Summary

Key Findings

This report describes the structure of the workforce in public tertiary education institutions over the years from 2001 to 2011¹.  The analysis allows us to see how institutional strategies have evolved in the light of changing policy over the last ten years.  The analysis shows that:

• universities now employ a higher proportion of senior academic staff, in response to the greater focus on research performance
• universities have moved to more part-time teaching staff to help manage the costs of the shift to senior academic staff
• polytechnics now employ a higher proportion of principal lecturers due to the 'drag effect' of an ageing workforce, that is, people entering as lecturers and staying to become principal lecturers or deans/heads of school. Overall, the structure of the academic staff at polytechnics has not changed significantly
• universities also employ a higher proportion of professors due to the 'drag effect' of an ageing workforce, that is, people entering as lecturers and staying to become senior lecturers or professors.
• the universities and polytechnics now employ a similar proportion of part-time teaching staff
• wānanga now employ a higher proportion of full-time teaching staff
• the ratio of students to academic staff² has increased across the sector, due to:
• changes in the enrolments pattern caused by the recent population bulge entering tertiary education
• increased tertiary education demand as a result of the continued high unemployment rates
• rising international enrolments
• a shift to higher-level and longer qualifications
• a shift towards a greater share of enrolments in more applied fields
• as a proportion of total staff, the academic staff employed by tertiary education institutions has remained stable.

Main Changes to the structure of the public Tertiary Education Workforce Between 2001 and 2011

• Professors, the 'other' teaching staff and researchers³ have become larger proportions of the total academic staff at universities.
• At polytechnics, the composition of the academic staff has not changed significantly.
• At wānanga, lecturers and tutors have become larger proportions of the total academic staff.
• At universities, there is a trend towards part-time academic staff with a lower average full-time equivalent value per part-timer.
• The trend for non-academic staff, at universities and polytechnics, has been towards a higher average full-time equivalent value per part-timer.
• At universities, lecturers have become a smaller proportion of the total academic staff. In 2001, lecturers made up 56 percent of the academic staff, compared to 38 percent in 2011.
• From 2001 to 2011, the student to staff ratio⁴ fluctuated at universities, while at polytechnics the ratio increased from 15.1 to 18.5 equivalent full-time student units per full-time equivalent staff.
• At wānanga, the student to staff ratio has been considerably higher than at universities and polytechnics due to enrolments at wānanga being mainly in level 1 to 4 qualifications.
• In recent years, enrolments have been more stable at wānanga and since 2007, when staff numbers and enrolments were at a low point, the student to staff ratio has become lower.
• At universities and polytechnics, the compositional changes in the workforce have led to moderate increases in the full-time equivalent support staff per full-time equivalent academic staff.

The academic staff refers to the people who teach and those who carry out research. The non-academic staff are the people who provide advice, support and management services.

Footnotes

1. The data used in this report is from the statistical collections provided to the Ministry of Education by tertiary education providers. While data quality measures were introduced in 2012, when the workforce data collection was extended to include age and ethnic group information, prior to this the data is as supplied by providers. While some providers have made changes to the categorisation of staff, and errors in data submission, these are not considered to invalidate the higher-level trends presented in this report.
2. Based on equivalent full-time student units (domestic and international) and academic full-time equivalent staff (including research-only staff).
3. These are also referred to as research-only staff.
4. Based on equivalent full-time student units (domestic and international) and academic full-time equivalent staff (including research-only staff).