The Times of the Faculty: Variations in the Length of the Workweek of Faculty at Flemish Universities

Ronan Van Rossem

doi:10.5539/hes.v9n1p9

Abstract

Over the past decade discontent in Flemish universities with the increased work load of faculty members has risen. This study is the first to examine how many hours a week senior researcher (postdocs and faculty) in Flemish universities actually work.  The data used stems from the 2010 Survey of Senior Researcher conducted among senior researchers at the five Flemish universities. 1195 respondents provided information on their working hours.  Senior researchers worked on the average 50.4 hours a week, with 12% reporting to work more than 60 hours a week. The number of hours worked varied significantly with rank, where respondents in more senior ranks reported to work more hours. Once one controls for rank any gender differences in number of hours work disappear.  We did observe a significant trade-off between the time spent on various activities. Postdocs spent more time on research than the other ranks, and senior professors spent more time on service and administration. Respondents from the humanities, and to a lesser degree from the social sciences, spent more time on education than respondents from other disciplines.  This study confirms that senior researchers at Flemish universities work long hours, and that the number of hours spent on various activities is largely a reaction to demands from their institutional environment.

Highlights

Faculty members closely fit the stereotype of a professional, Traditionally they enjoyed great liberties to organize their own work, guided by professional standards rather than organizational ones
This paper presents information from a large survey among senior academic staff on the number of hours faculty members of the Flemish universities report to work and what factors affect the time use of faculty
The average reported work week was over 50 hours, well above the standard workweek of 38 hours

Summary

Introduction

Faculty members closely fit the stereotype of a professional, Traditionally they enjoyed great liberties to organize their own work, guided by professional standards rather than organizational ones. The university environment is changing, in Flanders as well as elsewhere: it is becoming more bureaucratized and centralized, productivity and accountability have gained importance, the number of students is rising much more rapidly than the number of faculty members, and the social value of a university education and social status of faculty declining Illustrative of this evolution is the 2010 incident in Flanders when the president of the Catholic University of Leuven mentioned that Flemish universities faced a serious shortage of faculty members given the increased workload (Bruynhooghe, 2010), and the minister of education quite laconically suggested that they should work harder (bbd [Dobbelaere], 2010) reinforcing the image that university faculty have quite cosy jobs. These differences between countries are attributed to ―national higher education traditions and patterns of workplace relations‖

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Conclusion