Exeter staff speak out about casualisation

Amy Rushton and Megan Ballantyne News Editor and Editor

MANY Exeter staff have told Exeposé that casualisation and short term contracts are central points of concern for them in the current UCU pay, pensions and working conditions disputes taking place across the country.

When asked why they are striking, several academics pointed to the job insecurity posed by a fixed term or uncertain contracts. One academic stated that academics “have to hope and guess that there’ll be more work for them next year or next term. They have no agency and are undervalued.”

The UCU’s anti-casualisation campaign, Stamp Out Casualisation, state that “high quality education and fair working conditions depend on contracts that give staff stability and continuity of employment. Casualisation is bad for staff and bad for education, yet it’s endemic in our colleges and universities.”

A UCU report, published in January 2020, suggested that casualised staff are treated as “second class academic citizens”, are vulnerable to exploitative practices, denied academic freedom and prevented from planning their professional and personal life. A 2019 UCU survey estimated that there were 37,000 university staff on fixed term contracts.

Exeposé spoke to staff members on the consequences of this trend of casualisation in higher education. One researcher stated they “have had to jump from short-term contract to short-term contract. I feel like there are whole areas of my life still on hold because I don’t feel secure enough financially to think about them”. Others added that academics could, for instance, struggle with being able to start a family when they wish to due to the precarity of these contracts, and suggested that this lack of control of their own lives was damaging to staff wellbeing, with one member of staff stating “The university seems to pay lip service to staff wellbeing but doesn’t and won’t care about considering things like job security.

Staff also discussed how the consequences of casualisation in particular affected junior colleagues and those earlier in their careers, with one member of staff stating “It’s hard knowing that someone who you’re training up and helping out in their early career may well not be around after the end of the year.”

An academic also argued that this insecurity damaged the university and educational system as a whole, stating “the uncertainty tied to our future also means there is less investment in the educational process. Striking is us drawing attention to the lack of quality rather than creating the lack of quality.” Another academic argued that if this trend of casualisation and short term contracts continues, being a university academic “will become a glorified hobby for the independently wealthy. The consequences of that for universities, for knowledge, and for student learning, would be disastrous.”

Other staff testify to not being able to engage in enhancing their department or research opportunities due to the limitations of their contracts, with one stating “I’m kept on a short contract which prevents me from investing in my own research or department. I have to skip funding opportunities, conferences, presentations, and participation in key groups. Losing out on these opportunities reduces the effectiveness of the entire university.”