HIGHLIGHTS

This paper was prepared by:

Emily Jones
Mark Urban
Sandy Stevenson
Maureen Maclachlan
Tom Karmel

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, TRAINING AND YOUTH AFFAIRS

HIGHER EDUCATION DIVISION

The Australian higher education sector has undergone dramatic change during the last decade. Rationalisation of institutions within the tertiary sector in 1989 involved the former binary system of universities and colleges of advanced education being abolished, institutional amalgamations and the consequent designation of almost all higher education institutions as universities. Prior to the rationalisation there were 19 universities. Post rationalisation, the number of universities almost doubled.

Student numbers increased almost 50 per cent between 1989 and 1998, which has reflected the move to a mass higher education. Technological innovation has been rapid, and has changed course offerings and the way education is delivered. For example, on-line access to university staff, library resources and course material has meant easier access for students and perhaps has contributed to a proportional reduction in general staff.

The National Report on Australia’s Higher Education Sector (DEET 1993) stated: ‘Staffing issues are central to the quality, productivity and adaptability of the higher education system. The implementation of Government and institutional objectives relies heavily on the teaching and research competence of academics and on the performance of institutional management and support staff.’ As universities have responded to policy changes and pressures from industry and students, the profile of university staff has changed.

This paper examines the changes in the profile of university staff from 1989 to 1997 (and where possible 1998) in terms of:

• category (academic and non-academic);
• academic classification (above senior lecturer, senior lecturer, lecturer and below lecturer);
• work contract (full time, fractional full time and casual);
• function (teaching only, research only and teaching and research; and
• the proportion of casual staff by function.

The paper also looks at changes in the proportion of women by classification and by area of study and changes in the age profiles for academic staff.

Key findings for the period are:

• academic staff grew more than general staff;
• there was a polarisation of the academic structure with the most sustained growth in the most senior and the most junior classifications;
• both academic—within the academic group only the most senior academics (above senior lecturer) have increased—and non-academic staff have declined significantly since 1996;
• casual and fractional full time employment increased for both academic and non-academic categories;
• the increase in casual employment of academic staff was overwhelmingly for staff undertaking teaching only;
• there was growth in academic staff undertaking research only;
• the greatest proportional increases of women have occurred in the senior academic classifications;
• while numbers remain low, there has been an increase in Indigenous staff; and
• there has been a shift to an older profile for academic staff suggesting that there will be increased opportunities for entrants into academia over the next ten years.

Academic and non-academic staff growth

Between 1989 and 1998 the number of full time equivalent (FTE)¹ university staff increased by 22 per cent. In 1989 academic staff made up 43 per cent of FTE university staff. In 1998 this had risen to 45 per cent².

Figure 1 shows that over the period academic staff grew by 27 per cent while general staff grew by 19 per cent. Growth of non-academic staff slowed after 1991 but continued to 1992 for academic staff. However, both groups decreased in 1997 and 1998.

Figure 1   Index of academic and non-academic staff, 1989-1998

The changes in the growth rate of university staff are interesting in terms of their relationship to supplementation for salary increases to the higher education sector. The slower growth of staff after 1993 coincides with the introduction of new supplementation measures linked to enterprise bargaining. The marked decline in the growth of university staff between 1996 and 1998 was likely the result of a number of factors which occurred in 1996. These included:

• new supplementation arrangements announced in the 1995 Budget. Supplementation for salary increases was set at the level of the Safety Net Adjustment (1.5 in 1996). Previously, supplementation had been more in line with actual wage increases in the sector;
• the Commonwealth Government announced revised operating grant arrangements; and
• enterprise bargaining resulted in wage increases of 11 to 12 per cent (over two years) sector wide.

Polarisation of academic structure

The number of FTE academic staff increased by 27 per cent between 1989 and 1998. Growth over the period varied considerably across academic classifications. Figure 2 shows that the strongest and most sustained growth occurred in the most senior and junior academic classifications.

Figure 2   Index of FTE academic staff by classification, 1989-1998

The main points to emerge from Figure 2 are:

• the above senior lecturer classification rose by 42 per cent but remains the smallest group. The above senior lecturer classification now makes up 18 per cent of total academic staff as opposed to 16 per cent in 1989;
• the growth in the senior lecturer classification was below the overall average at 17 per cent. Senior lecturers make up 22 per cent of academic staff compared to 23 per cent in 1989;
• the lecturer classification, still the largest group, was the slowest growing group with growth of 11 per cent. Lecturers now make up 34 per cent of academic staff compared to 38 per cent in 1989; and
• the below lecturer classification increased by 52 per cent. This classification now represents 27 per cent of academic staff as opposed to 23 per cent in 1989.

The analysis suggests two points of interest:

• the most substantial rate of growth has occurred at the highest and lowest bands of academic staff. The middle classifications of senior lecturer and lecturer grew relatively slowly. To some extent the large number of lecturers in the system may be a result of the institutional rationalisation in 1989–90. In particular, the lecturer category growth has been declining since 1992. It is not possible to say whether this is the result of a deliberate strategy to change the staffing profile of universities to reduce the middle bands which made up over 60 per cent of academic staff in 1989, declining to 55 per cent in 1998. It may be that budget pressures have encouraged recruitment activity at the lowest academic entry level;
• the small decline in academic staff between 1996 and 1998 has fallen mainly on the lower bands. The below lecturer group declined by around 4 per cent, the lecturer group by around 7 per cent and the senior lecturer by 3 per cent. By contrast the above senior lecturer band increased by 2 per cent. The reduction of staff at the entry points to academia, if it continues, may impact on the depth of experience available to universities in the future. This change in the distribution will also have an impact on the cost of academic salaries for universities, in that the more senior the academic, the higher the salary.

Increase in casual and fractional full time employment

Between 1989 and 1998 the share of FTE academic staff employed full time decreased from 83 to 76 per cent, while the fractional full time share increased from 5 to 7 per cent. Casuals as a proportion of total staff increased from 12 to 16 per cent. Academic staff increased by 27 per cent over the period. Figure 3 shows the breakdown by type of work contract–employment of full time academics increased by 17 per cent, while fractional full time academics increased by 82 per cent, and employment of casual academic staff increased by 67 per cent.

Figure 3   Index of academic staff by work contract, 1989-1998

It should be noted that casual academics are clustered around the lecturer and below lecturer classifications.

Figure 4 illustrates the growth of casuals by function. Over the period there has been a very large increase in the use of casuals as a proportion of academic staff undertaking teaching only functions.

Figure 4   Casual academic staff as proportion of academic staff by function, 1989 and 1998

Growth of FTE non-academic staff between 1989 and 1998 was 19 per cent overall; 9 per cent for full time staff, 57 per cent for fractional full time staff and 84 per cent for casual staff (Figure 5).

Figure 5   Index of FTE non-academic staff by work contract, 1989-1998

Similar patterns are revealed for both academic staff and non-academic staff. The sharp decline of casual staff in 1990 coincides with the rationalisation of the sector where universities and Colleges for Advanced Education merged. The largest proportion of growth for both groups over the period was from the casual sector. In 1998 there was negative growth for full time staff. This is probably a cost driven measure due to the events occurring in 1996 (outlined earlier).

Emphasis on research

The abolition of the binary system in 1989 required a reconsideration of the role and functions of academic staff, and the appropriate balance between teaching and research. Figure 6 shows the growth of FTE academic staff by function over the period 1989 to 1998. There has been a very large growth of research only staff (137 per cent increase) over the period. Teaching only staff had negative growth, declining by 36 per cent. Growth of staff undertaking teaching and research functions grew steadily until 1993, and had been relatively stable since, with 51 per cent increase over the period.

Figure 6   Index of FTE academic staff by function, 1989-1998

Over the period, the proportion of total FTE academic staff undertaking teaching only decreased from 36 to 18 per cent, while the research only share increased from 8 to 14 per cent and the teaching and research share increased from 57 to 68 per cent.

The decline in teaching only staff may be largely due to academics from the former colleges of advanced education pursuing research, since the removal of the binary divide gave staff from these institutions greater opportunities to undertake research. The transfer of these academic staff would therefore also account for some of the increase in the teaching and research category.

Research only academic staff continued to grow between 1996 and 1997 despite the reduction in total academic staff (see Figure 6). In 1998 there was a small decline in research only academic staff of just over 3 per cent. This does not detract from the conclusion that the focus of university activity has to some degree been re-directed from teaching to research over the period 1989 to 1998.

An increase in the employment of women

Women as a proportion of full-time and fractional full time (FTE) staff have increased by 28 per cent (from 27 to 34 per cent) for academic classifications and 10 per cent (54 to 59 per cent) for non-academic staff.

Figure 7 shows that although the senior academic classifications contain the fewest women, it is in these classifications that the greatest proportional increases have occurred over the period. The percentage of women (FTE) increased from 8 to 14 in the above senior lecturer classification and 14 to 27 in the senior lecturer classification.

Figure 7   Women FTE as proportion of classifications, 1989 ad 1998

The substantial increases in senior classifications where women have been under-represented may be due to two forces–(1) university affirmative action policies; and (2) growth of feeder groups and increased progression of women from the entry level classifications into the senior classifications.
Responding to general moves in society and government to promote equal opportunities and affirmative action principles the Commonwealth Tertiary Education Commission in 1984 proposed a range of measures to improve opportunities for women academics. Higher education institutions were the first group of employers to be covered under the Affirmative Action (Equal Opportunities for Women) Act 1986, and were required to report annually on their compliance with establishing a full affirmative action program. Studies in the early 1990s found that 80 per cent of institutions had improved their compliance with the Affirmative Action Act over the four years of reporting to date.

Looking at the feeder groups into the senior academic classifications, the representation of women in the below lecturer group was maintained around 50 per cent between 1989 and 1998. Over the period, women increased their representation in the lecturer classification by 25 per cent to 42 per cent. The growth of the proportion of women in the lecturer group, while at the same time maintaining their representation at below lecturer level, requires both increased progression and new entrants.

Academics are drawn mostly from those who have higher or postgraduate degrees. As Figure 8 indicates, since 1989 there has been a large increase in the number of women completing postgraduate degrees.

Figure 8   Index for postgraduate completions, 1989-1997

Between 1989 to 1997, male postgraduate completions increased by 83 per cent while female postgraduate completions more than doubled. The largest increase has been at the postgraduate by coursework category although there has also been a significant increase in higher degree research completions. Although the proportion of postgraduate completions for women only increased from 53 to 55 per cent of all completions, the evidence is that women are now completing awards at the more prestigious higher degree by research or coursework level rather than in diplomas and certificates. The indications, therefore, are that there are now more women in the feeder group for academic entry level positions and that the number of women competing for senior academic positions will continue to grow.

Figure 9 shows the representation of women byAcademic Organisational Units (AOU). It is clear from this figure that there is still significant clustering and over-representation of women in a few fields.

Figure 9    Representation of women in Academic Organisational Units (FTE), 1989 and 1998

In both 1989 and 1998, more than half of women academics were in the ‘traditional’ female academic AOU’s of Health Sciences, Education, Humanities and Social Studies. Women do not have very strong representation (less than 25 per cent) in Engineering/Processing, Agriculture/ Renewable Resources, Built Environment, Maths/Computing and Science.

Between 1989 and 1998 women increased their representation in each AOU except Health Sciences, with the greatest increases occurring in Education (10.6 per cent) and Humanities (9.6 per cent). The decrease in Health Sciences was 0.3 per cent.

Only in Health Sciences did women constitute more than half the total workforce in 1998 (52 per cent), although they also represented 47 per cent in Education. The lowest proportion of female staff was in Engineering/Processing. Here, the representation of women rose from 2 to 7 per cent of the total.

Figure 10 illustrates the comparative representation of female students and staff across AOU’s in 1998. In all AOU’s, the proportion of female students is markedly greater than the proportion of female staff. This and the increase in higher degree completions for women indicates that the representation of women in academia is likely to increase.

Slow increase in the employment of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders

In 1998, 492 Indigenous staff (0.6 per cent of all staff) were employed in higher education institutions. This is an extremely low proportion when compared with the proportion of Indigenous people in the population aged between 15 and 64 years (1.7 per cent).

The 1998 figure of 456 FTE staff compares with a figure of 130 FTE staff in 1994, representing an increase of 251 per cent which contrasts to the general trend for overall staffing which shows a decrease from 1996. On the other hand, the increase in Indigenous staffing over this period rose from a very low base and the proportion is still very low (see Figure 11). (Note: As self-identification is voluntary, these figures may understate the numbers of Indigenous staff to an unknown extent.)

Figure 11   Indigenous staff in higher education institutions

As referred to earlier, academics are drawn mostly from the pool of people with higher or postgraduate degrees. Figure 12 shows that the increase in the proportion of Indigenous academic staff mirrors the increase of Indigenous students in postgraduate courses over the last five years.

Age profile of academic staff

Figure 13 shows that the age profiles for women and men in 1998 differ noticeably. The highest proportion of academic male staff were 50–54 years whereas for women the highest proportion were 40–44 years. In 1989 the modal age for both men and women was 40–44 years.

Figure 13   Age profile for academic staff by gender, 1998

There is a higher proportion of women than men in the lower age groups and a lower proportion in the older age groups. The higher proportion of women in the lower age groups would be consistent with an increase in the proportion of new entrants being women.

There has been a shift to an older profile for academic staff between 1989 and 1998 (Figure 14). To assess the long term effect of the aging of the academic workforce a projection to 2008 was estimated. The projected age distribution for 2008³ shows a slight but continuing aging of the academic workforce. Recruitment to the sector of more younger people would be needed to offset this aging. There does not, however, appear to be a need to revise radically the recruitment behaviour in the sector.

Figure 14   Age profile for academic staff, 1989, 1998 and 2008

The modal age for academics (the age group with the highest number) increased from 40–44 years to 45–49 years between 1989 and 1998. It is expected that the modal age for 2008 will stay at 45–49 years.

Appendix 1

ISBN: 0 64223908 8
ISSN: 1034-9960
DETYA No. 6373HERC99A

2 Tables at Appendix 1 provide the numbers used to generate the charts in this paper.

3 A Markov chain was used to calculate a forecast for academic staff numbers in 2008. Transitional probabilities between one age group (5 year spans starting from 20 to 24 until 70) and the next age group were calculated. These probabilities were then applied to 1998 data. The number of recruits for 2008 used the age distribution of recruits for 1998 as its base. Growth in the sector is assumed to be 5 percent.