Australian Academics, Teaching and Research: History, Vexed Issues and Potential Changes

Abstract

The traditional expectation that academics in Australian universities divide their time roughly equally between teaching and research has become challenged. Australian universities have increased their use of specialised teaching-only and research-only positions, while academics in combined teaching and research positions include academics with only limited engagement in teaching or research. We examine the extent of the changes in academic work by presenting a historical account for the roles of teaching and research in Australian universities over the past 150 years, and more recent policy initiatives influencing the relative balance between teaching and research. Based on the CAP data, we..