The significant cutbacks the government is planning for higher education will also create opportunities, professor Jessica de Bloom argues. ‘The answer to this crisis is collaboration.’
I’m seeing that many of the initiatives we worked so hard on over the past few years are now considered luxuries of a bygone era. DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion), psychological safety, recognition and rewards, open science: ‘We’ll get back to those after the crisis.’
However, I see huge opportunities right now to turn the tide and take steps we otherwise wouldn’t have dared to take (yet). I am a professor of health and well-being at work, I raise extra awareness of work stress and psycho-social workloads, both of which are particularly high in higher education in the Netherlands.
Innovative human resources policies
A four-day work week could help staff have a better work-life balance. Having sufficient time off prevents people from getting exhausted or burned out. Numerous experiment in various countries show that, especially during labour market shortages and intense work stress, a 32-hour work week is the ideal solution to keep people healthy, happy, and productive, reduce absenteeism, and keep older staff on board for longer (see Campbell 2023 for an overview).
In addition to benefits to the employer, most people want to spend more time with their family and friends, as well as on hobbies, personal development, and relaxation. A maximum weekly workload of 32 hours would likely lead to a fairer distribution of care-giving duties, which are still mostly taken up by women (see CBS 2023).
Instead of pay increase, unions should focus on a shorter work week
Instead of pay increase, unions should focus on a shorter work week. Obviously, a shorter work week also means fewer tasks at work. Academic staff currently work an average of six hours of unpaid overtime a week; this definitely shouldn’t increase.
Another interesting tool is ‘unlimited leave’, with a legal annual minimum of twenty days. In 2020 and 2023, we did large-scale field experiments in which a group of more than two thousand people was allowed to take as much leave as they wanted for a year.
The performance criteria were still in effect, and the employees had to coordinate their leave with their team and supervisors. The results showed that the experiment’s group took an average of one week more leave than the control group, which had a regular leave arrangement. Employees also felt more freedom and didn’t have to save up any vacation days to cover for unexpected situations at home.
From an accounting standpoint, unlimited leave is also attractive, because employers only have to reserve the legal minimum of vacation days as a financial buffer. Unlimited leave, therefore, could create financial flexibility and encourage employees to take more leave.
Everyone Professor
Financial limitations will make promotions over the next few years difficult or even impossible. This will demotivate junior and mid-level academics and make them feel disadvantaged compared to their international colleagues.
People appreciate the comfort of working from home and the flexibility to work out or take a nap
For years, The Young Academy has argued in favour of letting every assistant, associate, and full professor call themselves professor, wear a gown, and supervise PhD students. If you have to halt employees’ career path while also unable to pay them a suitable salary, at least give them the title and rights they deserve so they can keep up with their international counterparts. The Eindhoven University of Technology has shown that it can be done.
Hybrid work
Despite some companies’ efforts to return to a pre-Covid work culture, hybrid work is here to stay. People appreciate the comfort of working from home, the peace and quiet that allows them to focus, and the flexibility to work out or take a nap. We should take advantage of this.
Faculties would be able to make more efficient use of space and close down buildings. No longer will the biggest egos get the biggest offices. Instead, offices will be shared by two or three people, preferably hot-desking so the use of space is optimal.
This does, however, require a thorough redesign of building, sound policy, and a work culture that fully supports hybrid work. No more meetings every other day, but departments and team deciding together when they work at home and at the office.
No longer will the biggest egos get the biggest offices
Meetings should remain hybrid, allowing everyone to easily join from behind their screens, and there should be a sufficient number of meeting spaces for both planned and spontaneous meetings.
Smarter academic year
The Dutch academic year is the longest in the world. Give students and lecturers more time to relax. Give them at least four extra weeks without classes and collective vacation days. We should return to the classic semester: students usually need more than six weeks to truly understand what they’re being taught, to make mistakes, and to experience and resolve conflicts they might have in their group projects.
Semesters worked perfectly fine for decades and are still the standard everywhere in the world. Stop experimenting with a shorter academic year and implement these ideas immediately.
Collaboration and open science
In times of severe cutbacks, we need to lean on each other. The answer to this crisis should be collaboration. Work together to publish articles, get together to supervise junior researchers, and teach courses that transcend faculties and programmes. In Finland, several universities teach courses together, offering hybrid lectures.
Open science also provides great opportunities to more efficiently use our scarce resources by sharing data sets, open-source software, and code. By making binding agreements with publishers on a UNL or EU level or by setting up their own publishing houses, universities can regain control over their work and stop public funds from going to private organisations.
Jessica de Bloom is a professor of health and well-being at the Faculty of Economics and Business.