Don’t ‘virtue signal’ over long hours, striking lecturers told
STRIKING university lecturers were embroiled in a row yesterday over whether to “brag” about their long working hours, as academics accused one another of “virtue signalling”.
Scholars criticised those who declared their heavy workloads as around 43,000 lecturers and support staff walked out at 60 British universities at the start of an eight-day strike.
The University and College Union (UCU) said yesterday that further industrial action could be staged in the new year unless its disputes over pensions and pay and conditions were resolved.
Academics who took part in yesterday’s strike admitted they had struggled as a result of long working hours.
Mary Beard, the Cambridge classicist, declared that she would “not be crossing a picket line”.
Prof Beard asked fellow academics how many hours a week they spent in their roles, saying she herself worked more than 100 hours.
However, Akil Awan, a Royal Holloway fellow, accused lecturers such as Prof Beard of “virtue signalling” as he urged them not to reveal the hours they worked.
Dr Awan, who declared support for the strike, posted on Twitter: “Working excessive hours helps perpetuate unrealistic and unhealthy norms in academia, which disproportionately impact women, those with family or carer commitments, early career researchers and academics on casual/temporary contracts. When we engage in that kind of work ethic, we tacitly endorse an unreasonable and frankly dangerous work-life balance.
“Worse still, this becomes the de facto standard for our institutions who will happily make us work beyond the 40 or so hours they pay us for. So if people brag about working 70 hours p/w then 70 becomes the new normal.”
Dr Heejung Chung, who teaches sociology at the University of Kent, added: “It makes me angry to see yet another evidence of the hypercompetitive overwork culture in academia.”
Prof Beard later wrote that it was not her intention to “virtue signal”, adding she would not ask colleagues about their workloads on social media.
UCU said it was consulting with its branches at other universities about ballots to join further action.
Universities said they expected the impact to be “mixed” at the institutions involved, and there were early reports of “some low and some medium levels of disruption to teaching”.
The strikes are taking place on five days this week, and again for three days from Dec 2.