Over one-third of higher education teaching staff are considering leaving - survey

More than a third of teaching staff in higher education institutions consider their employment to be precarious with many saying they are not paid out of term and will have to leave the sector to find permanent jobs, according to new research.

The Irish Federation of University Teachers (Ifut) says the problem persists in the sector despite positive recommendations in Government-backed reports and a commitment from Minister for Higher and Further Education Simon Harris last year to provide the funds required to “end precarious employment”.

A survey of 550 higher education sector workers suggests women are disproportionately impacted by the issue. Two-thirds of those who considered themselves to be in precarious employment and were working additional unpaid hours, put at an average of 11 per week, were women. Some respondents suggested that their employment status had an impact on major life decisions such as having children.

The survey includes responses from lecturers, teachers and researchers, employed on a permanent, contract or casual basis, at third-level institutions across the State.

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Overall, it found that rising student numbers, underfunding in the sector, an increased administrative burden and a failure to develop appropriate workforce plans are “issues felt by, and causing issues for, all levels of academia in higher education”.

Ifut described the survey findings as “stark” and said the institutions, funding agencies and Government departments “that oversaw the creation of these appalling employment practices cannot be trusted to correct them on their own”.

It said a substantial increase in student numbers after the financial crash, accompanied by lower funding per head and reduced staff numbers, had contributed to a situation where 60 per cent of respondents say their workloads are unmanageable.

A growing number of staff were employed either on grades that previously did not exist or on the basis of payment only for the hours they were actually teaching, it said.

“I suppose the most surprising part is how little has changed. That and the number of extra hours being worked,” Ifut general secretary Frank Jones said of the findings.

He said making a case for some of those worst affected by the sector’s evolving work practices was difficult as institutions created new grades then argued they were excluded from existing agreements regarding representation.

The 2016 Cush Report recommended creating a pathway for lecturers employed for at least two years to permanent status but having this implemented had proven challenging, Mr Jones said.

“There are a lot of people out there who are called teaching assistants,” he added. “They stand up in front of big lecture halls and they lecture students, meet students in tutorials and provide pastoral care. As far as students are concerned, these are lecturers but not in terms of pay. They will be paid an hourly rate and only for the time spent in front of the students.

“Now why is it as bad as it is? The truth is those who get to stand in front of students think if they persist long enough, they’ll be offered a lecturer contract but it is not the norm for that to happen.”

In response, Jim Miley, director general of the Irish Universities Association, said universities “had no option but to offer part-time or casual contracts to some staff due to the prohibitive restrictions on employing full-time staff” due to the Employment Control Framework imposed by the Government.

He said it was “well past time” for the framework, introduced during the financial crash, to be removed and “to allow universities to employ the staff they need to cater for the rapid expansion in student numbers” which are up by more than one-third over the past decade.

The Department for Further and Higher Education said the question of staffing levels and precarious employment in the sector “are a core focus” of its work and it was engaging with the Higher Education Authority, trade unions, higher education institutions and other on these issues including reforming the framework.