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Orientations to Academic Workloads at Department Level

Universities confront many challenges in their efforts to manage staff activity with the aid of workload assessment and allocation systems. This article sets out fresh perspectives from an exploratory study designed to uncover patterns of subjective views about various aspects of workloads. Using Q methodology, academic staff in a single department provided composite pictures of the intensity of their views on workload policies and systems, and about their experiences of workloads. Factor analysis, interpreted with the aid of interviews, reveals three orientations based on traditional independent scholarship, collectivism, and stress and overwork. Together, the three orientations in one department show evidence of a generational shift, with leadership implications. Looking ahead, workload allocation systems may need to give weight to personal choice and to consider ways to credit shared work in ways that fit the contemporary university environment.