Workload is the major factor forcing academics to quit their roles, with some of the perceived benefits of working in universities actually adding to the strain, according to a new study.

Researchers?interviewed 780 workers who have either recently left?university roles or are considering leaving, to examine what are considered the drawbacks and benefits of working in academia for the paper, published in?.

It cites research?that shows about?15,000 university workers?have left the sector since 2014, suggesting that student-staff ratios have increased by 50 per cent at some institutions.

Of the 589 respondents, 204 had left the sector since the pandemic. Some 420 were academics or had recently left an academic role, while 139 were or had been professional service staff members.

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The single biggest negative aspect of working in academia cited was?workload, selected by 53.4 per cent of respondents. Academics were more likely to say this was an issue, cited by 59.5 per cent of academics compared?with 38.8 per cent of professional service staff.

This was followed by concerns about management, at 45.6 per cent. This was cited slightly more often by professional service staff while both groups had equal concern about the pay and pensions in the sector.

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Meanwhile, the highest cited positive attribute of working in higher education was working with students, selected by 29.9 per cent of respondents (31.9 per cent of academics and 23.7 per cent of professional service staff), colleagues at 29.2 per cent (26.6 per cent of academics and 35.9 per cent of professional service staff), and flexibility and freedom at 28.8 per cent. This last benefit was selected by 35.2 per cent of academics, but only 11.5 per cent of professional service staff.

But the paper argues that, in some cases, the perceived drawbacks of working in academia may be a consequence of what are considered the benefits. While it says it does not wish to ¡°diminish the severity of the negative issues¡± that were leading people to consider leaving the sector, these issues ¡°could be viewed as a corollary to the positive aspects of academic life¡±.?

It says: ¡°The difficulty in managing workloads, for example, may (at least partly) be a consequence of the flexibility and freedom afforded to academics and their commitment to supporting students, working collegially, and doing research/education that is meaningful.¡±

Consequently, there was ¡°permutability¡± between positive and negative attributes, noting work autonomy was treated by respondents as a benefit, but was also attributed to work intensification ¨C especially in relation to invisible labour and struggles to manage excessive workloads.

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These ¡°knotted tensions¡± are ¡°endemic¡± across the sector and their resolutions are generally treated as an ¡°individual rather than collective responsibility¡±, says the paper, authored by Richard?Bolden, professor of leadership and management at the University of the West of England, Richard Watermeyer and Cathryn Knight, of the School of Education at the University of Bristol, and Fahdia?Khalid of the Cardiff School of Management.

While the paper argues that there is no ¡°quick fix¡± to the problems, it says university leaders need to engage with staff to understand these tensions to improve conditions.?

This could involve creating opportunities and spaces for ¡°open and honest discussions¡± with staff around the conflicted nature of higher education.

¡°Through a more nuanced appreciation of the interdependencies between positive and negative aspects of university life it may be possible to engender more compassionate and inclusive leadership practices and reduce the extent to which higher education professionals become complicit in systems and processes that perpetuate work overload and organisational inequalities.¡±

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juliette.rowsell@timeshighereducation.com