Working with dignity: Reflections from within academia

Considering the range of experiences academics encounter in university environments, from collegiality to subtle hostility, it is worth asking whether higher education institutions genuinely allow their junior members to work with dignity.

- BY UDARI ABEYASINGHE

Do our academic environments foster fairness, respect and recognition they truly deserve, or do they continue to erode these very principles? We speak often about ragging and sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) as issues that harm students, yet we rarely acknowledge their lasting impact on academic staff. The same tolerance of intimidation, silence and retaliation that sustain ragging and SGBV also shapes how academics experience their workplaces. I have realised, over the years, that these reflections are not mine alone. They echo the silent struggles of many academics across our universities.

From my point of view, dignity at work is not a luxury. It is the right to be treated with fairness, respect and to be recognised for one's contribution. It means being able to perform one's duties without humiliation, exploitation, or fear. In academia, dignity also means the freedom to think, teach and speak, without intimidation or silencing. As the UNESCO recommendation concerning the Status of Higher Education Teaching Personnel (1997) reminds us, teachers must enjoy “freedom of teaching and discussion” and a “fair and equitable workload” that permits them "to carry out their duties in teaching, scholarship and research.” When those conditions disappear, dignity erodes. The same can be said of how our universities respond to deeper forms of violence, within our own walls. When intimidation, fear and silence are tolerated in one sphere of the university, they inevitably seep into others, shaping how both students and academics experience their right to safety and respect at work.

Within academia, exhaustion seems to have become a badge of honour. Many early and mid-career academics, particularly those leading departments with limited staffing, carry an unsustainable combination of teaching, research, and administrative work, leaving little space for rest and reflection.