UK university strikes reflect the ills of the marketisation of higher education
- Driven by a need for income, Britain’s universities have seen an explosion in student numbers. But, as the workload has increased, job security has not
- With academic pay now seriously falling behind inflation, staff are struggling to cope with rising costs
On April 20, academic staff all over the United Kingdom began an exam-marking boycott whereby they will not correct students’ final examinations. While strikes in the UK academic system have taken place occasionally, the numbers are significant this time.
Led by the University and College Union (UCU), more than 70,000 staff members in 145 universities in the UK are taking part. The strikes are indicative of a larger failing in the academic sector in Britain, one of the most coveted centres of education for students across the world. Thus, it would be instructive to examine the main factors and causes at play.
Britain boasts some of the oldest universities in the world with major names such as Oxford and Cambridge having been established in the 11th and 13th centuries respectively. As such, gaining an education in Britain has long been a sign of prestige for people across the world.
Until the late 20th century, most universities were run on state funding. However, several developments have changed the face of university education in the UK.
First, the number of universities has mushroomed significantly in an attempt to increase access for the British public. Thus, under Tony Blair’s government, there was a pledge to enrol at least 50 per cent of young adults in universities.
Second, while universities were initially government-funded and free for students, fees were then introduced to manage costs, developing from a cap of £1,000 (US$1,245) a year to the current sum of £9,250 a year. For international students, this amount is now on average more than double, to help pay for various developments in infrastructure or the curriculum.
Lastly, a combination of factors – including hiring corporate professionals as heads of universities as well as an emphasis on ranking – led to universities recruiting more international students to maximise their income, and dropping their marking standards to climb up the education rankings.
Currently, the UK hosts about 600,000 international students, who comprise a fifth of the total student population at all levels, accounting for £15 billion in annual revenue for the nation. This allowed universities to accrue massive amounts of money. It is indicative that, within the year 2020-2021, estimates show a surplus of almost £3.5 billion for the year.
Yet, the compensation for staff has not been raised to match the growth in revenue. Against this backdrop, three trends dominate employees’ working conditions.
First, the pay is mediocre for most people, resulting in a huge wage gap affecting mainly those from gender- and ethnic-minority backgrounds. Indeed, a postdoctoral scholar barely makes £30,000 a year, which is less than or equivalent to jobs requiring significantly shorter periods of training, such as bus drivers or handymen in the UK. In real terms, taking inflation into account, earnings have fallen by almost 25 per cent compared to salaries in the 2000s.
Second, on top of the low pay, most university jobs tend to feature insecure contracts with inadequate benefits or leave policies. About one-third of all university staff (around 90,000 people) work in precarious situations, with limited obligation by the university to inform them in the event of lay-offs.
Lastly, due to the poor pay and lack of security, university staff are forced to take on extra duties to differentiate themselves from other job applicants, including unpaid work such as reviewing articles and contributing to diversity initiatives.
These are the issues that have largely led to the UCU demands, culminating in the strikes. As the union has labelled it, the “four fights” are about increasing pay, compensating previously unpaid work, closing gender and ethnic gaps, and ending contract insecurity.
A key UCU complaint is that universities are spending far more money and resources on new buildings and campuses with less return on investment than fairly compensating staff. Moreover, vice-chancellors’ average salaries are around £400,000 a year including benefits – more than 10 times what other staff members make.
While union members have been striking for months, the exam-marking boycott is likely to hit universities hardest, given that many student graduations are expected to be delayed, thus affecting their job prospects – especially if they are applying for positions overseas.
While some students do support the strikes, it is clear that the action will have a significant impact on their lives. This is perhaps why many universities have threatened staff members with half or full-pay deductions, even if they fulfil the rest of their duties, such as teaching and preparing assignments.
All in all, UK universities are still able to draw in many international students, given their reputation, despite the current instability caused by strikes, However, similar to counterparts in Australia and the US, the inner workings of the system are slowly breaking down, resulting in an erosion of the overall student experience and knowledge production over the past decade.
In this scenario, UK universities today tend to resemble corporate institutions rather than fountainheads of learning. This can only jeopardise standards in the future.
Mohammed Sinan Siyech is a doctoral scholar at the Islamic and Middle East Studies Department at the University of Edinburgh and a non-resident associate fellow at the Observer Research Foundation, New Delhi
