More UK academics are being employed on zero-hours contracts, figures show, amid ongoing strikes related to the working conditions of university staff.
The statistics show women were disproportionately hired on such contracts, which experts say cause financial and professional insecurities.
The figures come as two lecturers who were employed on temporary contracts have sued the University of Oxford, claiming they should have been given the same rights as permanent members of staff.
The latest Higher Education Statistics Agency figures show that 4,420 “typical” academics across the UK were on zero-hours contracts in 2021-22 – a 21 per cent rise from 2020-21, though still below 6,520 recorded in 2017-18, the first year for which such figures are available.
