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Higher Education Series

Change and Continuity in Academic Work

INTRODUCTION

While the overall working hours for Australian academics have increased in the last twenty years, there has been little change in the proportion of time devoted to the core tasks of teaching and research. The additional hours can be attributed largely to an expansion of non-core work, including tasks such as those associated with institutional accountability processes and income-generating activities.

Academics continue to be exceptionally motivated by the intrinsic interest in their work, and most satisfied when they have the autonomy and opportunity to pursue their own academic interests. However, the growing demands of a range of unrelated tasks has increased to the point where the fragmentation of time and energy is perceived by academics as seriously undermining their work satisfaction and their productivity.

In addition to the everyday changes in work activities, there has been a marked shift away from the traditional annual work cycles of academics. The distinction between teaching and so-called ‘non-teaching’ periods is disappearing and has implications for staff deployment.

There are notable variations in work preferences within the academic profession. From the survey data reported in this paper, a substantial proportion of academics see themselves primarily as researchers or as teachers. These differences in work role orientations are accompanied by marked differences in values, aspirations and satisfaction.

There is some evidence of a trend towards increasing role specialisation for academics with respect to teaching and research. This is likely to be encouraged within some universities to meet the demands of competition and efficiency. The status and reward differentiation that follows is likely to generate tensions and further divides in work practices within institutions and departments.

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This page was last updated on 09 February 1998