Flexible and Fixed Times Working in the Academy

Crang, Mike

doi:10.1068/a39276

Cited by 41 publications

(49 citation statements)

References 7 publications

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“…Time after time, surveys underline this, highlighting the 'very high stress levels, considerably higher than average' (Court & Kinman, 2008) which are increasing year-on-year, along with disorders of anxiety and depression ( Health and Safety Executive) As Mike Crang (2007) has argued the one thing that is perhaps the biggest source of dispute, anxiety and stress in academia is time. Academics want more time to research, don't have enough time to read, spend too much of their time at work, cannot spend enough time with students, can't fit their job into the available time, don't have time for anything outside work -children, friends, other activities -and then are subjected to the poisonous myth that they are time-rich and leisured!…”

Section: 'If I Didn't Have To Sleep It Would Be All Right'mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As Crang (2007) notes astutely, what this combines is an openendedness about the tasks we are required to perform plus an indeterminate time period in which to perform them: the job will never be done. This, in fact, is the experience of more and more academics, whose hours routinely exceed the 46/ week, specified by the European Working Time Directive (from which David Cameron's government is trying to get Britain exempted).…”

Section: 'If I Didn't Have To Sleep It Would Be All Right'mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Academics, Cultural Workers and Critical Labour Studies

Gill¹

2013

Journal of Cultural Economy

167

150

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This is the accepted version of the paper.This version of the publication may differ from the final published version. Permanent repository link AbstractThe aim of this paper is to locate academics within the sights of critical labour studies, and, in particular, the contemporary interest in cultural workers. Despite a growing literature about -and in response to -the transformation of the University there have been few attempts to study academics as workers. This paper argues that there are a number of parallels between academic work and the much more well-documented experiences of work in the cultural and creative industries. The paper examines the increasing experience of precariousness among academics, the intensification and extensification of work, and the new modes of surveillance in the academy and their affective impacts. The aim of the article is to build on the critical lexicon of studies of cultural labour in order to think about academic work as labour and to generate new ways of thinking about power, privilege and exploitation. It argues for the need for a psychosocial perspective that can understand the new labouring subjectivities in academia.

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Section: 'If I Didn't Have To Sleep It Would Be All Right'mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: 'If I Didn't Have To Sleep It Would Be All Right'mentioning

confidence: 99%

Academics, Cultural Workers and Critical Labour Studies

Gill¹

2013

Journal of Cultural Economy

167

150

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…Accordingly, owing to the impacts of changes in the world of work more generally, geographers have, since the 1990s (and the critical shift in the discipline), examined their own experiences and those of others working in the academy (see Hammett, 2012;Kim 2008;Ní Laoire and Shelton, 2002;Purcell, 2007;Rossi, 2007, Saltmarsh andSwirski, 2010;Shelton et al, 2001). Much of this work has focused on the neoliberal structural underpinning of the Higher Education system on the everyday lives of academics in both the UK (Castree 13 and Sparke, 2000, Crang, 2007 and in global examples (Bauder, 2006, Blomley 2002, Hammett, 2012, Purcell, 2007. In short, these processes "have a number of implications for the work that geographers do" in terms of their research and teaching; and moreover, the working conditions of geographers who have positions within the academy (see Crang, 2007) and those who are trying to find a permanent place within the system (Purcell, 2007).…”

Section: Teaching Fellows and The Contingent Workforcementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Much of this work has focused on the neoliberal structural underpinning of the Higher Education system on the everyday lives of academics in both the UK (Castree 13 and Sparke, 2000, Crang, 2007 and in global examples (Bauder, 2006, Blomley 2002, Hammett, 2012, Purcell, 2007. In short, these processes "have a number of implications for the work that geographers do" in terms of their research and teaching; and moreover, the working conditions of geographers who have positions within the academy (see Crang, 2007) and those who are trying to find a permanent place within the system (Purcell, 2007). In view of the Teaching Fellow then, whilst the example of the US has been examined, there is little discussion of the precise differences a teaching-only job might make to the experiences of those working within departments in a fixed-term capacity in a UK context.…”

Section: Teaching Fellows and The Contingent Workforcementioning

confidence: 99%

Fixed-Term and Temporary: Teaching Fellows, Tactics, and the Negotiation of Contingent Labour in the UK Higher Education System

Peters

Turner

2014

Environ Plan A

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Abstract. This paper autobiographically considers the role of teaching-only staff as a contingent labour force in the contemporary Higher Education system in the UK. The aims of this paper are twofold. First, whilst much attention has been paid to the role of the research fellow, there has been less consideration, in the UK context, of the Teaching Fellow as an alternate form of postdoctoral experience. Accordingly, this paper gives voice to the Teaching Fellow -a member of academic staff who is not allocated writing and research time as part of their contract -whose views are often marginalised in on-going debates concerning the plays of power in the neo-liberalised academy. Second, the paper raises these voices to bring into consciousness the impacts of Teaching Fellow experience for the Fellow themselves and the faculties they work in. It is argued that Teaching Fellows face challenging circumstances in view of their onwards career trajectories in the academy. Accordingly, this paper considers the ways in which Fellows, through tactics of place making, presence and visibility, and collaboration, negotiate the challenging structural and institutional conditions that underscore their contracts. It is contended that exploring the teaching-only workforce is vital for critically assessing the workings of the contemporary academy and questioning the unequal power relations that underscore work places in a culture where contingent labour is expanding; becoming less of a fixed-term and temporary feature of the university system, but rather a stable and enduring one.

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“…• Geographers have also offered critical reflections upon the health of PhD programs provided by geography departments and have criticized some programs for reproducing ethnic, age and gender imbalances in the discipline (Liu 2006;Pulido 2002;Sanders 2006), for falling prey to various neoliberal reforms (Castree and Sparke 2000;Castree 2005;Crang 2007;Demeritt 2004;Dowling 2008;Purcell 2007) and for failing to mentor and prepare graduates for subsequent academic and non academic careers (Solem and Foote 2004, 2009Solem et al 2008 This Special Issue should be located against the backdrop of the reflection and rumination which has occurred to date. Its goal is to contribute towards greater sharing of experience, knowledge and practice particularly across international borders.…”

Section: Rethinking Phd Programs: Challenges and Innovationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Rethinking the PhD in geography: overview and introduction

2014

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Today many Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) are actively upscaling, refining and improving their existing PhD programs. Geography PhD programs have not been immune from these developments. The intention of this Special Issue (SI) is to further build and fortify the community of interest which is now forming around the changing trajectory of the PhD degree in Geography by: (a) providing a brief resume of knowledge and thinking about the principal problems which continue to impede PhD programs and documenting innovative and best practice in different national settings, and; (b) reflecting critically upon new contexts and trends which are working on HEIs, Departments of Geography, and PhD programs and providing space to articulate-or to reclaim-alternative value systems for PhD programs and to reflect upon the types of PhD structures and program designs these values might give birth to. This SI comprises a series of short papers, commentaries and interventions, incorporating insights from PhD program directors, current and recently graduated PhD students, experienced PhD supervisors, newly appointed faculty, and scholars of pedagogy.

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Flexible and Fixed Times Working in the Academy

Cited by 41 publications

References 7 publications

Academics, Cultural Workers and Critical Labour Studies

Academics, Cultural Workers and Critical Labour Studies

Fixed-Term and Temporary: Teaching Fellows, Tactics, and the Negotiation of Contingent Labour in the UK Higher Education System

Rethinking the PhD in geography: overview and introduction

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