotten
in the industry!
When I [Senior
faculty] catch cold, contingent faculty catch pneumonia.
All facing the same
epidemic...should work together in order to stamp it out.
Without support from
senior academics
Grassroots' groups
....little power to make any significant changes.
Real need for
criticism of the system by those...already tenured.
"Lecturer"
is part research part teaching, I don't see it w/only one part.
Flexible workforce...
balance of financial incentive and professional esteem.
Reward flexible
workforce: trust in you as employer will reap rewards.
They'll keep you
innovative, lean, on the cutting edge.
The very knowledge
creators that your business depends on.
I doubt I'll get an academic
job or post doc funding.
Get a job, almost any
job...see if I can do a bit of research on the side.
I'm 30—I want a
pension and to start a family.
Think they'll get....jobs...supervisors
don't seem to let them know the odds.
Support staff...far
more job security than people doing teaching or research.
Hell, some panelists
(for live chat) have these kinds of staff positions.
Have hopes...but you
should not have expectations.
* Now have look at this, for, not University of
Birmingham, but University of Alabama at Birmingham where, strangely, they
offer not one, but two "volunteer postdoctoral positions." Of
course, we are a much bigger country. And, sure, it's for orthodontics students, and those guys stand to make a little money down the road, but still, there it is.
