Macquarie U makes a pragmatic case for proposed job cuts in response to staff complaints.
The university warns, “policy and regulatory interventions (are) likely to increase amidst ongoing political debates regarding the value of the humanities and social sciences.”
“The needs of employers and students are evolving and universities, including Macquarie, need to adapt to modern demands to ensure they remain relevant, engaged and continue to deliver benefit and service.”
The university responds to sociology professor Amanda Wise who warns that the present proposal for staff cuts in the humanities and social sciences will impact ancient history, media studies and creative arts. “Sociology and politics will be more or less extinguished altogether. I can't think a time in recent history when these two programs were more needed,” she says on social media platform X.
Management replies that consultation on the change proposal still has a fortnight to run, people whose positions could go would be able to apply for other roles and disciplines will not entirely disappear, with content rolled into general degrees. Plus some academic units have “unbalanced” workforces. Of the 20 teaching staff in Archaeology and Ancient History, 14 are Associate or full Professors.
The job losses and course cuts on the table are part of a plan to cut 50-60 continuing academic roles in arts, science and engineering. The immediate intent is a $15m saving. The campus branch of the National Tertiary Education Union warns that managements proposal would lead to 42 academics in arts, and 33 in science and engineering losing their present positions.
Professor Wise is supported by the editors of journal Thesis 11 (“critical theory and historical sociology”), two of whom are at Macquarie U. They express “deep concern at the systemic erosion of humanities and social sciences courses” across the country and they commit to “advocating for social theory in its broadest sense as it is cultivated across the social sciences and liberal arts.”
However, university management states that while, “we seek to preserve the arts and humanities … Students are increasingly focused on an education that provides demonstrable and transferable skills that they can deploy in the workforce.”
