Low morale and fear haunt staff

Favouritism and bullying alleged at Birmingham, reports Phil Baty

A "culture of fear" and "rock-bottom morale" have been identified by academics at Birmingham University in a frank internal report on staff stress.

The report, obtained by The Times Higher under the Freedom of Information Act, warns that some staff are unfulfilled by their work and do not think appointments and promotions are fair.

It recommends an "urgent" investigation into allegations of bullying and favouritism at the School of Health Sciences.

The report was written last year as part of a continuing investigation into staff stress by consultants Applied Research Limited. The survey covers three areas of the university, including the health school and the information services department.

Problems seemed to be most acute in the School of Health Sciences, where 47 staff participated, including 41 academics.

These staff "felt that promotion and job opportunities were unfair" and gave low ratings for "equality of treatment and morale". While they identified three areas of good management practice, they highlighted five areas of "questionable management practice".

The report says: "These results indicated that more than half the academic staff felt pressured at work and were responding by exhibiting strain in a number of areas." It found that some academics in health were "working under over-rigid role expectations within a 'blaming culture'."

Among the individual concerns raised were claims that the school "appears to be managed by a small inner cabinet", who are "preferentially treated".

There were concerns that "new appointments were not made to fill existing gaps but allegedly to import friends and contacts of the inner cabinet".

The culture of the school was "described as a fear culture, both authoritarian and bureaucratic".

The report says: "Clearly, within the School of Health Sciences there are numerous perceived 'quality of working life' problems that appear to go well beyond the normal range of pressures and strains at work."

Similar concerns were identified in the information services department.

Responses came largely from non-academic staff.

The report says "urgent attention" is required to tackle low morale. Sue Blackwell, who represents the Association of University Teachers on Birmingham's stress review group, said that a meeting of the group had been arranged.

The university said the survey was part of efforts to tackle stress in the workplace, and that an action plan was being formed to address the issues raised.

phil.baty@thes.co.uk