The future workforce in locally and globally engaged higher education institutions, qualitative data 1960-2020

This longitudinal project involved eight universities in the four UK nations: England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland; five in England and one in each of the other three countries. It comprised a longitudinal qualitative phase (2017 and 2019), and a quantitative phase (2017/2018). The latter was carried out by means of an academic staff survey across 5 of the 8 participating institutions in the qualitative component of the study. The researchers undertook at least eight in-depth interviews with academic staff at different levels of seniority and across different disciplines in each case institution – a total of 69 in-depth interviews in 2017/18 (labelled 2017). The second stage in 2019/20 (labelled 2019) involved 42 interviews. The project investigated the implications of a diversifying workforce in British higher education, in relation to changing roles and career pathways, and a blurring of boundaries not only between disciplines, but also between academic work and activities that academic staff may undertake outside the university.