The challenges of working in Australian academia: an introduction

Abstract

This is an introduction to and an overview of the issues highlighted in this special issue on work in the higher education sector of Australia and New Zealand. Drawn from a special session of the AIRAANZ 2013 conference, this issue highlights the profound structural changes that are occurring in the sector, the extreme segmentation of the academic workforce, and outlines the effects of these changes on all workers in the sector. The presented research not only identifies the challenges but also offers suggestions around improving pedagogy, reducing barriers to gender equality and addressing the aspirations of the segmented under class of workers in the sector including sessional academics, professional and administrative staff. The research also highlights the potential and limitations of IR solutions to many of the workforce and workplace issues confronting the sector.

Keywords:

• academic employment
• Australia
• labour process
• workforce segmentation
• casualisation
• research
• teaching and learning

Acknowledgements

Finally, as editors of this special edition, we would like to thank the editorial team at Labour and Industry, for giving us this opportunity to publish this interesting and challenging collection of articles that examines university employment. We would also like to thank Trish Todd of the University of Western Australia, who along with Al Rainnie, organised AIRAANZ 2013, and to the referees who provided constructive suggestions to the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Al Rainnie

Al Rainnie is Professor of Management at the GSB, Curtin University. His research interests include labour process theory, workplace industrial relations, small business IR, regional development, global production networks, creative workers and cultural industries, state restructuring and not-for-profit organisations.

Caleb Goods

Dr Caleb Goods is a research fellow at the GSB, Curtin University. His research interest is on the impact of political economy on the relationships between labour and the environment, especially around green jobs.

Susanne Bahn

Dr Susanne Bahn is Senior Lecturer in Management, Edith Cowan University. Her research interests include OH&S practices and processes, risk management, middle management change processes, labour supply and vocational education training in the construction and mining sectors.

John Burgess

John Burgess is Professor of HRM, Curtin University. His research interests include HRM practices of multinational corporations; workplace bargaining and voice; and contingent employment arrangements.