A new report published by People Insight in collaboration with the Universities and Colleges Employers Association (UCEA) has brought to light a widening gap in workplace experience between academic staff and professional services employees within the UK’s higher education sector.
The findings, detailed in A Tale of Two Perspectives: Bridging the Gap in HE Employee Experience, are drawn from feedback provided by over 240,000 employees across more than 75 UK universities. It represents the most extensive sector-focused analysis of employee sentiment ever conducted in higher education.
Although the report identifies some areas of post-pandemic progress — such as a renewed sense of community and incremental improvements in career development — it also highlights how many of the employee support systems introduced during the COVID-19 crisis have since been removed. This has contributed to a re-emergence of departmental silos and uneven recovery trajectories between staff categories.
- Only 43% of academic staff feel they can comfortably manage their workload, compared to 63% of professional services staff.
- Academic staff are far less likely to feel supported on wellbeing, with only 44% agreeing their university supports their health and wellbeing at work.
- While 87% of academic staff find their work interesting and challenging, only 55% feel valued for what they do.
- Satisfaction with total benefits among academic staff stands at just 38%, well below averages from other sectors.
