u/According_Welcome907

Switzerland? Netherlands? Germany? Norway? Sweden? Finland? Belgium? France? Ireland? Spain/Portugal? Italy? Somewhere in the Baltics? What do these countries excel in? What can UK academia learn?

Research funding is readily available in the Nordics. Salaries are amazing in Switzerland. Taxes are lower for non nationals in Netherlands and Italy. Ireland has good job security. I suppose grass is always greener on the other side.

We all know it is, I was curious about the extent.

All the talk of restructuring makes me nervous. I am sitting on an offer right now but the university has been in the media. I am sick of all the uncertainty and I wonder if it is all the same everywhere. Cranfield. Nottingham. Edinburgh. Who knows what's next. Academia has failed academics.

I got a job! Fresh PhD. Permanent position. Excellent work life balance. Great colleagues. Decent research funding but I will have to apply externally for some research. Great city. Above market rate salary. This will be my first full-time job and I am so happy I did not have to do anything contractual or postdocs before landing this position.

Couldn't be happier and just needed to share this with someone. Success can feel weirdly meaningless when one feels alone.

Business schools are cash cows for pretty much every decent uni so I assume they are far better shielded from the current uncertainty and restructuring. Little to no layoffs. Better salaries. Lower teaching loads. Some internal research funding too. Market supplements. Is this a reasonable picture? Would love to hear from insiders.

Are business schools safe, or are they even more vulnerable than peer departments as the job market tightens further?

Just curious. Would be interesting to compare different academic cultures. Salary, professionalism, work life balance, annual leaves, sabbaticals, teaching load, prestige in society, unique quirks, etc.

I keep hearing the academia here is in a pretty bad state.

How bad is it really right now?

I’m interested in the worst experiences and stories and thoughts. Job insecurity, toxic departments, funding issues, admin overload, student feedback, etc.

Would love to hear from everyone: PhDs, postdocs, lecturers, professors, across all types of universities.

What’s the worst you’ve seen, heard or experienced?

Final year PhD student. I have job offers from management department of an Irish public university (think Maynooth) and a UK business school (think Cranfield). The Irish place offers unparalleled job security in a chill environment. The UK school is far more prestigious and offers better internal research funding. Both pay similar. Both jobs are titled Lecturer. Both have chill colleagues.

I am currently leaning towards the UK business school but current restructuring and financial pressures in UK academia are making me uneasy. The Irish job seems more secure in comparison but I'd love to get this hunch confirmed from insiders.

Feel free to share your experience if you are familiar with either or both systems. What can UK academia learn from Ireland's universities? How precarious are things at your university?