According to this Time Higher Ed. article, Ulster University is ring-fencing new permanent posts within the university so that suitable existing staff coming to the end of fixed-term contracts can be given an opportunity to take them on. This is the only university that I am aware of that is taking concrete, public steps to providing a clear and stable career path for university employees, although I would be delighted to hear of others. I think that any university that is trying to reverse the trend towards fixed term contracts should be applauded for their public show of faith and commitment towards their employees.
As somebody who has been employed on fixed term contracts for several years and is finding it very tiresome, I am happy that something is starting to happen, I am just unhappy that it is not yet (?) my employer.
However it is interesting that this approach is portrayed in a negative light in the THE article. The so-called insider who brought this to the notice of the THE is quoted as saying that this policy will lead to the decline of the university as only "low-calibre fixed-term staff unable to find employment elsewhere" will be taken on permanently. This despite the fact that the university opens up the job posting to external applicants if nobody suitable can be found.
Interestingly the University itself would not comment on the matter which is a pity because I think that they should be trumpeting it from the rooftops. The increasing casualisation of University employment means that the majority of research employees are employed on fixed term contracts. For example, at Dundee the UCU figures for employment are as follows:
- 46.9% of teaching & research academics employed on fixed-term contracts
- 80.9% of teaching only academics employed on fixed-term contracts
- 97.1% of research only academics employed on fixed-term contracts
(Figures for 1995. Source: UCU)
This is despite an, as yet unfulfilled, public undertaken commitment upon the part of many universities to reverse the trend via the Research Concordat. Given that the higher education sector reportedly generates output worth more than £59 billion and supports over 668,500 jobs it could be seen as an important part of both the economy and social structure of Britain, in fact H.E. is actually more valuable to the UK than the pharmceutical industry . It strikes me that some measure of job security and a more clear career development path wouldn't be too much to ask for. Perhaps the performance of researchers would be enhanced if the 97.1% of researchers weren't increasingly stressed and preoccupied with the impending end of their current contract (and 2-3 years is not a long time in terms of a career).
I can only hope that more universities (hint Dundee) will show the same faith in their existing employees and will take their lead from Ulster University.
Note:
Whilst researching this piece I found out about a recent meeting at Dundee on the website of the College of Life Sciences PostDoc Association. I didn't here about this, although given that I was in and out of the country, it was during the summer recess, and I was coming to the end of my existing contract and that was foremost on my mind, maybe it just slipped past me.
