Pandemic exposed 'precarious' work of part-time educators

Some 60% of respondents experienced an increase in workload over the course of the pandemic, even though in many cases they were working on limited hours contracts or in some cases, no contracts at all. File picture

The precarious nature of work for part-time lecturers and tutors in further and higher education has been "exposed" due to the pandemic, with  research also showing the "problem is more marked among women, many of whom left previous careers and senior positions for "care responsibilities".

The study found 60% of respondents experienced an increase in workload over the course of the pandemic, even though in many cases they were working on limited hours contracts or in some cases, no contracts at all.

The research, entitled Precarity and the pandemic: an inquiry into the impact of Covid-19 on the working lives of non-permanent educators in, and across, higher and further education in Ireland, was written by Camilla Fitzsimons, Sean Henry and Jerry O’Neill of Maynooth University and was partly funded by the Irish Federation of University Teachers.

It analyses the experiences of 70 people who, as of March 12 last year, self-identified as being employed on a casual, occasional or temporary basis by a tertiary education provider (higher education, further education, community education, training service etc). 

They completed an online, anonymous questionnaire, while the researchers also conducted a focus group with 10 people solely employed within higher education.

Nearly 70% of the respondents reported they have been working for four years or more in their institutions. The longest-serving participant had been 21 years with the same university, the shortest had spent one year in the job. 

More than a third were in universities or institutes of technology, half had a masters and a quarter had a doctorate or PhD. More than half had no union membership.

Almost half (47.8%) of respondents said: "I am only paid for the hours I teach. If my class doesn't run, I don't get paid."

No written contract

According to the study: "As many as 30% have no written contract at all with their employer. It is also worth noting that over a quarter of respondents report having more than one contract across more than one employer."

It also found three-quarters of respondents were women and "many had left full-time jobs with previous employers when their children were young".

A consistent theme was of women having left behind previous careers, often at a senior management level but having to leave the workforce for care responsibilities and then re-enter without the recognition of their previous work. 

"Women who were now on the margins of the university had previously been business owners, senior management within other public sector organisations, senior levels within other education providers."

Other issues included complex systems of payment and pandemic-related problems such as a lack of a dedicated workspace and poor internet connections, as well as care requirements domestically.

"Several spoke of the financial toll online working has had, both in terms of the financial hit caused by the cancellation of summer programmes, as well as in terms of the cost of internet access and access to appropriate technologies like laptops.

"It is hard to ignore just how invisible and unrecognised many precarious staff felt during the early days of the pandemic."