Academics unhappy in Australia

Australian academic researchers are rallying behind a report that laments their working conditions. The government-funded study, out in September, surveyed 5,525 academics across all career stages and fields at 20 universities. It found that nearly half of academics under 30 want to leave the country or the profession owing to low pay and lack of job security. Researchers are frustrated by teaching obligations that cut into research time; low grant success rates; and 70- to 80-hour working weeks. Emmaline Bexley, a lecturer in higher education at the University of Melbourne and lead author of the study, says she hopes that her research will "help government and universities to work together to replenish the academic workforce".

Academics unhappy Nature (2011). doi:10.1038/nj7370-549c Low pay, low grant success and job insecurity add to researchers' miseries in Australia.