{"id":850,"date":"2014-06-23T18:56:17","date_gmt":"2014-06-23T16:56:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.uab.cat\/saramartinalegre\/?p=850"},"modified":"2014-06-23T18:56:17","modified_gmt":"2014-06-23T16:56:17","slug":"university-teachers-who-dont-do-research-so-what-do-they-do","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/webs.uab.cat\/saramartinalegre\/2014\/06\/23\/university-teachers-who-dont-do-research-so-what-do-they-do\/","title":{"rendered":"UNIVERSITY TEACHERS WHO DON\u2019T DO RESEARCH (SO, WHAT DO THEY DO?) <\/strong>"},"content":{"rendered":"

A pleased colleague tells me he\u2019s been awarded the fifth \u2018sexenio\u2019, which means that his last personal research assessment exercise was positive and that he has validated by now, before the corresponding Ministry\u2019s agency, 30 years of research. He tells me that this fifth exercise is valid for the rest of his professional life and so he need not worry about the sixth \u2018sexenio\u2019 (which is also the maximum allowed). <\/p>\n

He is particularly happy that under the current Ministry\u2019s regulations he\u2019ll only have to teach 16 ECTS until he retires. I understand his happiness. The little detail missing here is that he\u2019s already 60. He still has 10 years ahead before retirement at 70 and, so, the chance to obtain that last \u2018sexenio\u2019. But, well, excuse me, 60 seems respectable enough anyway for active researchers like him to be awarded some kind of leeway after 30 years of service\u2026 <\/p>\n

I think of myself trudging on, with at least 9 years ahead in the best case scenario, before capturing the golden snitch of that fifth \u2018sexenio\u2019, or else. Else meaning that instead of my current 16 ECTS I\u2019ll be \u2018punished\u2019 if I fail to validate my research with 24, or at worst 32 ECTS. My colleague and I discuss after his happy news how little enticing the system is now. The perspective of my reaching the nice age of 60 burdened by 32 ECTS despite all my research sinks me. Just don\u2019t think, as we all know, that doing research is the same as having research officially validated.<\/p>\n

Deep sigh\u2026<\/p>\n

Searching for information about that fabled fifth \u2018sexenio\u2019, however, I come across a piece of news that both puzzles and irritates me. Angers me. The headline, from ABC (http:\/\/www.abc.es\/sociedad\/20140505\/abci-educacion-universidades-rectores-201405041703.html<\/a> 06\/05\/2014), claims that \u2018M\u00e1s de la mitad de los profesores de universidad apenas investiga\u2019 which is a peculiar way of saying that \u2018Less than half of the Spanish university teachers do research\u2019. Empty bottle, full bottle. The sub-headline is a bit trickier, for it clarifies that \u2018El 57% del personal docente tiene uno o ning\u00fan sexenio reconocido.\u2019 I wonder whether this is misinformation… How many of those with one \u2018sexenio\u2019 are still active researchers? If not, why they did abandon research? Can you really compare someone who does have a \u2018sexenio\u2019 with someone who\u2019s never cared or bothered to publish?<\/p>\n

Let me gather some figures from the article. According to a 2010 report by the Conferencia de Rectores de las Universidades Espa\u00f1olas (CRUE), Spain occupies position 22 worlwide by scientific documents by million inhabitants, 16 by number of citations. Not that horrific. But now consider more figures, connected with that 57\u20196%: 37\u20196% of Spanish university teachers have no \u2018sexenio\u2019, 20% has one. Now for the remaining 42\u20194%: 18\u20194% has two. If my calculator is right 24% have three or more \u2018sexenios\u2019. My five-sexenio colleague must be in the top 5%… Yet… Only 70% of all full professors, 40% of all lecturers do research (how the rest got their tenure mystifies me; maybe it\u2019s a matter of \u2018when\u2019). <\/p>\n

If you follow me, this means that the minority, the 42\u20194% who has more than two \u2018sexenios\u2019, is producing the documents that result in that 22nd position. I know that my argumentation is quite murky but so is the reality of the Spanish university. Between 42\u20194% and 60\u20194% care or have care at some point for validating their research (that\u2019s not compulsory, by the way, it\u2019s voluntary). Let me wonder about the remaining 37\u20196%.<\/p>\n

I know quite a few cases in which research is being done but the Ministry has not validated it for its own reasons (lack of money being one, surely). So, let\u2019s suppose that the actual figure of university teachers who do no research at all is 20%. One in five. These are teachers who, let\u2019s recall this, are employed the same number of hours I am and earn the same salary (minus the research complements, a grand total of 120 euros a month each). If all teachers are supposed to teach, do research and contribute to admin tasks, what do those who only teach do in their daily routine? I wonder.<\/p>\n

By contract we\u2019re supposed to work 37,5 hours a week, with a teaching workload of 6 to 8 hours for teachers employed to teach 24 ECTS. Teaching involves 15 weeks per semester. If I manage to do my teaching, my admin tasks and my research by working, say, a 45-hour-week (evening and weekend reading aside), what do the colleagues who only teach do? If, for me, say, teaching involves half my workload, 22 hours a week, what do they do with the spare 15\u20195 hours? Suppose they read though, of course, reading is not the same as doing research, not even in the Humanities, as we\u2019re supposed to write and publish. But, here\u2019s the creepy thought, suppose they do nothing professionally relevant in that time.<\/p>\n

Now complete the sentences:
\n*if that 20% put their 15\u20195 hours a week to the service of research…
\n*if validating regularly your own research was compulsory and not voluntary, teachers who do no research…
\n*if the Ministry\u2019s validation system was more supportive of researchers…
\nAnd:
\n*if \u2018sexenios\u2019 are used to punish rather than reward, the effect…<\/p>\n

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A pleased colleague tells me he\u2019s been awarded the fifth \u2018sexenio\u2019, which means that his last personal research assessment exercise was positive and that he has validated by now, before the corresponding Ministry\u2019s agency, 30 years of research. He tells me that this fifth exercise is valid for the rest of his professional life and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":98,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[408],"class_list":["post-850","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-teaching-tools-and-rules","tag-research"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/webs.uab.cat\/saramartinalegre\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/850","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/webs.uab.cat\/saramartinalegre\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/webs.uab.cat\/saramartinalegre\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webs.uab.cat\/saramartinalegre\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/98"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webs.uab.cat\/saramartinalegre\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=850"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/webs.uab.cat\/saramartinalegre\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/850\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/webs.uab.cat\/saramartinalegre\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=850"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webs.uab.cat\/saramartinalegre\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=850"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webs.uab.cat\/saramartinalegre\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=850"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}