What staff and workers say

I like working at the university. I only wish that I could say, "next year I will still be working here."

Being on only a 12 month contract means that any future planning always involves a large degree of uncertainty. Whatever I research and write about now will likely not be published until after the end of my contract. Perhaps I will be unemployed (again) when my next paper is published. Winning grant funding (statistically unlikely) becomes a priority, simply to stay in employment.

Location wise - great. But it makes getting a mortgage impossible, and even rental is a challenge.

I feel unable to plan my career

It takes up the majority of my working life, for often very little pay, very little (though increasing) recognition and frequently being ignored or undervalued.

There are no opportunities for progression or at least very few opportunities to gain (free) experiences of teaching/lecturing/module design-all of which are essential in job market but which have only been included in the last three months or so (which we're grateful for). We are paid at a lower rate than the work we are expected to do merits, and pay problems are well documented.

Low moral, super high workload, absolutely zero security.

Expectations for marking turnarounds are unrealistic, given how little we are paid and that we all have theses to write (the bit we're actually here for). My own PhD work suffers during marking periods because of those expectations. Moreover, we are under pressure to take exam marking (including extra marking), even when that is not a compulsory aspect of our contract. Support and training for us is very poor, particularly for first year modules, so anxiety becomes a real issue. Non-payment is an emerging issue which leads to financial anxiety also.

I simply do the minimum possible, aware of the pay differentials within the department. I don't spend as much time on marking as I could because I don't believe I should be marking for free, which is essentially what the pay levels mean - I don't know any of us that can mark at the rate we are paid for (3 essay scripts per hour). It is inevitable, however, that I do some marking for free, for fear of losing my job.

I don't spend as much time on delivering feedback to students about essay plans or providing support through emails as I could because, again, I am not paid for it. Fundamentally, if the budgeting on casual work wasn't so unrealistic, first and second year students would be better supported by us.

I have now stopped work as a GTA because I don't feel the stress and pressure is worth the financial benefits we receive.

I don't feel I can start a family or buy a house until I have more permanent employment. I work long hours in my job trying to secure more funding and it's putting a strain on my relationships.

I'm becoming more stressed and far less productive. I also spend a lot of time grant writing and researching jobs/fellowships, which slows down my work for the project I'm actually being paid to do. I've also had to have a significant amount of time on sick leave due to work related stress, which has made the problem a lot worse.

I think the pay is too low for the amount of work we have to do, especially for marking. We teach in a university that is really expensive for students, and it should pay more its staff.

It is very difficult to manage my employment at the University alongside my PhD. I'm self funded and this job only pays £130 a month. Even though it pays so little, I have to plan seminars weekly, deliver the seminars and mark tasks weekly. It takes so much of my research time and pays so little. On top of all of this I have to work in a cafe to actually be able to pay for my studies. In summary, I'm just doing it for my CV.

It is having (so far) a very bad impact on my PhD. Everytime that I have off the cafe I have to use it to mark tasks or to plan the seminars. Therefore, my research is suffering with it. And then it comes the end of the month and I still struggle to pay my rent. It is just tough.

My employment allowed me to do my PhD as my funding was limited. Planning, marking and giving informal feedback to students take me very long time.

The staff who organise when teaching takes place allowed me to choose when I had my seminars. I just want to be paid for the work that I do. The preparation takes so much time and I resent the work I do for free.

At present it is acceptable. I have verbally being 'promised' as permanent contract but as yer have had no formal contract. As I get nearer to the end of my fixed term contact I will naturally start to worry about my future at the University.

As the fixed term contract is not indefinite, I naturally will look for other job opportunities offering a more secure position. However, the 3 month notice period on my fixed term contract makes this very difficult whilst I am still in employment here.

Occasionally I do worry about my future, but as I have 9 months to go on my position I am ok. However I do believe I will be much less effective as it gets nearer to my leaving date.

I have full time work which is nice, but my partner and I are ploughing our money into rent because we can't get a mortgage on short term contracts. I feel sad about this, but grateful to have a job at all since they did a recruitment freeze straight away after I joined. I feel like there's no point participating in university events because I won't be here in two years' time.

I enjoy working here and would love to extend my contract. Not at all.

I can do as little or as much teaching as I wish (Although sometime there aren't enough opportunities to teach as their are no undergraduate students in our department). Sometime can clash with meetings, PhD related work and my commitments as a student rep.

Fits in well with working on PhD, similar subject matter in all aspects of work. Distracts slightly from PhD when busy times. Builds and consolidates subject knowledge well (like see one, do one, teach one).

It is helpful for my career progression and I enjoy the teaching work. It is spread out over the year but not evenly so some periods can be very busy and distract from my own PhD work.

It can be distracting when preparation time is not covered fully in the pay you rush and maybe don't do a great job, but I need the extra money so it is necessary.

I does not provide any security and went from being temporary during my phd to now post-phd being my only occupation

I have to work different little jobs and cannot invest in long time improvement and engagement.

It is only a few hours a week and the supervision and marking time is flexible which fits around my data collecting for my PhD.

I do the best I can but the very nature of being a GTA is that you will only get paid for the hours you do so it can be worrying that the work might dry up and there are no guarantees the university will continue to employ you in the future.

It is convenient as far as commuting goes; we like Sheffield.

I am frustrated because there is no scope whatsoever for any form of research independence or progression. At this point I'd be happy with even 10-20% of my time to be independent of my supervisor, to pursue some independent research rather than just following someone else's orders.

Big lack of security.

It really has been the worst thing to happen to my academic 'career'—it gave me enough work to survive, but not enough to thrive. In many ways I wish it had never happened and I had been given the push to go elsewhere, but it kept me in thrall, always hoping I would get more. Totally abusive. Now I'm 40 and feel that was it. I could have done so much more for this University if I had been trusted and invested in, and now I absolutely resent the place and what it has done to me.

I was disempowered and had no idea that I was in fact a module convenor with authority to change and guide the modules I worked on. I thought I had to keep my head down and teach the (awful) content that was there before. It was two years before I realised I had authority to modify the modules. I felt, and still feel, totally marginal to the department.

My job is very fulfilling but I do feel overworked. If I knew my employment status was secure I could spend less time looking for alternatives elsewhere

I can accept teaching opportunities if they fit in with my PhD study.

University lecturing is my ideal job. The constant threat that I will be out of work at the end of the academic year gnaws at me every single day. Although I have repeatedly proven my worth to my employer, I have to waste considerable time on the job market. I cannot apply for funding beyond the tenure of my fixed term contract. I cannot take on PhD students. I cannot devote myself fully to collaborations.

I enjoy the work and because I may want to apply for a university job in the future, I think it is worth doing. I find the teaching very stimulating and rewarding. Not really but when I'm busy with my other job and my PhD I do wish I had more concentrated time. For example because of limited access to the department, I will pay for my own printing etc. Sometimes I realise that I only know how to do set operations on MOLE so don' t have time and support to develop as I might if I was part of a team.

Nice working environment at the department, however work load for postdocs is huge, especially if you teach. Working long hours and in the weekends is normal but it shouldn't be. Having to search for alternative employment when my contract is about to end affects my performance due to stress and time devoted to job hunting.

Full time but insecure no pension or sick pay or holidays. I feel constantly insecure

When research grants are up for renewal, it is so stressful it is very hard to concentrate on work. I am ineffective during these periods, because of worries about what will happen if I lose my job.

I hate the insecurity (especially when I come to the end of a contract), but enjoy the flexibility. Very worried about pension (or lack of it). Less inclined to challenge, but less motivated.

I am generally positive about my environment, colleagues and opportunities to develop, but the lack of a permanent contract is severely impacting the rest of my life - everything is 'on hold' until I receive news about my contract status. I am unable to make long term plans. This is not a fair system and leads to a lot of stress and anxiety.

My employment status has a significant negative impact on my effectiveness at work. I do not feel appreciated or valued, which makes me less likely to fulfil my potential. This is hard because I enjoy working for the University - I would probably make a more positive contribution if I felt valued. My insecure employment status leads to a lot of stress and anxiety which has a negative impact on my performance at work.

My primary employment (outside of the University) is with others who have previously worked for the University without a contract, so they are understanding of my situation. Were it not the case, maintaining both jobs would be an issue due to assumptions about my availability. These are sometimes made outside of my agreed hours. I have no allowance for preparation time so this often falls outside of agreed hours. I am unsure exactly what time I can be paid for in this situation; I recognise it is assumed for contracted staff, but obviously it sits alongside other benefits that we do not get.

I have no idea if or when I will be no longer required by the department. As such I have limited my aspirations at the University. Colleagues in my position are moving to other institutions to progress their careers. As the department is under increasing financial pressure it has been made clear at times that the cost of additional teaching staff (i.e. myself and other bank workers) is problematic. On top of the job uncertainty, being made to feel like both a problem and an inconvenience has been both demoralising and upsetting.

It gives me a sense of challenge and is very varied. It is a major part of my life, to be promoting and supporting the success of TUOS and colleagues.

I have experienced 5 contract endings in the 6 years I have been in TUOS and the experience as the contract end approaches definitely affects my ability to concentrate. I worry about finding the energy to do job searching after a hard days work and although when one is in the 'redeployment' period, one is technically allowed to spend sometime searching and applying for new positions and colleagues/managers have encouraged this, such activity feels 'wrong' as there is a lot to do in my role and never enough time. Somehow it also feels disloyal which is hard to explain. Contract endings also effect me self esteem which rationally is ridiculous as each post I have started had a defined end-date but often accompanied by statements like, 'we will hopefully secure more funding to give you more hours/a longer contract'. I cans see that it is difficult for managers to recruit quality staff into short contracts and limited hours contracts, so they are under pressure too..

I enjoy my work as a researcher, but it becomes incredibly stressful coming up to the end of a contract when you don't know if you are going to find another one. Also the insecurity of changing managers and staff team all the time can be stressful.

It can be a great distraction. For example, in a really short-term contract of less than a year, you can never really get your feet under the table and concentrate on the work as you are already looking for longer term employment at the start of the contract. Very difficult to manage trying to focus on writing up journal articles at the end of a contract at the same time as searching and applying for other jobs. Extra stuff like trying to apply for funding as a co-I/PI just has to go if you have children or a family to look after. (Which is likely to have a big impact on your research career as acquiring funding is essential for career progression).

Fits around my PhD research, but there are times where there is either too much work or not enough available.

Periods with too much TA work means not working on my PhD for lengthy amounts of time (sometimes months), causing missed deadlines, rescheduling. Attempting to do catch up on my PhD work during this time leads to burnout. Conversely, periods with no TA work (while providing an opportunity to catch up) means consistently worrying about money and job searching, and becomes another source of distraction.

It is great. It is convenient and fits in with my PhD studies.

It's good for now while I'm waiting for my viva. I'm getting teaching experience while working as a support worker (bank) to cover my living costs. I also translate freelance. I'm still trying to get a desk, but other than that the flexibility and part-time hours suit me. It wouldn't be enough to live off long-term, however.

Working for the University in several capacities allows me the flexibility I need to be able to balance paid work and research, however, the casual nature of my work can be a source of anxiety as the pay is often irregular owing to the casual nature of 2/3 of my 'jobs' within the University.

I often feel overwhelmed by the amount of work I have to take on in order to self-fund my studies but I am grateful for the opportunities offered by the University, which have allowed me to continue studying in spite of financial hardship.

It is helpful to gain experience.

The only issue I have is the uncertainty of my contract. I am constantly told how appreciated and valued I am, however that is not reflected in my contract status. It makes it very hard to get a mortgage when I can only ever offer a 9 month contract to show the bank.

I work on a lot of projects which can take anything from 9 months to 2yrs to complete and it is very hard to schedule and plan when you can't be sure you'll even be in a job a six months...

It is fine other than the insecurity of not knowing whether our contract renewal will come.

It seriously impacts forward planning, motivation and productivity - especially as the contract deadline approaches.

Good fit. Generally able to pick and choose when I work to fit around my studies and my home life.

It provides an extra income but makes me feel the university only takes advantage of the need for money and experience of many PG students. I'm committed to do my job the best I can but paid prep time (when paid!) many times isn't enough. Having to deliver material you know could be way better and can't be because you're either not going to have enough time or be paid for it, is extremely demoralising and totally unfair to the students we teach.

Flexibly organised around my other commitments but the boundaries of my role as regards the students I work with is unclear. Then to pass things up to the course lead is often a difficult personal choice tutors make when they feel the time taken over the issue has moved outside the role remit/paid time.

Able to relearn important concepts related to my research field during the course of teaching. Also, able to make some income. Impacts my research positively.

It interferes by and large. the financial rewards are very low level - it can get in the way - not weekly work but intermittent. The work at the Uni makes me feel rather stupid at times - like a shift worker or like a child minder - I don't feel valued except by one lecturer. I feel a completely replaceable - just there to fill the space with no real interest in what I might have to offer – my skill set and experience not valued. anyone will do in the end if they are cheap enough and got enough qualifications (that have little financial value in the end). The relationship doesn’t do much for my self-esteem – it does not feel like something that is building towards a career – no progression – no recognition of experience over years. Very poor. Better when the lecturer actually clearly shows you respect. As a bank worker I still consider myself the equal to the dept. staff – I am a researcher with knowledge and experience but demonstrating is not important – seminar work is undervalued and underfunded. The dept pretends to have global significance with many students from across the world – but they are being short changed to suit a reduced financial set up. Students short changed, debate restricted. Not impressed, I’ll stop this year. THE PAY IS JUST SIMPLY NOT HIGH ENOUGH AND YOU STAY ON THE SAME PAY REGARDLESS OF EXPERIENCE.

At the Uni - makes little difference - I get the library card which is useful. I don't feel valued for who I am or what I offer - except in one module I do feel valued and wanted – but being valued is does not lead to a difference in payscale. This issue makes me feel mean and humiliated as if asking for more pay was greedy and below me. It is horrible. Demeaning. It contradicts the very ethos that the department installs in students.

Flexible which is good, good enhanced salary. However no sick pay or employment benefits other than holiday pay. Currently signed off sick by GP with chest infection, approx £550 out of pocket for being ill.

Can't access all training opportunities other staff can, can't access sports or recreational benefits, insecurity of income and sick pay etc, no contract so all finances have to be in my husbands name.

It fits fine. Takes time away from PhD but its not bad, all experience in the end.

I am usually assigned to tutorials at times convenient for my commuting situation (not spread over multiple days to require excess travel, not too early in the morning) which is helpful.

My employment at the University fits in well with my life in terms of flexibility around children (especially when I was first returning to work and worked hours on a casual basis) however it also feels like it contributes to an unstable way of life as I have no job secuRity.

I think it is hard working on a casual basis or a short term contract (I have done both at the Uni) as it is impossible to fully commit, invest and think long term as you constantly know you will be leaving at some point sooner or later.

It's flexible enough that I can fit it around school pick up times and school holidays. However there's financial insecurity for large chunks of time and the wage is dependent on student attendance which is outside of my control. Minimal to no impact.

Good that I have work and in theory I can turn work down if it does not suit me.

The drawback is that the work is insecure to the extend that if students do not want to meet I do not get paid, and I cannot rely on this work to pay my bills.

Not sure - I haven't been a causal worker long enough to know.

The casual employment allows me to contribute to scientific work (and be payed for it) and fit this around my studies. I appreciate though that I am a low skilled worker and if lecturers had the same contract as me then that would be shit.

It is my main source of income, but feel unable to safely say no to additional work/task requests as really want to be made permanent. This had led to a lot of stress and manger dangling a carrot of permanent employment with no actual promise of permanency.

I work lots of hours over and above to prove my worth, which in reality just means that my hourly rate diminishes and I am valued less.

It is my main, full-time job. I commute from Manchester which takes over 4 hour per day in total. I cannot commit to moving to Sheffield as I'm only on a short-term contract. If I could get a more permanent/long-term position, I'd look to moving to the local area. The short-term nature of the position results in a lot of anxiety and uncertainty about what the future holds. This impacts not only on me, but on my family too.

It's hard to plan teaching and improve module content when you're not sure if you'll be teaching the next year. It's difficult to plan ahead in general - including research. There is a large amount of uncertainty which has psychological, cognitive and emotional impact.

Since starting work with the university I have been the main carer for several members of my family. Working outside office hours perfectly fitted with my responsibilities. I am proud to be a tutor and will always hope to support our students

I manage to cope the workload required for my PhD in addition to additional casual work well mainly because I have the option to choose how much and when I can work additional hours. On the other hand I feel that the time allocation for e.g. marking related work is well below what I spend on giving feedback. As I have been employed as staff in the past it feels like casual work is not always a well-balanced pay rate for the amount of work undertaken.

Since the amount of work that I undertake is negotiated with my supervisor and cannot exceed 1day/week in most cases it doesn't have a negative impact. I'd say on the contrary it makes me more efficient.

Severely impacts on my financial (can't get a mortgage, had to down size and now living with friends), and psychological wellbeing (have felt undervalued for 8 years - feel too unconfident to apply for different work- very little support from the university in most areas )

As above - has impacted on my self-esteem - have felt depressed for quite some time now - no sick pay - periods of total exhaustion/illness but I can't take time off. I don't feel I perform well under these conditions which has a impact on how well I can do my job. I support very vulnerable students but my own mental health is very poor.

I love doing research and I love working at TUOS. My Department is great and I have a very supportive manager. Being a researcher is a wonderful job and I am grateful for all the support regarding personal/ professional development for researchers which the University offers. I feel like I'm doing the job I worked so hard to learn how to do.

Enjoying working here so much, however, unfortunately only compounds the sadness I feel when I realise that I might not be part of plans for the future - that things I'm involved in doing now I won't necessarily be around to continue/ see develop. I thrive on a sense of belonging and like to get involved in life in my department and at the University. Despite these efforts being a temporary member of staff inevitably brings a feeling of being on the periphery sometimes. I feel insecure about my future and get frustrated by the energy I waste worrying about what will happen in x number of months when I have to start looking for work again.

All my family are based locally and so working at Sheffield is perfect for my life. For this reason I am particularly invested in staying here and committing myself to research at Sheffield. I wish there was a way to be employed in a more secure, long-term way so the University could benefit from the continuity someone like me might offer, and I could make concrete plans about my personal and work life. For instance, it's hard to make decisions about having a family when you don't know if you will have a contract soon. At present I also don't know how I fit into the University's promotion processes (though I have asked)... what is the pathway for a career researcher? The structures all seem to point to research roles as something one does as a stepping-stone to becoming an 'academic' (i.e. a lecturer). I would like to see researchers considered as 'academics' (as they are essentially responsible for the day-to-day processes that produce knowledge).

Therefore for me, the negative experiences are not just practical and material (worrying about the next job, mortgages etc.) it also effects me emotionally and how I think about myself as a member of the academic community. I'm not always sure who talk to about these feelings, it can be a bit lonely sometimes.

I'd like to think that I always give my best despite the tricky circumstances I sometimes find myself in due to fixed-term contract work. However, there are times when I do become preoccupied by the insecurity and particularly as the end of a contract draws closer I inevitably have to become more focused on finding work. This has involved leaving projects earlier than is ideal for the research - which is upsetting actually when you have pride in your work and want to see things to completion. There are also certain tasks that I have been unable to take on due to my temporary status (second supervising PhD students for instance).

It's flexible and doesn't dominate my life, which is great. I've been lucky to be able to gain consistent experience teaching on different modules, something I know many don't get. When teaching in first term specifically you get very little time to prepare and adjust life for upcoming classes and deadlines, unfortunately. There are also periods of time where regular work is sacrificed more (assessment deadlines, etc.).

It encourages/forces(!) you to be very organised with your time otherwise everything suffers (and sometimes it does even if you are really organised!) - seminar/lecture preparation, answering student emails, attending lectures and marking assignments can spiral somewhat. Preparation (in particular for new content) takes much longer than is contracted.

Work life balance is good. Makes me worried.

It's a major part of my identity, but also a major cause of stress in my life. It's a straightforward, permanent post that I am generally happy with.