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Sessional employment and quality in universities: a risky business

The international higher education sector is increasingly reliant on precariously employed academic staff who deliv... Show more
The international higher education sector is increasingly reliant on precariously employed academic staff who deliver a significant proportion of teaching load. Although this is increasingly viewed as a risk to the quality of teaching and learning, there is little research that tests the proposition. [The authors] take up this challenge by analysing and comparing student course evaluations and the results of an online survey of sessional academics. Results show that the risk derives not from the sessionals themselves nor their teaching but from inadequate institutional support for and management of sessional academics.
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Authors: Ryan, Suzanne; Groen, Egbert; McNeil, Karen; Nadolny, Andrew ... [+] Show more

Conference name: HERDSA Annual International Conference

Date: 2011

Geographic subjects: Australia; Oceania

Resource type: Conference paper

Series name: Research and development in higher education

Subjects: Providers of education and training; Higher education; International education ... [+] Show more
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Casual academic staff in an Australian university: marginalised and excluded

Over the past 25 years, the Australian workforce has become more casualised, with approximately one-quarter of the ... Show more
Over the past 25 years, the Australian workforce has become more casualised, with approximately one-quarter of the workforce in casual employment today. One of the highest users of casual employees is the higher education sector, where casual academics (referred to as sessionals in the Australian context) are estimated to account for 50 per cent of the overall teaching load. The purpose of this article is to investigate the processes associated with the management of sessional academic staff. The study focuses on a single university, utilising a survey questionnaire and interviews with the sessional academics and their managers. The results depict a bifurcated system of maximum labour regulation for full-time academics alongside minimum regulation for sessional staff. The findings stress the urgency for improvement in both the employment conditions and management of sessional academic staff, both for their own benefit and the universities that employ them.
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Authors: Ryan, Suzanne; Burgess, John; Connell, Julia; Groen, Egbert

Date: 2013

Geographic subjects: Australia; Oceania

Resource type: Article

Journal title: Tertiary education and management

Subjects: Providers of education and training; Employment; Higher education ... [+] Show more

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Sessional employment and quality in universities: a risky business

Casual academic staff in an Australian university: marginalised and excluded