Academic pay – News, Research and Analysis – The Conversation

Areas like northern Mozambique are understudied. Mario Franco/Getty Images

May 19, 2026

Poor pay is holding back Africa’s biodiversity research and reducing its contribution to global science

Harith Omar Morgadinho Farooq, Lúrio University and Isildo De Nascimento Nganhane, Lúrio University

Low salaries are part of the reason biodiversity remains understudied in Africa.

September 18, 2022

Nigeria’s endless lecturer strikes: insights from some essential reads

Moina Spooner, The Conversation and Segun Oluwagbile, The Conversation

Nigeria’s public university system has lost about 57 months to industrial action since 1999. This has implications for the future workforce.

A protester holds a placard as workers show solidarity with the Academic Staff Union of Universities. Photo by PIUS UTOMI EKPEI/AFP via Getty Images

September 8, 2022

17 strikes in 23 years: a unionist explains why Nigeria’s university lecturers won’t back down

Dele Ashiru, University of Lagos

Public universities in Nigeria have been bedevilled by lecturers’ strikes for years. To break the cycle, the union insists the institutions should be adequately funded.

July 7, 2022

For many NZ scholars, the old career paths are broken. Our survey shows the reality for this new ‘academic precariat’

Leon Salter, Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa – Massey University

Casual or short-term contracts, a lack of professional development, little hope of career progression: a survey of academic working conditions sounds a warning.

May 20, 2022

Here’s what the government and universities can do about the crisis of insecure academic work

Jess Harris, University of Newcastle

The problem of insecure employment for academics came to a head during the pandemic. The neglect of this issue is eroding our intellectual capital along with education and employment opportunities.

March 7, 2021

No change at the top for university leaders as men outnumber women 3 to 1

Marcia Devlin AM, Victoria University

International Women’s Day is a time to take stock of what has been achieved and what remains to be done. 2020 was a massive missed opportunity to improve gender equity among university leaders.

February 22, 2021

COVID hit casual academics hard. Here are 5 ways to produce a better deal for unis and staff

Elizabeth Baré, The University of Melbourne; Ian Marshman, The University of Melbourne; Janet Beard, The University of Melbourne, and Teresa Tjia, The University of Melbourne

Universities have legitimate reasons for employing some staff on casual contracts, but the impacts of the COVID pandemic have brought long-standing problems to a head. Now is the time to act on these.

The University of Sydney paid its vice-chancellor $1,627,500 last year, more than any other Australian public university VC received. EQRoy/Shutterstock

December 1, 2020

How Australian vice‑chancellors’ pay came to average $1 million and why it’s a problem

Julie Rowlands, Deakin University and Rebecca Boden, Tampere University

Vice-chancellors’ average remuneration has soared from 2.9 times lecturers’ pay in 1975 to 16 times in 2018. New governance arrangements triggered the trend and might be needed to rein it in.

Articles on Academic pay

Displaying all articles