'The Super Exploitation of the Cheapest Possible Workforce': The Hidden Cost of University Funding Cuts
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The School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS University of London) is facing a PR controversy after expelling a pro-Palestine student activist over a video. But I want to focus on a less-publicised struggle at the London university because it's quietly enlightening about the forces fragmenting our society, and it hasn't been told elsewhere.
Junior staff are refusing to mark students' work. A letter signed by 100 employees and 200 students accuses the university of unacceptable working conditions for tutors (formally called 'Graduate Teaching Assistants'). It cites "systematic underpaying" and claims "most of us are expected to work without contracts".
SOAS has a unique focus, and it's not just geographic. Ranking third in the world for global development, it is known for a decolonial, anti-injustice approach that centres Global South and under-heard perspectives.
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Such an environment does not breed quiet compliance. "We learn one thing in class, and then the administration does the exact opposite!" noted one of the 200 students to sign in support, speaking on condition of anonymity because "we're all afraid of being deported".
Tutors are mostly PhD students hired on short-term contracts for which they must reapply each year. Their refusal to mark isn't technically a strike, because the work they're refusing to do isn't work they're contracted to do, but additional work they're expected to do if they want to hold onto competitive, unstable contracts.
"Ultimately, it is the super exploitation of the cheapest possible workforce," said Hwanhee Bae, who taught SOAS' microeconomics analysis module for three years.
What marking may be lacking in remuneration, it supposedly makes up for in 'experience' for early-career tutors. But the workload is piling up as universities squeeze in more fee-paying students, and tutors are now somehow expected to mark 10,000-word dissertations in back-to-back one-hour slots.
This eats away at more than just time: "You immediately start blaming yourself that you're not able to accomplish the work in the specified time," said one tutor. "It feels very depressing. And then you talk to the other tutors and everyone says the same, and you notice: it's not me who's deficient, it's our contract that's deficient".
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Thabo, who was a leading organiser of the protest, asked us not to publish his full name after he was dropped from employment in the latest contract renewal - a move he suspects is punitive, though we cannot confirm this.
SOAS' marking 'strike' is a telling tale of the labour movement in an age of fractional work - but not just that. It speaks to the commodification of education in a country that once saw it as a public investment.
University is broadly free across Europe, Russia, India, and a good chunk of South America and the Middle East. The UK ranked among them for 40 years, which dramatically boosted both attendance and the state bill. Other countries rationalised that a brainier workforce would pay back in kind, but Tony Blair reintroduced UK tuition fees in 1998.
When interrogated by a struggling would-be student on Question Time, the Labour Prime Minister bemoaned: "It's not popular obviously because people would like everything for free!" With these words, he declared higher education an expense, rather than an investment.
Afte...
Packed with exclusive investigations, analysis, and features
SUBSCRIBE TODAY
The School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS University of London) is facing a PR controversy after expelling a pro-Palestine student activist over a video. But I want to focus on a less-publicised struggle at the London university because it's quietly enlightening about the forces fragmenting our society, and it hasn't been told elsewhere.
Junior staff are refusing to mark students' work. A letter signed by 100 employees and 200 students accuses the university of unacceptable working conditions for tutors (formally called 'Graduate Teaching Assistants'). It cites "systematic underpaying" and claims "most of us are expected to work without contracts".
SOAS has a unique focus, and it's not just geographic. Ranking third in the world for global development, it is known for a decolonial, anti-injustice approach that centres Global South and under-heard perspectives.
University and College Union Staff Say It Is a 'Toxic Workplace' as They Consider Third Round of Strikes
Exclusive: UCU staff say they have been victims of "bullying and intimidation" by management, as they ballot for another set of walkouts
Josiah Mortimer
Such an environment does not breed quiet compliance. "We learn one thing in class, and then the administration does the exact opposite!" noted one of the 200 students to sign in support, speaking on condition of anonymity because "we're all afraid of being deported".
Tutors are mostly PhD students hired on short-term contracts for which they must reapply each year. Their refusal to mark isn't technically a strike, because the work they're refusing to do isn't work they're contracted to do, but additional work they're expected to do if they want to hold onto competitive, unstable contracts.
"Ultimately, it is the super exploitation of the cheapest possible workforce," said Hwanhee Bae, who taught SOAS' microeconomics analysis module for three years.
What marking may be lacking in remuneration, it supposedly makes up for in 'experience' for early-career tutors. But the workload is piling up as universities squeeze in more fee-paying students, and tutors are now somehow expected to mark 10,000-word dissertations in back-to-back one-hour slots.
This eats away at more than just time: "You immediately start blaming yourself that you're not able to accomplish the work in the specified time," said one tutor. "It feels very depressing. And then you talk to the other tutors and everyone says the same, and you notice: it's not me who's deficient, it's our contract that's deficient".
Leading University Faces Discrimination Lawsuit Following Sacking Over 'Gaza Genocide' Statement
Stella Maris seeks apology and damages after drawn-out ordeal which saw her dismissed then reinstated over all-student email on Palestine
Josiah Mortimer
Thabo, who was a leading organiser of the protest, asked us not to publish his full name after he was dropped from employment in the latest contract renewal - a move he suspects is punitive, though we cannot confirm this.
SOAS' marking 'strike' is a telling tale of the labour movement in an age of fractional work - but not just that. It speaks to the commodification of education in a country that once saw it as a public investment.
University is broadly free across Europe, Russia, India, and a good chunk of South America and the Middle East. The UK ranked among them for 40 years, which dramatically boosted both attendance and the state bill. Other countries rationalised that a brainier workforce would pay back in kind, but Tony Blair reintroduced UK tuition fees in 1998.
When interrogated by a struggling would-be student on Question Time, the Labour Prime Minister bemoaned: "It's not popular obviously because people would like everything for free!" With these words, he declared higher education an expense, rather than an investment.
Afte...
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