Barriers to professional development among contingent academic employees: An Australian case study

Description The international higher education sector is increasingly reliant on precariously employed academic staff who deliver a significant proportion of teaching load. Although this is increasingly viewed as a risk to the quality of teaching and learning, there is little research that tests the proposition. We take up this challenge by analysing and comparing student course evaluations and the results of an online survey of sessional academics. Results show that the risk derives not from the sessionals themselves nor their teaching but from inadequate institutional support for and management of sessional academics.