Closing the noose: a dispatch from the front line of decasualisation - Overland literary journal
Across the board, universities have responded to legislation aimed at rectifying this already grim situation by halting casual hiring, cutting courses, expanding class sizes, and increasing the workloads of permanent staff. This is an unintended consequence of the legislation, yes, but given the nefarious history of the university, from systemic wage theft to bad-faith bargaining, hardly a surprising one.
UCU responded to the King's Speech by calling on the government to ensure that workers are prioritised, and its New Deal for Working People is not diluted.
UCU general secretary Jo Grady said the commitment to phase out zero-hour contracts is welcome, adding 'thousands of staff members working in post-16 education on precarious contracts will want to see this enacted as quickly as possible.'
https://www.ucu.org.uk/article/13662/University-and-College-Union-response-to-Kings-Speech?utm_source=Mastodon&utm_medium=Social
#UCU #UKHE #HigherEducation #Casualisation
UCU response to King's Speech
UCU today responded to the King's Speech by calling on the government to ensure that workers are prioritised, and its New Deal for Working People is not diluted.
University of Cambridge college supervisors have won an average pay rise worth 15% as a result of Cambridge UCU's 'Justice for College Supervisors' campaign. College supervisors lead undergraduate tutorials (or 'supervisions') yet many are precariously employed and paid an hourly rate.
Cambridge's colleges have now agreed new rates that will result in a pay rise worth 15% on average and over 20% for some supervisors.
https://www.ucu.org.uk/article/13613/University-of-Cambridge-college-supervisors-win-15-pay-rise?utm_source=Mastodon&utm_medium=Social&campaign=StampOut
#UCU #UKHE #HigherEducation #Casualisation
University of Cambridge college supervisors win 15% pay rise
University of Cambridge college supervisors have won an average pay rise worth 15%.
đź‘Ź Congratulations to @AndreaRE_altibel Reyes Elizondo and Wolfgang Kaltenbrunner for their highly relevant paper on Research Integrity.
📰 Read the paper here 👉https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11948-024-00467-3
#ResearchIntegrity #QuestionableResearchPractices #precarity #casualisation
Navigating the Science System: Research Integrity and Academic Survival Strategies - Science and Engineering Ethics
Research Integrity (RI) is high on the agenda of both institutions and science policy. The European Union as well as national ministries of science have launched ambitious initiatives to combat misconduct and breaches of research integrity. Often, such initiatives entail attempts to regulate scientific behavior through guidelines that institutions and academic communities can use to more easily identify and deal with cases of misconduct. Rather than framing misconduct as a result of an information deficit, we instead conceptualize Questionable Research Practices (QRPs) as attempts by researchers to reconcile epistemic and social forms of uncertainty in knowledge production. Drawing on previous literature, we define epistemic uncertainty as the inherent intellectual unpredictability of scientific inquiry, while social uncertainty arises from the human-made conditions for scientific work. Our core argument—developed on the basis of 30 focus group interviews with researchers across different fields and European countries—is that breaches of research integrity can be understood as attempts to loosen overly tight coupling between the two forms of uncertainty. Our analytical approach is not meant to relativize or excuse misconduct, but rather to offer a more fine-grained perspective on what exactly it is that researchers want to accomplish by engaging in it. Based on the analysis, we conclude by proposing some concrete ways in which institutions and academic communities could try to reconcile epistemic and social uncertainties on a more collective level, thereby reducing incentives for researchers to engage in misconduct.
The paper I wrote with Wolfgang Kaltenbrunner has been published in Science and Engineering Ethics: 'Navigating the Science System: Research Integrity and Academic Survival Strategies.'
The paper is our final output for the SOPs4RI project (H2020). It touches on systemic issues such as #precarity & #casualisation, and focuses on how researchers use QRPs to reconcile epistemic & social forms of uncertainty. #ResearchIntegrity
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11948-024-00467-3
Navigating the Science System: Research Integrity and Academic Survival Strategies - Science and Engineering Ethics
Research Integrity (RI) is high on the agenda of both institutions and science policy. The European Union as well as national ministries of science have launched ambitious initiatives to combat misconduct and breaches of research integrity. Often, such initiatives entail attempts to regulate scientific behavior through guidelines that institutions and academic communities can use to more easily identify and deal with cases of misconduct. Rather than framing misconduct as a result of an information deficit, we instead conceptualize Questionable Research Practices (QRPs) as attempts by researchers to reconcile epistemic and social forms of uncertainty in knowledge production. Drawing on previous literature, we define epistemic uncertainty as the inherent intellectual unpredictability of scientific inquiry, while social uncertainty arises from the human-made conditions for scientific work. Our core argument—developed on the basis of 30 focus group interviews with researchers across different fields and European countries—is that breaches of research integrity can be understood as attempts to loosen overly tight coupling between the two forms of uncertainty. Our analytical approach is not meant to relativize or excuse misconduct, but rather to offer a more fine-grained perspective on what exactly it is that researchers want to accomplish by engaging in it. Based on the analysis, we conclude by proposing some concrete ways in which institutions and academic communities could try to reconcile epistemic and social uncertainties on a more collective level, thereby reducing incentives for researchers to engage in misconduct.
**Two in three research staff in UK universities are employed on fixed-term contracts **
Our new report published today exposes the widespread use of gig-economy style contracts for the staff who prop up university research departments.
https://www.ucu.org.uk/article/13444/New-report-exposes-gig-economy-reality-of-prestigious-university-research-departments?utm_source=Mastodon&utm_medium=Social&campaign=StampOut
#UCU #UKHE #HigherEducation #ResearchPrecarity #Casualisation
New report exposes 'gig-economy' reality of prestigious university research departments
Around two-thirds (66%) of research staff are employed on fixed-term contracts, some less than a year in length. The findings are from a new UCU report.
Hidden impacts of precarity on teaching: effects on student support and feedback on academic writing
by Sharon McCulloch
& Josie Leonard
#AcWri #Casualisation #HigherEducation
https://doi.org/10.1080/13562517.2023.2280258
A new report by Oxford University UCU has highlighted endemic casualisation and poor working conditions at the University of Oxford.
The report finds that 66% of academics employed by the university are employed on a fixed-term contract (the national average is 33%). And once marking and preparation time is factored in, the pay of hourly paid workers often amounts to less than the National Living Wage.
https://www.ucu.org.uk/article/13267/New-report-highlights-endemic-casualisation-at-Oxford-University?utm_source=Mastodon&utm_medium=Social&campaign=ucuRISING
#UCU #UKHE #Casualisation #HigherEducation #OxfordUni
New report highlights endemic casualisation at Oxford University
A new report by Oxford University UCU has highlighted endemic casualisation and poor working conditions at the University of Oxford.
UCU condemns the decision to wrongfully dismiss a lecturer on a fixed-term contract while advertising a new permanent post covering his duties.
The University of Sussex must reverse the plans and offer him the post.
https://www.ucu.org.uk/article/13157/UCU-condemns-baffling-dismissal-of-University-of-Sussex-lecturer?utm_source=Mastodon&utm_medium=Social&campaign=sussex
#UCU #casualisation #redundancies #Sussex
UCU condemns 'baffling' dismissal of University of Sussex lecturer
The University and College Union (UCU) has today (Friday) condemned plans by the University of Sussex to make a member of teaching staff redundant after having advertised a new permanent post that includes all his current duties.
We've had a significant win against casualisation after Sheffield Hallam University agreed to move associate lecturers off zero-hour contracts.
The agreement goes a long way to addressing the insecurity of zero-hour contracts and inequalities between associate lecturers and other members of academic staff.
https://www.ucu.org.uk/article/12828/Union-welcomes-end-of-zero-hours-contracts-for-associate-lecturers-at-Sheffield-Hallam-University?utm_source=mast&utm_medium=post&campaign=socc
#UCU #HigherEducation #casualisation
UCU welcomes end of zero-hour contracts for associate lecturers at Sheffield Hallam University
UCU has today declared a significant win against casualisation after Sheffield Hallam University agreed to move associate lecturers off zero-hour contracts.
Peter Riley
UCU
CWTS | Leiden University
Andrea Reyes E (she/her)
Dr Julia Molinari PhD SFHEA