This report covers two topics: the ways in which academic life has changed in the last twenty years or so, and the impact on universities of an ageing academic workforce. The first two chapters provide some background to these studies. Part 2 deals with changes in academic life. Part 3 deals with issues of ageing.
Academic life has been affected by large growth in the number of students without a matching increase in the number of academics, so that the student: staff ratio has risen to unprecedented levels. It has been affected by pressures on universities to raise funds by taking in fee-paying students at undergraduate and graduate levels and by undertaking educational and research work under contracts with industries. It has been affected by the great growth in communications and information technology; by a strong change in management styles from the collegial to the managerial style of businesses; by greatly increased use of casual staff, and the extra pressures this places on the full-time continuing staff; and by a decline in the relative status, salaries, prestige and general attractiveness of employment as an academic.
While some developments have been welcomed – for instance, greater attention to the quality of teaching, the greater access of students to university education, or the ease of modern electronic communications – the overall picture is of frustration and disillusionment, to the point where many respondents to a questionnaire said they would not recommend an academic career to anyone.
The ageing of the academic workforce is a phenomenon of some concern in Britain and in the USA. It is recognised here, but seems to be of less concern to universities. It is more complicated than simply the fact that the average age of academic staff is rising; it affects different departments or sections of a university in different ways. ‘Bunching’, where several members of a department retire at much the same time, can either give an opportunity for renewal or can lead to loss of significant areas of study. In the second case, decisions taken in department after department around the nation can lead to a national loss before anyone is aware of it happening.
Some universities have procedures for gathering data internally and for dealing with ageing according to the university’s own priorities. There seems to be no body to oversee the national interest in the decline or disappearance of areas of study of national importance.
On hearing of this inquiry into the implications for universities of changes in the academic workforce and work conditions, one biblically-minded academic remarked to the authors: ‘For DEST to do this resembles Yahweh enquiring into flood damage on Day 40’. Such bitterness is widespread in the universities, though usually expressed with less wit – for instance: ‘Line the University Council, including V-C and at least two rungs beneath him up against a wall and machine-gun the lot of them.’
Much damage has occurred. However, a balanced picture would also look for any beneficial changes over the last decade or two. This inquiry attempts to provide that picture. Part 1 of this account includes the historical background and is a common introduction to the two topics of the investigation, Part 2 reports on the implications for universities of changes to the academic work role and Part 3 reports on the implications for universities of the age structure of the academic workforce in which older categories predominate.
In part this inquiry proceeded by survey of academics in twelve universities – three each from four categories of university. In the report the categories are frequently used in abbreviated form, as follows:
G8 = Group of Eight (as they have defined themselves)
Tech = University of Technology
Regional = Regional university (universities outside a mainland State capital city)
Metro = Metropolitan University. This is a category difficult to define; it is ‘the rest’ when the other three categories are taken out.
With respect to the report on the implications of ageing workforce a declaration of interest is necessary: the three members of the research team are all retired from full-time academic work.
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