Bureaucracy is killing higher education warns poll

• More than 40% of lecturers say bureaucracy or external influence is worst aspect of the job.
• One third cite either poor management or excessive workload as top complaint.
• Nearly half say their health has been adversely affected by their work.
• Nearly two thirds have considered quitting the UK to work abroad.
• 52% have considered quitting the profession and moving to the private sector.
• Over half would not recommend the profession to their children.

Equally worrying is the revelation that over half of the lecturers quizzed (52 per cent) in the YouGov poll, commissioned by UCU, said they had considered quitting the profession all together and moving to work in the private sector.

The survey of more than 1,000 lecturers in UK universities also revealed that almost half (47 per cent) have suffered ill health because of their job and even more (55 per cent) would not recommend a career in higher education to their children.

UCU today calls on universities to act now to ensure that current and future lecturers are not forced out of the sector or put off all together. The union warns that clear agreements on addressing excessive workloads are required in order to protect lecturers' now fragile autonomy and to turn back the tide of red tape, unnecessary administration and over-regulation that forces many to work excessive hours and suffer ill-health.

Earlier this year a TUC survey revealed that lecturers came second in a list of which professionals worked the most overtime. Lecturers do, on average, an extra nine hours of unpaid overtime every week. If they were actually paid for the unpaid overtime they would earn an extra £10,216 a year.

The survey paints a worrying picture about the amount of time lecturers are now able to spend with their students compared to bureaucracy and paperwork. Half of lecturers (50 per cent) now spend 10 hours or less a week with students, with 15 per cent spending just five hours or less with students per week.

A third of lecturers (33 per cent), however, now spend at least 16 hours a week on bureaucracy or paperwork. UCU says that in the past lecturers' contracts would typically detail the maximum proportion of time to be spent on administration rather than research and teaching. Newer contracts are no longer as prescriptive. By contrast teachers and doctors have seen their rising workloads addressed by the government and employers with extra staff and through agreements that regulate excessive workloads.

UCU joint general secretary, Sally Hunt, said: 'Lecturers are highly motivated and committed professionals who do an incredible job that rarely gets the recognition or respect it deserves. For years increasing student numbers have not been matched by increases in teaching staff or by resources available.

'This poll shows that bureaucracy is feeding a serious crisis of morale in our universities that should worry all those who value higher education. Universities must take the lead on this issue of excessive workloads or we risk losing a generation of talented academics to the private sector or abroad, as well as struggling to fill future vacancies.

"The extra duties many are forced to take on are creating excessive workloads. Government and employers have provided extra staff and signed up to agreements aimed at reducing excessive workloads for doctors and nurses and universities must do the same. Staff can no longer be asked to not bear the brunt of the expansion of student numbers and the explosion in bureaucracy of the last decade.

'Lecturers are rightly proud of their jobs and the work they do, but this poll reveals that many feel enough is enough. This is hardly surprising when almost half of them have suffered ill health because of their job. Lecturers want to be able to get on with their jobs, but unnecessary outside influence, arbitrary targets and an excessive admin overload are having a devastating effect.'

YouGov polled 1,071 UCU members during 9 - 15 August 2006. The full results and the table of the worst aspects of the job can be found here below.