In recent years, the issue of administrative burden in universities has received growing attention around the world. Although professional staff are central to the operation of universities, little effort has been made to understand how these staff see these administrative burdens impacting their work, and to harness their views on how to best…

In higher education, the ability to navigate and function well in a diverse digital ecosystem is now essential to student, academic, and professional flourishing and productivity. Universities had to respond to a pandemic that catapulted face-to-face offerings into online and hybrid environments. More recently, a preference for working from home…

This paper analyses the move by an Australian university faculty to a new building featuring open plan and alternative workspaces. Through the lens of the theory of practice architectures, the paper examines how the new built spaces both enabled and constrained the professional learning practices of academics. Drawing on a case study of the…

Despite extensive impact studies over the past two decades documenting the insipid and debilitating health, social, and emotional impacts of racism on Indigenous peoples in Australia, racism remains a key factor impacting negatively on the lives of Indigenous Australians at all levels of education. Racism experienced by Indigenous early career…

Work-integrated learning (WIL) is an expanding international strategy aimed at bolstering the employability of higher education students. With WIL participation on the rise, there is a growing focus on fostering wellbeing during WIL. Drawing on the sociomaterial theoretical framework actor-network theory (ANT) and the WIL Wellbeing Framework, this…

Some degree programs require students to complete self-sourced work placements as a condition for graduation, which is challenging for many international students as they face significant contextual constraints. The literature has indicated typical contextual challenges international students face while attempting to strengthen organizational…

The article investigates asynchronous narrative research via email as a flexible and agentic method of collecting data that may empower female participants. A case study was used that focused on the challenges for academic and professional women at an Australian regional university. Twenty-one women responded by email to a range of questions about…

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between higher educational institution bullying policies and the subsequent cultural impact to determine the effectiveness of policy in ameliorating bullying within the university culture. Design/methodology/approach: This study consisted of two separate but related case studies at…

As Indigenous outward migration expands, some diaspora groups are larger than their population back home which is the case for many in the Pacific diaspora. Research with Indigenous peoples is largely conducted in their homelands, with minimal research on their experiences in other countries. As Pacific Indigenous academics, we employed a…

Encouraging pre-service teachers to perceive early childhood teaching as an inherently attractive career option remains an issue in the early childhood profession in Australia. Following a Research by Design methodology with iterative modifications, this paper uses a professional identity theoretical lens to analyse survey and interview data from…

Universities continue to evolve and adapt to changes brought about by external events such as the COVID-19 pandemic, shifts in government policy, technological advancements, and geopolitics. A significant body of research has focused on negative workplace conditions within universities that contribute to psychosocial hazards. In contrast, this…

One fundamental aspect of organizational transformation in higher education is the change to the profile of universities' non-academic workforce. Key staffing trends identified in recent studies conducted in a variety of national settings include an increase in the proportion of non-academic staff at universities and a shift toward more highly…

In work-based learning (WBL), autodidactic, informal, nonformal, and formal approaches to learning are viewed not as dichotomous, distinct, or divergent spheres along a continuum but as intersected and clustered spheres. In WBL, prior learning, professional development, advanced standing, and other forms of learning are therefore formally…

While internal marketing is used by the higher education sector to improve academics' commitment toward their university employer, the impact on senior academics compared to junior academics may differ. Considering 'intelligence generation, dissemination and responses' as part of internal marketing, this study explores its impact on affective…

Using Multilevel Job Demand-Resources theory, this research explores how crisis influenced perceptions about academic work engagement at individual, team, and organisational levels. The COVID-19 crisis led universities to make significant changes in response to health and fiscal impacts. Changes included restructuring, job shedding, and pivoting…