The university sector faces changing and challenging times. BERL was commissioned by Universities New Zealand to explore the academic workforce requirements to resource our universities to the year 2020. A full copy of this report is available here.

Despite the relatively slow growth in student numbers there is a need to attract a growing number of recruits into the academic workforce over the next decade. This is because of the age profile of the New Zealand academic workforce and the need to replace staff leaving for positions elsewhere.

In 2008 the New Zealand university sector employed 9,650 academic staff. Of these, 59 percent were aged 45 or more, with 16 percent aged 60 or more. Comparable 2006 Census data indicates that the academic workforce is significantly older than the total New Zealand workforce, as well as the average of all professional categories and the health workforce.

Between now and 2020, the sector will need to consistently attract between 560 and 920 academic staff each year. This range is based on various scenarios capturing differing demographic, behavioural and economic assumptions. This range is higher than the 500 new academic staff attracted during 2008.

The impact of staff exits dominates the need to recruit new staff each and every year. Annual exit rates averaged 6.5 percent in 2008, ranging from 4.8 percent for academic staff in the humanities and 7.5 percent in the medical and health sciences subjects.

There appear to be four choices facing New Zealand universities.

• To continue with the status quo.

• To address workforce issues independently.

• To work collaboratively on selected workforce issues.

• To collaborate on the provision of courses and managing student numbers.

 
The New Zealand university sector is facing a future with caps to funded domestic student numbers, a significantly older than average workforce and increasingly intense global competition for academics. In this context, the sector must accept the challenge to make an academic career an attractive opportunity for those currently inside and outside the sector.

Further, changes are necessary within the tertiary education funding and policy structure that would allow and encourage the university sector to work collaboratively and collectively. At a policy and advocacy level, Universities New Zealand will have to play a vocal and active role in workforce issues related to the academic workforce.

Our recommendations were that Universities New Zealand should:

1. advocate funding framework changes and actively encourage collaboration

2. create a clear and contemporary academic career development model

3. target the improvement of the educational achievement of Maori and Pasifika students

4. become the employer of choice for people within and outside the sector

5. encourage shared service arrangements

6. establish a website portal that focuses on academic careers

7. build relationships with immigration officials and related industry players

8. establish an integrated sector-wide workforce database

9. obtain information on academic career pathways

10. investigate the demographics and dynamics of casual and ‘academic other’ staff.