- Shackled to an abusive system that thrives on my dedicationThis is not just my story; it is the story of countless others who labor in the shadows of academia’s ivory towers. In the labyrinthine corridors of academia, where passion and exploitation collide, I find myself ensnared in a web of exhaustion and despair. Mere fatigue doesn’t begin to encapsulate the depth of my weariness;Continue reading “Shackled to an abusive system that thrives on my dedication”
- Demeaned and dehumanisedI declare war War on your hollow proclamations that you–recognise multiple perspectives of our community War on your facetitious claims that you–respect and appreciate what makes people different War on your, vapid, discharges that you–harness the power of our diversity Because if you espouse those values, why am I — again — incensed atContinue reading “Demeaned and dehumanised”
- A toxic sector that abuses passionI have recently move out of the university sector. The best way to describe my time in the university sector is as an abusive relationship. As a casual staff member, I was constantly thinking about where the next contract or job would come from, how to string jobs together to minimize gaps in pay, howContinue reading “A toxic sector that abuses passion”
- Bullying and disillusionmentWhen I did my PhD from 2000-2003, and in the few years that followed, working in research and teaching at [my uni] was my dream job. I loved interacting with students, I loved being able to conduct research and publish it, going to the weekly seminar series with all my colleagues, and reading about andContinue reading “Bullying and disillusionment”
- I’m part of a degree factory and I’m forced to exploit others to survive itWhat is it like to work in the modern university? It is dispiriting and stressful. It is alienating. I was an excellent teacher and had a research track record that was promising in the late 1990s. Over about a decade I gained successive promotions and became a professor. I had a small research group andContinue reading “I’m part of a degree factory and I’m forced to exploit others to survive it”
- More of a focus on education and creating inquisitive minds is requiredI decided to study as a “mature”-aged student to set myself up financially. I am currently a PhD candidate, and as I get closer to the end, my goal of lecturing in academia is not as enticing. I have tutored and worked with new and established convenors who are burned out, overworked, and stressed butContinue reading “More of a focus on education and creating inquisitive minds is required”
- Under neoliberalism, perhaps it’s less ‘P’s’ and more ‘fees get degrees.’Let’s be honest, that’s the point. I have worked at five major universities, all in a casual/sessional capacity, over the past decade. I hold multiple contracts across universities which include lecturing, tutoring, unit coordination, marking and several part-time research assistant positions. Over the past decade, I have not had any sick leave, annual leave, or any workplace entitlements. I have toContinue reading “Under neoliberalism, perhaps it’s less ‘P’s’ and more ‘fees get degrees.’Let’s be honest, that’s the point. “
- Year after year we thought “it can’t get any worse”, but it did.I planned that I would never fully retire. Last year I retired, because I could no longer stand to watch the falling standards, higher workloads, appalling hiring and HR practices, and clumsy, offensive management decisions at the university at which I had worked for the last fifteen years. IT became a nightmare. Management practices hadContinue reading “Year after year we thought “it can’t get any worse”, but it did.”
- I saw coloniacademia encroaching, suffocating, removing the messy students and messy teachers.My experiences are excerpted below from a larger piece I’m publishing: Compliance and regulations became more important than creativity and education. Trophy buildings became simulacra of power and learning. Soon, I’d be a regular inhabitant of the fishbowl compliance-contravention room, reminiscent of my high school principal’s office where my head was slammed against a wall byContinue reading “I saw coloniacademia encroaching, suffocating, removing the messy students and messy teachers.”
- There are NO WINNERS here: not the academics, not the professional staff, not the students, not the reuptation of the university. SOMETHING’s gotta give.I appreciate that universities are economic beasts like any other organisation, but when commercial partnerships are a part of HE and the ability to secure support is dictated by the sitting member of parliament in that university’s electorate, the integrity of the education being offered has the real potential to be compromised. When the statisticsContinue reading “There are NO WINNERS here: not the academics, not the professional staff, not the students, not the reuptation of the university. SOMETHING’s gotta give.”
- Students suffer tooI have worked full time all my adult life, most of that as a single parent. During that time, I also completed four degrees (including PhD) whilst working full time and doing the degrees full time (always choosing institutions on the primary basis of having options for distance/ online learning). I entered academia about 15Continue reading “Students suffer too”
- I’d leave if I could see a way to do that. I expect not to be given a choice to stay in the near futureWorking in the neoliberal university ecosystem is an exercise in acquiring and perpetuating PTSD. Long hours of un-paid work, tight deadlines and frequently unmanageble workload can result in one or more of the following: sleep deprivation, poor productivity, irritability at home and work, low self-esteem, and constant anxiety. Change management for the sake of cost-cuttingContinue reading “I’d leave if I could see a way to do that. I expect not to be given a choice to stay in the near future”
- Toxic and UncaringI left in 2014 because I had lost any faith in the higher education project in nursing. Then I returned in 2017 working in arts and humanities and left again in 2020. It was toxic and uncaring. People who were good at looking good were rewarded and those good at teaching and caring about studentsContinue reading “Toxic and Uncaring”
- “I know what I need to do to be successful in my role”: “Devil, soul, sell.”The following are responses to a survey staff at my university completed in 2022, and excerpts from my letter to my line manager and university VC in a last (unsuccessful) bid for a permanent role, respectively. First, the survey. You can tell how bitter I have become in this domain. Prompt: “The University motivates meContinue reading ““I know what I need to do to be successful in my role”: “Devil, soul, sell.””
- We are battered and broken. I must get out.I resigned from academia (Australian university) in late-2022 after being relentlessly bullied and harassed by management and graduate students. Throughout this time, and my entire 15 years in academia, I was employed in short-term (3-12 month) and unpaid (honorary/adjunct) roles. I published 90 Q1 journal papers and 3 book chapters during this time, was UnitContinue reading “We are battered and broken. I must get out.”
- Labour for sale?I have two stories from two universities where I work(ed) casually. Story One – no longer work there.I used to teach a professional practice unit in two 3-day blocks over the course of a year. I did this for a few years. I had created the content and all the learning materials, (for which IContinue reading “Labour for sale?”
- Students are “workers-in-training”.I have been reading the stories on this site for a while, and there is something that is missing here – the role of students in upholding the university’s neoliberal regimes, and being used by management to shape our own working conditions. I work in the humanities in a university in Aotearoa NZ. I loveContinue reading “Students are “workers-in-training”.”
- I left with a broken heartSoul destroying. I love doing research but the constant round of writing grants that you know won’t get up, while carrying out research with limited support from the University; mind busting ethics applications on unfriendly online forms; publish publish publish. I don’t go to conferences anymore – lack of financial support and recognition of conferenceContinue reading “I left with a broken heart”
- Fuck this placeBurn out, overwork, and mental health are at crisis levels in the university sector. While there has been much discussion of impacts on students – from the cost of living crisis to COVID and online learning – these and other issues are rarely mentioned in relation to how they impact upon the staff charged withContinue reading “Fuck this place”
- A Dead Space Filled with Orwellian ManagersHorrendous, soul destroying. It’s like working under Skynet from the Terminator film: the hostile inhumane system will kill you, perhaps literally. I found that an actual neo-nazi was tutoring first year German language while wearing a Proud Boys shirt. When reported, I was the one who was disciplined and subjected to insulting and upsetting HRContinue reading “A Dead Space Filled with Orwellian Managers”
- Constantly DrowningI am exhausted. That is the crux of it. I try my hardest to set boundaries and take time away from work because it is crucial to maintaining my wellbeing given my diagnosed mental health disorders. I work almost every day of the week, sometimes full days at the weekend. I work evenings after weekdayContinue reading “Constantly Drowning”
- Being exploited by a leadershit classWorking in a neoliberal University is living with the explicit and clear knowledge that you are being exploited by a leadershit class whose only key skill seems to be hiding from the very people they [are] responsible for and running Universities like businesses to make profit. Students are now called clients where I work, andContinue reading “Being exploited by a leadershit class”
- Nobody CaresThe transformation of the “Academy” in Poland takes place under the continuously intensifying competition for the same small pool of financial resources. In the 1990s and early 2000s, Polish universities were factories for masters. For the last 10 years, due to the devaluation of diplomas and a decline in the number of students, the mainContinue reading “Nobody Cares”
- Bending and breaking under the pressure of this neo-liberal disaster that can barely be called education.During Covid I was working half-time as a lecturer at [my] University – that is, I was paid for half-time work but worked more like 3/4 to full-time. I had already seen the steady deterioration of education standards, the massive shift of administrative tasks from professional staff to academics, and the expansion of classes toContinue reading “Bending and breaking under the pressure of this neo-liberal disaster that can barely be called education.”
- Stockholm syndrome, maternity cover, and the value of academic staff.Working in universities is a privilege and a joy at its best, but is overwhelming and destructive at worst. I can’t imagine working anywhere else and on most days I love it, but my husband thinks I have Stockholm syndrome and can’t see how much I’m being exploited. Personally, I’ve worked out how to ‘playContinue reading “Stockholm syndrome, maternity cover, and the value of academic staff.”
- What will it take to ‘love my job’ again?It feels as though the whole system is broken. The other day, I saw a colleague post a lovely picture online of some place where they’re doing fieldwork, with the caption ‘love my job’, and I realised that I haven’t heard anyone in HE say that in *years*. In fact, it’s something I used toContinue reading “What will it take to ‘love my job’ again?”
- An increasingly emotionless state of being to ensure “maximum productivity”In general, I find the neoliberal university an increasingly competitive and uncaring space to work in. I left the UK in 2015 where I had developed my academic career because I was edged out of the system for not being white and British, and thus there was no space for me within the university institutions.Continue reading “An increasingly emotionless state of being to ensure “maximum productivity””
- It’s not possible to operate outside of neoliberalism.I am amazed at the speed with which extreme neo-liberalism has eaten away at our universities. Just over a decade ago, as a someone in lower senior management role, I at least had some space to be creative, take decisions and support colleagues. I have bowed out of taking on management roles because most of what’sContinue reading “It’s not possible to operate outside of neoliberalism.”
- Bullies protected for the sake of “external optics”My story is about an ‘incident that represents the changes and their effects’ in the University system. For the past decade, an academic in my department has used three different HR processes to attack me, whenever their harassment of others was challenged (by me, by the head of department, by external research partners, and byContinue reading “Bullies protected for the sake of “external optics””
- leadership is genderedThose who succeed now are privileged white men. I lost so many opportunities for leadership roles in research to men and was directly told this “off the record” as I might have more children, being under 40. I was a Senior Lecturer! Any leadership roles I won were housekeeping, pastoral care positions. I worked inContinue reading “leadership is gendered”
- It’s a nice life if you can arrange it, or, Nobody to bill? fuck off.It’s perfectly fine – I’ve done many jobs and working in a university is the easiest job I’ve had – but this is for a specific reason. People think a PhD makes them standout and it does in society but in a University, you can stack high the history PhDs hanging around for the chanceContinue reading “It’s a nice life if you can arrange it, or, Nobody to bill? fuck off.”
- A caricature of educationI dropped out of high school because of how domestic violence affected me. I entered the workforce, and was eventually able to attend TAFE to complete the HSC. I loved reading, I loved history, philosophy, languages, cultures, and trying to understand why the world is the way it is and why it isn’t a betterContinue reading “A caricature of education”
- It frustrates me that so much public money, and the time and talents of good people, are being wastedI’m an engineer by background and have spent most of my career in industrial research & development. Recently I’ve moved to work in a university setting – initially as a postdoc, and now as a research fellow after being awarded a prestigious fellowship. It’s been a very interesting contrast to see how doing research inContinue reading “It frustrates me that so much public money, and the time and talents of good people, are being wasted”
- Hope Labour, Desperation, and MarginalizationEspecially post-Covid, there is no sense of community in the system. Sessional staff come and go (and I’ve watched most colleagues go), and there’s a hot desk, but zero support or understanding for developing an actual career. Opportunities provided to permanent staff, including meetings and funding, exempt sessionals. It’s a dispiriting workplace that disregards limitationsContinue reading “Hope Labour, Desperation, and Marginalization”
- What it is like to work in the neoliberal university, and what it could beSince [the early 90s] I have worked full-time in the New Zealand university system: first as a temporary full-time assistant lecturer for three years at [the University…] immediately following completion of my PhD, and since 1998 full-time permanent [..] at [the University…]. In that time I have witnessed the rapid growth and expansion in power,Continue reading “What it is like to work in the neoliberal university, and what it could be”
- It’s like the university is killing itself, bite by bite.I landed my balanced academic role 2 years ago after about 9 years of casual and contract roles. This experience informs how I work with tutors – I do my best to minimise the expectations upon them in terms of not exploiting their labour. Over this time I have seen an explosion in how muchContinue reading “It’s like the university is killing itself, bite by bite.”
- Trying to Survive in What Could be a Liberating EnvironmentI look back with great fondness to the time I first was employed on a permanent contract as a Lecturer […] back in 2006. Prior to that I’d been at the brunt edge of the neoliberal reforms that were beginning to sweep through the University of […]. I was research assistant on a precarious short-termContinue reading “Trying to Survive in What Could be a Liberating Environment”
- Promotion Goals are UnreachableThere is no established career path for someone like me, a social sciences ECR who wants to stay in research-focused roles. Once you are out of postdoc land there is no template or framework. I was lucky enough to be able to use my networks to get a postdoc straight out of my PhD, andContinue reading “Promotion Goals are Unreachable”
- A Two-tier System That Penalises CasualsNeoliberal universities are two-tiered systems that separate permanent staff from precariously employed, fixed-term and casual staff. The erosion of job security across the board has contributed to a lack of solidarity, as permanent staff fear that their jobs will be in jeopardy if they do not keep up with the unrealistic demands for teaching, research,Continue reading “A Two-tier System That Penalises Casuals”
- What’s it like to work at the neoliberal university?It’s fucked.University labour is exhausting – many competing demands, constantly changing goals, pressure of performance culture in terms of publication, grant capture, demonstrating research impact, teaching ‘quality’, ever-increasing teaching-related admin., securing student ‘satisfaction’ etc etc. While these are common to all academic staff, things are more pressurised in many ways outside the so-called ‘elite university’ sectorContinue reading “What’s it like to work at the neoliberal university?It’s fucked.”
- Not Glamorising and Validating Workaholic AcademiaMost of my working life has been in a university. I am not sure it’s what I chose, but opportunities presented themselves. I was in the right place at the right time and I was excited about teaching and learning. I’ve been a tutor, a researcher, an administrator, and support staff and have only heldContinue reading “Not Glamorising and Validating Workaholic Academia”
- The Only Person That Suffers From My Resistance is MeI started working in the university system when I was a Masters student. The early experiences were one-off contracts to give a couple of lectures, mark a few essays. Since I was on scholarship and well supported by my whānau, I was not dependent on that income. It was enough to give me a tasterContinue reading “The Only Person That Suffers From My Resistance is Me”
- Gaslighting and GuiltPerpetual gaslighting. Five years teaching while studying, then eight years working as an academic on a patchwork of overlapping contracts, fractional permanent work and loads of fixed term contracts that all fill permanent gaps, and that make use of your IP and reputation to build programmes and attract students, while being told each semester, eachContinue reading “Gaslighting and Guilt”
- The University as a BusinessI find there is a constant juxtaposition between the university acting as a ‘business’ and acting as a university. I don’t see the university system in [my country] being a business at all because we are publicly funded for the most part. YET, we are constantly driving for more student enrolments, eg more customers, andContinue reading “The University as a Business”
- Maintaining Integrity is ChallengingIt’s just awful. In my last institution, a culture of bullying was ignored by senior staff in spite of policies that supposedly protect staff. The neoliberal institution requires us to be researchers who make measurable impacts and outstanding educators, which is perfectly reasonable except the increasing scale of high teaching loads and research metrics makeContinue reading “Maintaining Integrity is Challenging”
- Managed by Mediocre Morons and Narcissistic SociopathsWhen I entered academia I was nurtured and supported by my Head of School and colleagues. I was given reduced teaching workload for the first two years of full time balanced lecturer work, to help me to learn “how to be an academic”. For many years after that, I was able to negotiate workload allocationsContinue reading “Managed by Mediocre Morons and Narcissistic Sociopaths”
- Surviving Academic LifeI worked at the University for about 15 years, and was there as the institution went through an aggressive neoliberal restructure. As ‘the restructure’ was happening, a small group of us located in the [Department] decided to read John Smyth’s book, ‘The Toxic University’, which had just been published. In part, we wanted to tryContinue reading “Surviving Academic Life”
- Mercurial Management Full of SpinIntense. No time to be ill. Extremely difficult to find time to take holidays let alone carer’s leave. Mercurial management full of spin. On-going dilemmas realated to not letting students down and not letting ourselves become sacrificial lambs to a money making corporate machine. Reckless attitude towards covid. Glossy brochure veneer for indigenous rights andContinue reading “Mercurial Management Full of Spin”
- Knowledge Exchange – for BusinessesI run a funded research project with Black and minoritized cultural organisations and individuals. The university is eager for me to use my ‘research’ – which is joint, collaborative knowledge-making – as an ‘Impact Case Study’, thus extracting this trust relationship as a product to benefit the university. Meanwhile, many internal bureaucratic issues e.g., –Continue reading “Knowledge Exchange – for Businesses”
- Your Experience is Your Own Opinion‘Do more with less’ is a well-worn phrase. Money promised and granted one day then removed the next to pay hourly paid contracts. Teaching spaces removed and given to other courses, by management secretly changing the room numbers to be able to state the newer room booking was the correct one and the space hadContinue reading “Your Experience is Your Own Opinion”
- Survivor’s GuiltWhen I was in undergraduate my Dad used to tell me that ‘if you’re good at what you do, you will always be in demand, there will always be a place for you’. It settled in my mind that carving out a professional and vocational space for myself was a matter of proving my skillContinue reading “Survivor’s Guilt”
- A Culture of BarriersIt is pressured and full of all sorts of ‘creep’, admin creep, teaching creep, service creep, lack of technology support creep (individual to rationally become the expert) and expectations for research to increasingly have ‘impact’ and money attached – sound research must prove impact – but, this is often measured against current political or scientificContinue reading “A Culture of Barriers”
- House of HorrorIn 6 years- I saw 12 PhD students coming and going. None of them finished. The payment was to low, the hours too long, the pressure too high and the bullying and dependencies overwhelming. How I survived the house of horror (nickname of the building)? By 2 periods abroad (hosting professor saved me and wasContinue reading “House of Horror”
- Exploited, Damaged and ScarredI have worked in the sector for over 30 years. I started working contracts (lecturing, tutorials, workshops) as a PhD student, most of them full-time (100% fractional, which was less than a PhD scholarship) as I did not have a scholarship. I moved overseas with my partner for 3 years, where I also worked onContinue reading “Exploited, Damaged and Scarred”
- The (Elusive) Sisterhood of ParenthoodI am the trailing spouse—my husband was hired as an associate professor (he had to wait two years then apply for tenure at the new place, even tho he’d had tenure at the old place), just as I finished my PhD. so I did a kind of post-doc thing, where the College at my husband’sContinue reading “The (Elusive) Sisterhood of Parenthood”
- Sacrificial LambsIt’s difficult as the senior management team in University where I work don’t really appear to value the health and safety of their staff. This has been really highlighted though the Covid-19 pandemic, and especially the [highest] setting here in [my country]. Whilst some universities in [my country] have opted to go online for all orContinue reading “Sacrificial Lambs”
- Exploited ResourcesWorking in a neoliberal university, I feel like I am viewed as nothing more than a resource to be exploited. A mindset that seems to have worsened in the wake of COVID-19. While our full-time contracts are for 37.5 hours a week, there seems to be an underlying assumption from management and colleagues that weContinue reading “Exploited Resources”
- ContradictionsWhat is it like working in the modern University? Tough, enjoyable, insecure, tiring, contradictory (we care about your health, but little to show that is true). Students as consumers has been disastrous as we are now educating students to have a reason why things are not going well (never them of course), we’ve ended upContinue reading “Contradictions”