The academic labour market in the United Kingdom: Fully developed or quasi-market?

This paper investigates the degree to which a labour market has developed for academic staff in the UK and explores its implications for academic professionals, their careers and work. It analyses the key elements and characteristics of this market, its differential impacts on types of individuals and institutions, and its connections with international academic labour markets. The forms of regulation applied to the academic labour market by, for example, government and its intermediary agencies, employers and their representatives, and academic unions through collective bargaining are also examined. The authors draw and build on findings from the international study of the Changing Academic Profession, a multi-national survey of academics in over 20 countries worldwide and related empirical and conceptual studies (Locke and Teichler, 2007). Official national and international data and evidence-based reports are also subject to secondary analysis. The paper provides an initial assessment of the extent to which the characteristics of an academic labour market are fully developed in the UK. In conclusion, the paper considers the extent to which trends in the UK are similar or different to other European higher education systems. In particular, it argues there is a degree of insularity in the UK academic market, despite the extensive international activities of a minority of research-intensive universities.