6 Times Higher Education8 February 2018
The UK’s research-intensive univer-
sities offer more generous maternity
leave packages than their teaching-
oriented contemporaries, according
to a study that highlights evidence
of a clear divide in academics’
parental rights.
In a paper due to be published at
the end of this month, Vera Troeger,
professor of quantitative political
economy at the University of War-
wick, and Mariaelisa Epifanio, lec-
turer in politics at the University of
Liverpool, suggest that research-
focused institutions such as those in
the Russell Group often allow
female employees who are expect-
ing children more time off at full
salary as part of a strategic move to
retain their best workers.
The researchers name the univer-
sities of Manchester, Oxford and
Southampton as being among the
most generous employers, each
offering soon-to-be mothers
26 weeks’ leave at full salary.
At the other end of the scale sit
smaller or specialist institutions,
which offer no weeks off at full
salary. These include, according to
the study, Leeds Beckett University
and the University of Bolton.
Dame Athene Donald, master of
Churchill College, Cambridge, and
the university’s former gender
equality champion, said that she
was “not surprised” by the findings,
since research intensives have “so
much invested in each individual”.
“If a PI [principal investigator]
leaves with a research group in
place, it can have extremely nega-tive consequences both for the stu-
dents or postdocs involved and in
the institution’s relationships with
funders,” Dame Athene said.
Much of the variation in benefits
can be attributed to terms of employ-
ment, which “vary massively
between universities”, she added. “It
isn’t just that the teaching-focused
universities use fixed-term (and often
very short-term) contracts but I
believe they also sometimes offer
essentially zero-hours contracts.
“However, it is unrealistic to
expect a rapid transformation with
the financial pressures [universities]
across the board are feeling, how-
ever desirable this is on all fronts.”
Bolton is highlighted as one of
15 institutions to offer zero weeks
with full salary replacement beyondthe statutory government maternity
benefit – about £140 per week – an
issue that a spokeswoman attrib-
uted to a “lack of affordability”.
“The University of Bolton...rec-
ognises the importance of family-
friendly practices in the recruitment
and retention of high-calibre col-
leagues,” the spokeswoman said.
“We do offer our staff maternity
pay above the statutory minimum,
[however] we are a relatively small
[provider] and do not have the
financial resources that many of the
larger [universities] have.”
According to the study, research
intensives with a small student-to-
staff ratio were found to be five
times as generous in their maternity
provisions as teaching-orientated
providers with a larger number ofGenerous packages at research intensives used to
retain staff, study suggests. Rachael Pells reportsElites ‘offer
the best
maternity
provision’
The pressures of academic life on
family and relationships are felt
most keenly by junior researchers,
Times Higher Education’s first
global work-life balance survey
reveals.
Among respondents who do not
currently have a partner, more than
half of doctoral students and post-
doctoral researchers (51 per cent)
said that their job gets in the way
of their ability to conduct a success-
ful relationship “a lot”, compared
with 48 per cent of professors,
45 per cent of lecturers and 44 per
cent of senior lecturers.
Just 3 per cent of postdoctoral
researchers and 5 per cent of doc-
toral students and lecturers said that
their job does not get in the way at
all, compared with 13 per cent of
professors and 18 per cent of senior
lecturers.
The findings have been drawn
fromTHE’s Work-Life Balance
Survey, which received responses
from 2,379 higher education staff,
of whom 2,011 are academics,
between October and November- Among academic respond-
ents, 62 per cent work in the UK,
10 per cent in another European
country, 17 per cent in the US and
6 per cent in Australia.
According to the results, junior
academics who are parents were far
more likely to say that their children
hold back their career than their
senior counterparts; 53 per cent of
doctoral students and 46 per cent
of postdocs said that their
children hold back their career
“significantly” or “a great deal”,
compared with 38 per cent of
lecturers, 35 per cent of senior lec-
turers, 29 per cent of department
heads and 25 per cent of professors.
Among those who do not intend
to have children, 38 per cent of PhD
students and 37 per cent of postdocssaid that this decision is “entirely”
or “mostly” due to fears that doing
so would be incompatible with their
career. Just 27 per cent of lecturers,
22 per cent of senior lecturers and
department heads, and 15 per cent
of professors said the same.
Early career researchers were
also twice as likely as professors to
consider working elsewhere; almost
half of PhD students and postdoc-
toral researchers (46 per cent) said
that they “frequently” or
“regularly” consider working in a
different sector, compared with
23 per cent of professors.
The majority of academics
(52 per cent) said that they would
recommend their job to their
children “with reservations”, butCareer impact on relationships worst for junior a
Number of weeks’ full salary replacement0 4 6 8 9 10 12 13 14 16Number of maternity packages6050403020100MOTHER CARE:GENEROSITY OF