Research staff in Australian universities: is there a career path?

Abstract

As universities in Australia have undergone transformation in the past two decades, the pressure on academics to gain external grant funding for research has increased. In the same time period, the number of research academic staff has increased substantially and they account for one-third of the academic workforce. Despite this expansion, there is limited research on the employment characteristics or career aspirations of the research academic workforce. The Work and Careers in Australian Universities survey of 19 Australian universities revealed that the workforce needs to be differentiated on the basis of employment contract as the overwhelming majority of research staff are on fixed term contracts.  There appears to be limited means to transfer from this ‘periphery’ employment to the ‘core’ where a permanent appointment and career path are available.

Keywords:

• fixed term employment
• insecure employment
• research careers
• research staff
• universities

These research data were gathered under the auspices of the ARC-funded Linkage Grant: Gender and Employment Equity: Strategies for Advancement in Australian Universities, 2009–2012 LP0991191. The Linkage project was led by Professor Glenda Strachan with Professor Gillian Whitehouse, Professor David Peetz, Associate Professor Janis Bailey and Dr Kaye Broadbent as co-Chief Investigators. Dr Carolyn Troup is a Research Fellow with the project. The views expressed herein are those of the authors and are not necessarily those of the ARC. 

Notes

^1. Some research staff are classified as general (administrative) staff and are sometimes covered by different industrial agreements resulting in different employment conditions.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Kaye Broadbent

Dr Kaye Broadbent is Senior Lecturer in the Department of Employment Relations and Human Resources, Griffith University, Australia. Her research focus has been on gender and employment insecurity in several industries and women and union activism in Asia.

Carolyn Troup

Dr Carolyn Troup is a Research Fellow in The Centre for Work, Organisation and Wellbeing, Griffith University. Her research interests focus on gender, work and family and organisational health research.

Glenda Strachan

Dr Glenda Strachan is Professor, Department of Employment Relations and Human Resources, Griffith University. Her research interests centre on contemporary and historical workplace change, especially issues relating to women’s working experience and the impact of organisational and national employment policies.