The rise of ‘professional staff’ and demise of the ‘non-academic’: a study of university staffing nomenclature preferences

Abstract

Concerns regarding the nomenclature of university administration in Australia and the UK have featured in the higher education literature for over a decade. In response, a significant nomenclature shift is occurring, with Australian universities replacing the term ‘General Staff’ to describe all administrative and technical staff, in favour of ‘Professional Staff’. Following nomenclature trends in the UK, this change has been in gestation for some time having been championed by individuals, groups, professional associations and more recently a national staff union. This paper presents the findings of a doctoral study regarding the nomenclature preferences of 194 Australian university research support staff. It provides insight into the motivations behind the nomenclature shift, with an emphasis on the dissatisfaction expressed for the term ‘Non-Academic Staff’. Drawing on these findings, this paper suggests an aspirational framework for university professional staff in the form of a ‘nomenclature ladder’ for sector-wide application.

Keywords:

• general staff
• nomenclature
• non-academic
• occupational identity
• professionalisation
• professional staff
• research administration
• university administration

Acknowledgements

An early version of this paper was presented to the 2010 Society for Research in Higher Education (SRHE) annual research conference in Wales, UK. The findings are drawn from the first-named author's doctoral thesis the working title of which is: Research Services Staff in Australian Universities: An Investigation of Profile, Nomenclature, Role, Professional Alignment, Workplace Relations and Policy Implementation, due for submission in 2012. Professors Holbrook and Bourke are the co-supervisors of this doctoral work.