Research project on the casualisation of academic employment
You may have been contacted recently about being interviewed for an ARC research project examining gender equity in Australian universities, focussing on casualisation of academic employment. The NTEU is an industry partner on this ARC project along with Unisuper and Universities Australia. VU has agreed to be a case study for the research and this involves a survey of sessional teaching (HE) staff in August, and interviews with academic staff who manage large numbers of sessionals and also with some senior managers. The branch supports this much needed research and encourages members who have been asked if they would agree to be interviewed to take part where they can.
Early research from the casualisation project has found that around 60% of all academic staff on a headcount basis are employed on a casual (that is hourly rate) basis. These findings, using previously unreleased data from Unisuper, have been reported in the Australian’s HES, and at the recent AIRAANZ conference, shed new light on the changing nature of academic work. They also highlight the gendered nature of casual academic employment and the differing age profile, raising questions about future workforce planning for universities.
Please contact the researcher direct with any queries about this research project,
