A further
look at HESA data on Academic vs. Non-academic staffing in UK Universities
reveals an encouraging trend. The UK overall is not as a whole moving toward greater and greater non-academic staffing. As a whole they have shed
non-academic staff proportionally over the 5 years 2009/10 to 2013/14.
As a
reminder about the issue of administrative bloat, there is a conversation much
of it based in the states about the growth of non-academic roles in
universities. Examples are here
and here.
For the UK, there are trends that can be discovered using HESA data.
Note about
the data: The data are provided by HESA (Higher Education Statistics Agency)
and if you wish to look for yourself follow the content links found here
and scroll to Table 1 in each year. There are nearly 20 years of data :).
The data I will present today is 2009/10 and 2013/14 (the most recent year for
which data is available). For this discussion, I am equating
non-academic with administration. This may not be completely appropriate as
there are things non-academic staff do which are not really administrative
(Such as gardening and mail delivery), however, I think it makes a good index. What I
did is divide the total column in the academic contract section by the
non-academic column in the HESA tables. I then subtracted the value in 2009/10
from the value in 2013/14. Some institutions changed their name or were not
included in the earlier table (or perhaps did not report?). As a result, a few
will be missing.
With that
in mind, you might ask...
Q: Are there
institutions getting administrative bloat under control in the UK?
A: Definitely.
What is interesting is that the star performer in the overall proportion of academic staff is also the one that
improved the most. The Guildhall School of Music and Drama had the
highest ratio of academic/non-academic staff (see previous post) and also leads this table (3.2!). This is over double the
next best (1.17) found at the Arts University College of Bournmouth.
It is also
notable the prominence of institutions involved in arts and music in the upper
ranks of both league tables. It might be worth calling the Guildhall School and
asking them what they are up to and if it is a conscious policy.
Q: Are there
Institutions that need to look at what they are doing?
A: Yes.
Birkbeck College (-1.10) and the University of Buckingham (-0.57) are sitting
at the bottom. Birkbeck still has an exceptionally high proportion of academic
staff (1.99) and is still in the top 10 in that regard. The University of Buckingham however,
seems to have changed from quite high (1.13 in 2009/10) to low (0.57 in
2013/14) this is a big shift in staffing behaviour.
Q: What is
typical?
A: Most
institutions have shed non-academic staff as a proportion. The median value is
0.07 ( trend toward more academics than non-academics) and the average is 0.10.
Q: What do
the best universities look like?
A: The top
10 ranked universities (as ranked by the Guardian) are Cambridge (0.12), Oxford
(0.12), St. Andrews (0.10), Surrey (0.14), Bath (-0.10), Durham (0.00), Warwick
(0.00), Imperial (0.04), Exeter (0.09), and Lancaster (0.14). In general they
are mostly stable and increasing the proportion of academic staff.
The top 10
UK universities as ranked by QS are: Cambridge (0.12), Imperial (0.04), Oxford
(0.12), University College London (0.03), Kings College London (0.20), Edinburgh
(0.15), Bristol (0.16), Manchester (0.17), Glasgow (0.10), and Warwick (0.00). With
the exception of Warwick, all are improving.
Conclusion:
Based on the data, most universities in the UK are behaving as if they believe
a greater proportion of academic staff will lead to better performance.
A league
table is below which sorts the institutions from highest to lowest change in
the ratio over the five year period.
HE provider
|
change in ratio 2009/10 to 2013/14
|
|
1
|
Guildhall School of Music and Drama
|
3.20
|
2
|
The Arts University College at Bournemouth
|
1.17
|
3
|
Ravensbourne
|
1.03
|
4
|
Norwich University College of the Arts
|
0.75
|
5
|
University of Ulster
|
0.74
|
6
|
The University of Northampton
|
0.68
|
7
|
Kingston University
|
0.58
|
8
|
The Royal Scottish Academy of Music and
Drama
|
0.57
|
9
|
University of the Arts, London
|
0.56
|
10
|
London South Bank University
|
0.52
|
11
|
University for the Creative Arts
|
0.41
|
12
|
Staffordshire University
|
0.38
|
13
|
The University of Essex
|
0.38
|
14
|
The University of Wales (central functions)
|
0.35
|
15
|
Middlesex University
|
0.33
|
16
|
Goldsmiths College
|
0.33
|
17
|
University of Wales Institute, Cardiff
|
0.30
|
18
|
Brunel University
|
0.27
|
19
|
Conservatoire for Dance and Drama
|
0.27
|
20
|
The University of Stirling
|
0.26
|
21
|
Cardiff University
|
0.24
|
22
|
University of Gloucestershire
|
0.24
|
23
|
The University of Central Lancashire
|
0.24
|
24
|
Leeds College of Music
|
0.23
|
25
|
London School of Hygiene and Tropical
Medicine(#5)
|
0.22
|
26
|
Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh
|
0.22
|
27
|
The University of Salford
|
0.22
|
28
|
University College Falmouth
|
0.21
|
29
|
The Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts
|
0.21
|
30
|
The University of Bolton
|
0.20
|
31
|
The University of East London
|
0.20
|
32
|
King's College London
|
0.20
|
33
|
St George's Hospital Medical School
|
0.19
|
34
|
London School of Economics and Political
Science
|
0.19
|
35
|
Newman University College
|
0.18
|
36
|
The Manchester Metropolitan University
|
0.18
|
37
|
The University of Kent
|
0.18
|
38
|
Bangor University
|
0.17
|
39
|
The University of Manchester
|
0.17
|
40
|
St Mary's University College
|
0.16
|
41
|
The University of Bristol
|
0.16
|
42
|
Heriot-Watt University
|
0.16
|
43
|
The University of Liverpool
|
0.15
|
44
|
Royal College of Music
|
0.15
|
45
|
The University of Greenwich
|
0.15
|
46
|
The University of Edinburgh
|
0.15
|
47
|
The University of Plymouth
|
0.14
|
48
|
The University of Surrey
|
0.14
|
49
|
The University of Birmingham
|
0.14
|
50
|
The University of Dundee
|
0.14
|
51
|
University of Derby
|
0.14
|
52
|
The University of Lancaster
|
0.14
|
53
|
The University of Reading
|
0.13
|
54
|
Liverpool John Moores University
|
0.13
|
55
|
Royal College of Art
|
0.13
|
56
|
Royal Northern College of Music
|
0.13
|
57
|
The University of Leicester
|
0.12
|
58
|
Buckinghamshire New University
|
0.12
|
59
|
The University of Cambridge
|
0.12
|
60
|
The University of Oxford
|
0.12
|
61
|
The University of Sussex
|
0.11
|
62
|
Cranfield University
|
0.11
|
63
|
The University of Glasgow
|
0.10
|
64
|
The University of Keele
|
0.10
|
65
|
Canterbury Christ Church University
|
0.10
|
66
|
The University of Northumbria at Newcastle
|
0.10
|
67
|
Liverpool Hope University
|
0.10
|
68
|
The University of St Andrews
|
0.10
|
69
|
The University of Exeter
|
0.09
|
70
|
The University of Hull
|
0.09
|
71
|
Royal Academy of Music
|
0.09
|
72
|
The University of Leeds
|
0.09
|
73
|
Loughborough University
|
0.08
|
74
|
The University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne
|
0.08
|
75
|
Queen Mary and Westfield College
|
0.08
|
76
|
Scottish Agricultural College
|
0.08
|
77
|
The City University
|
0.07
|
78
|
Swansea University
|
0.07
|
79
|
The Robert Gordon University
|
0.07
|
80
|
The University of the West of Scotland
|
0.06
|
81
|
University of Abertay Dundee
|
0.06
|
82
|
The University of Aberdeen
|
0.06
|
83
|
Central School of Speech and Drama
|
0.06
|
84
|
Harper Adams University College
|
0.05
|
85
|
The University of Southampton
|
0.05
|
86
|
Edinburgh Napier University
|
0.05
|
87
|
Imperial College of Science, Technology and
Medicine
|
0.04
|
88
|
The University of Wolverhampton
|
0.04
|
89
|
University of the Highlands and Islands
|
0.04
|
90
|
The University of Brighton
|
0.04
|
91
|
The University of Sheffield
|
0.03
|
92
|
Southampton Solent University
|
0.03
|
93
|
York St John University
|
0.03
|
94
|
University College London
|
0.03
|
95
|
The University of Lincoln
|
0.03
|
96
|
Oxford Brookes University
|
0.03
|
97
|
The University of York
|
0.02
|
98
|
The University of Bradford
|
0.02
|
99
|
The School of Oriental and African Studies
|
0.02
|
100
|
Royal Agricultural College
|
0.02
|
101
|
London Metropolitan University
|
0.02
|
102
|
The University of Strathclyde
|
0.02
|
103
|
The University of Teesside
|
0.01
|
104
|
Glasgow School of Art
|
0.01
|
105
|
Bournemouth University
|
0.00
|
106
|
The University of Sunderland
|
0.00
|
107
|
De Montfort University
|
0.00
|
108
|
The University of Warwick
|
0.00
|
109
|
University of Durham
|
0.00
|
110
|
The University of Nottingham
|
-0.01
|
111
|
University of Chester
|
-0.01
|
112
|
The Queen's University of Belfast
|
-0.02
|
113
|
Writtle College
|
-0.02
|
114
|
Institute of Education
|
-0.02
|
115
|
University College Birmingham
|
-0.02
|
116
|
Aberystwyth University
|
-0.02
|
117
|
The University of Portsmouth
|
-0.02
|
118
|
University of Cumbria
|
-0.03
|
119
|
University of London (Institutes and
activities)
|
-0.03
|
120
|
The University of Worcester
|
-0.03
|
121
|
The University of Winchester
|
-0.03
|
122
|
The Royal Veterinary College
|
-0.04
|
123
|
Stranmillis University College
|
-0.04
|
124
|
Sheffield Hallam University
|
-0.05
|
125
|
Courtauld Institute of Art
|
-0.06
|
126
|
London Business School
|
-0.06
|
127
|
Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and
Dance
|
-0.06
|
128
|
Bishop Grosseteste University College
Lincoln
|
-0.07
|
129
|
Royal Holloway and Bedford New College
|
-0.07
|
130
|
Edge Hill University
|
-0.07
|
131
|
The Nottingham Trent University
|
-0.08
|
132
|
Glasgow Caledonian University
|
-0.09
|
133
|
University Campus Suffolk
|
-0.09
|
134
|
Leeds Metropolitan University
|
-0.09
|
135
|
St Mary's University College, Twickenham
|
-0.10
|
136
|
The University of Bath
|
-0.10
|
137
|
The Institute of Cancer Research
|
-0.11
|
138
|
Glyndŵr University
|
-0.12
|
139
|
University of Hertfordshire
|
-0.12
|
140
|
Aston University
|
-0.13
|
141
|
Bath Spa University
|
-0.15
|
142
|
University of the West of England, Bristol
|
-0.16
|
143
|
Birmingham City University
|
-0.17
|
144
|
Rose Bruford College
|
-0.18
|
145
|
Roehampton University
|
-0.20
|
146
|
The University of Westminster
|
-0.22
|
147
|
Leeds Trinity University College
|
-0.22
|
148
|
The Open University
|
-0.22
|
149
|
The University of Chichester
|
-0.23
|
150
|
The University of East Anglia
|
-0.24
|
151
|
The University of Huddersfield
|
-0.25
|
152
|
Anglia Ruskin University
|
-0.29
|
153
|
Coventry University
|
-0.30
|
154
|
Heythrop College
|
-0.30
|
155
|
University of Bedfordshire
|
-0.35
|
156
|
The University of Buckingham
|
-0.56
|
157
|
Birkbeck College
|
-1.10
|
Median
|
0.07
|
|
Average
|
0.10
|
