By Gavin Mackintosh-
A scathing report released by the Oxford branch of the University and College Union (UCU) has attacked the university for discriminatory wages against women and ethnic minorities.
The University of Oxford’s Department for Continuing Education (OUDCE) is facing renewed scrutiny over its treatment of academic staff, particularly those on short-term contracts affecting women and ethnic minorities.
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The report exposes the prevalence of what it terms “casualised academic work” within OUDCE, shedding light on deeply entrenched issues affecting union workers, ethnic minorities, and disabled individuals.
The union’s survey uncovered a disconcerting pattern, indicating that numerous university and college staff members find themselves trapped in an unending cycle of short-term contracts, some spanning decades.
These precarious employment conditions are exacerbated by the fact that, when marking and preparation time is considered, the pay for hourly workers often falls below the national living wage.
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Salaried staff, the report reveals, are not immune to the struggles either, remaining on small fractional contracts and teetering on the edge of poverty.
Once marking and preparation time is factored in, the pay of hourly paid workers often amounts to less than the National Living Wage, the report states.
Meanwhile, waged staff often subsist on small fractional contracts, at risk of, if not actually in poverty – i.e. with an annual household income of less than 60% of the UK median income
The alarming data, brought to the attention of The Eye Of Media and has sparked concerns about the university’s commitment to fair wages and equitable treatment for its diverse workforce.
The concerning document written by academic staff working in the Colleges and departments of the University of Oxford. The Pay and Conditions Report (herein referred to as ‘Report’) commissioned by the Vice Chancellor at the start of 2023 .
The authors of the report expressed objection in part to the manner in which College-only academic workers have been excluded from the Report’s formal remit, and what that may reveal about management staff’s valuation of the teaching of University students.
The authors state that ”College-only and Department for Continuing Education academic staff also appear together in this briefing because of the lack of reliable public data about their working conditions”.
Despite being the sole employers of many academics delivering the University’s compulsory undergraduate teaching, Oxford Colleges do not submit data to the Higher Education Statistics
Agency (HESA), the report states.
The many Zero Hour Contracts of tutors working at the Department for Continuing Education also do not appear in HESA data.
The report makes reference to casualised labour underpinning the tutorial system. It says that ”reform to that system, given its complexity, requires considerable administrative resources.
The authours of the report have called for internal readers rigorously to examine its findings of the submitted data and the transparently presented data on which it is based, urging readers to be ”equally
rigorous about equivalent information they may already possess”
Condemnation
A University and College Union spokesman condemned the prevailing conditions, stating: “The evidence suggests that extremely low pay produces a lack of ethnic and socio-economic diversity, and discriminates against disabled staff.”
The report underscores the disproportionate impact on women, who are found to be more significantly affected by these exploitative conditions, occupying a higher proportion of casualised roles.
Moreover, the report points out that the university’s funding model often becomes an excuse for employing these exploitative practices, asserting that insecure employment and zero-hours contracts should have no place in academic institutions.
In a move that further intensifies the spotlight on OUDCE, Private Eye reported that two former tutors, Rebecca Abrams and Alice Jolly, are launching a legal challenge against the university’s use of precarious casual contracts for teaching staff.
The case is set to be heard at the Reading employment tribunal in January, and it challenges the university’s alleged misuse of such contracts, especially when promoting courses to prospective students using the tutors’ names.
Responding to the damning revelations, a spokesperson for the University of Oxford said: “Oxford University Department for Continuing Education is in the final stages of a review of its course offering and staffing structure.”
The university spokesperson highlighted the Lifelong Learning Portfolio Project, designed to align the department’s academic portfolio and operations with university processes, while emphasizing a commitment to implementing a new staffing model for tutors.
However, with the report shedding light on deep-seated issues affecting a significant segment of the university’s workforce, calls for immediate and comprehensive reforms are intensifying.
The pressure is on Oxford University to prioritize fair pay, job security, and equitable treatment for all its staff, setting an example for other academic institutions in the country.
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