I have resigned from my job as a lecturer in communication design because I am unwilling to continue working in a system that is toxic and exploits staff and students alike. The UK’s universities are so incredibly broken right now it’s beyond belief.
I am a member of the University and College Union and totally support them but I am not on strike (everyone should take action within their means). However, I am protesting in other ways.
This will be my last semester in academia - I leave in the summer exactly four years to the day since I started the full time job (unless I’m kicked out earlier for speaking out! Who knows today might be my last day).
Despite being there for four years, by the time I leave I will still not technically have progressed beyond my probation period.
Probation is laughably 3 years long at University of Dundee and mine was recently extended by a year, and I paraphrase here, to give me extra time to figure out how to cope with the stress of my job.
The stress I have experienced due to overwork and the negative culture that is perpetuated by management has led to significant mental and physical ill health. It has had a huge impact on me and my family.
I went through all the existing channels available to try to improve my situation (management, HR, counselling, occupational health...) but as I have found out the current system is so skewed that it seems impossible for me to make things better. My best option was to resign.
My situation is not unusual, I am one of many hundreds if not thousands of staff working in academia now who have experienced similar things. Many don’t feel able to speak out as there is a culture of bullying and harassment which successfully keeps these things under wraps.
As I am leaving I feel it is absolutely my duty to speak out about these issues. Education is so important.
I absolutely love teaching so I am very sad and very angry that it has come to this. We all deserve better. Please read about the issues affecting the UK’s universities and support the UCU’s strike and campaigns. Write to your MPs and or MSPs. Demand change!
