Bureaucrats outnumber academics

GROWING numbers of bureaucrats are threatening to undermine Scotland’s universities, a leading academic has warned.

John Field, a professor of lifelong learning at Stirling University’s School of Education, said there was a need for a better “balance” between academics and managers.

Writing in The Scotsman today, Mr Field said: “We need a balance in all our universities. Strong, scholarly academics need to work alongside capable efficient administrators.

“At present, the balance looks as though it has swung too far from the core activities of higher education, particularly at a time when the sector has done well from public funding.”

Last year, the University and College Union (UCU) called for a “re-balancing” of the roles of management and academics after it claimed the salary bill for senior management at Scotland’s universities had increased by a third in five years.