The use of casual contract employment has become a prominent feature in higher education institutions worldwide, including the growth of adjunct roles in the United States and fixed-term teaching staff positions in the UK. In Australia, this trend has been a subject of significant controversy and national attention in recent years, as casual…

Background: This study aimed to explore perceived work stress and its association with burnout, compassion fatigue, and compassion satisfaction and the mediating effect of psychological flexibility on these relationships. Method: Two hundred and fifty-one disability support workers across Australia reported on work stress, psychological…

Australia and China are experiencing increasing need for trained early childhood teachers. Career identity and work choices are critical ingredients for achievement in career outcomes. This study reports on a survey undertaken by early childhood pre-service teachers from China and Australia regarding identity and choices for early childhood…

While the benefits of early childhood education and care (ECEC) services to better learning are now widely acknowledged, a widespread and accessible provision for these services also helps support gender equality in the workforce. In particular, the availability, intensity, reliability and affordability of ECEC play an important role in engaging…

This project explores women and educational leadership from the perspective of an individual who moved from the UK to Australia in order to take up the position of Dean of an education grouping in a university. Emails sent by the Dean to the group are analysed after nine months in post and categorised according to the requirements of the position…

Globally, a range of new schooling accountabilities have created a complex and often contradictory context in which school leaders work. For principals of low socio-economic status (SES) and disadvantaged schools, they must balance the accountability, performance and reporting requirements against the other needs of their communities. These…

Although it can be argued that directors of central academic development units (ADUs) are critical to the implementation of university teaching and learning strategies, it would appear there is a high director turnover rate. While research in the USA, the UK, and Australia illustrates that ADUs are frequently closed or restructured, that research…

Ratings of job satisfaction and psychological health (self-esteem, stigma, loneliness, and aspirations) were obtained from 31 workers (ages 18 to 41) with a mild intellectual disability. The workers, all in competitive employment settings in Australia, reported they were "happy" with their jobs. Only partial support was found for a…

This study focuses on aspects of the Changing Academic Profession survey of 2007-08 that describe the place of faculty in their institutions. The authors examine the following aspects of institutional life: (1) the faculty role in institutional governance; (2) who evaluates their teaching and research; (3) the locus of their loyalties as between…

With life expectancy increasing, and changes to public policy aimed at encouraging older workers to stay in the workforce, the conditions under which people decide to retire have changed in recent years. This report describes the characteristics of those who continue to work beyond the age of 65. The findings show that two groups of workers, in…

Increasing demands on academic work have resulted in many academics working long hours and expressing dissatisfaction with their working life. These concerns have led to a number of faculties and universities adopting workload allocation models to improve satisfaction and better manage workloads. This paper reports on a study which examined the…

Purpose: This paper aims to report on how an Administrative Division at a research-intensive Australian university utilised feedback data from the Learning and Growth Survey, to initiate changes. Design/methodology/approach: This paper refers to the actions taken by the Administrative Division to the results obtained from the Learning and Growth…

The principle of decent work was first espoused in the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Since 1999 the International Labour Organisation has operated according to a Decent Work Agenda and in recent times the movement towards the provision of decent work as a means of improving the quality of life has gathered momentum. Decent work is…

The loss of collegiality and the loss of academic integrity were key themes raised during forums, personal interviews, a survey and focus groups conducted with University of Western Sydney academic staff as part of a research project into academic work load agreements. In this paper the experiences related by participants are placed in the light…

Semistructured interviews were conducted with 30 Australian adults with intellectual disabilities to assess their values, views, and preferences regarding home, work, leisure, and relationships. Results found discrepancies between their lifestyle conditions and preferences and the principles and values of some programming philosophies adopted by…