Flex gets in the way of private life
Temporary contracts in university education have a major impact on the private lives of lecturers and researchers. “Because my job was insecure, I felt I couldn't always start having children.”
Picture: Nanne Meulendijks
Tim Kassenberg is a lecturer who has been given temporary appointments for eight years. He is 32 and teaches English language skills within the bachelor's program in English and European Languages and Cultures at the University of Groningen. He has had a permanent contract for two years. But in the summer of 2019, his position was less prosperous. His contract expired and because he could not immediately find another teaching job with sufficient hours, he had to give up his home in Groningen. “I foresaw that I would no longer be able to afford my studio, or that I would only be able to eat dry bread,” he says. “I asked my parents if I could come and live with them again.”
I asked my parents if I could move back in with them
We already know from previous articles and studies that temporary contracts cause stress and uncertainty at work. For example, (other) well-functioning temporary colleagues have to be said goodbye every time, knowledge and quality are lost every time and new colleagues always have to be trained, which is a time-consuming task.
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But temporary contracts also affect the private lives of lecturers and researchers. "It's a huge disruption to your life when you have to move back in with your parents at age 29 because you can't pay the rent," says Kassenberg. “And I am lucky, because I have a good relationship with my parents and they live not far from Groningen.” His parents live in Drenthe. An hour by bus to Groningen. "That's doable. Even if it's all extra time. From my studio I was on my bike to work in ten minutes.”
Uncertainty
His parents immediately understood their son's situation. They have three children who are studying and their youngest son, who had just finished his studies, also moved back home. Only the middle one lived on its own. Tim: “It was like we were back in high school. In the evening the four of us sat at the table. We could all cook now. We had a cooking schedule, a schedule for chores and groceries. In that sense, the household ran smoothly. But it is also about adapting, you are used to your own life and privacy.”
Kassenberg had previously seen colleagues do the same thing. The temporary contract could not be extended and there was no room at the university for a permanent appointment. Uncertainty about the future caused her to cancel the lease on their home. "When it happened to me I wasn't shocked, I've seen it happen to others, but this is not the way you want it to be," he says.
Especially if you compare the situation with peers in other jobs with more security and stability, he continues. At the time of termination of the lease, he did not know how his income would develop. “I took retraining into account, while teaching at university suits me best.” After just under nine months, his boss called to ask if he wanted to come back to university. This time, the university was able to offer a permanent job in the long term. “If your parents live far away, you don't have the opportunity to bridge such a period. That is even more difficult for foreign teachers.”
Always performing
Thirty percent of university lecturers have a temporary contract. Previous research figures from de AOb*View the What the Flex website of AOb. An action against the use of temporary contracts. show that. Last year, the number increased by 1 percent. For lecturers without research tasks, that share even doubled compared to a year earlier: 61 percent.
Marieke Buil (39) is a developmental psychologist and assistant professor and researcher at VU University Amsterdam. For thirteen years she worked on a temporary contract. That transience made her feel like she couldn't start a family. “I am a developmental psychologist and I know how important it is to create a stable home situation for a child, a home situation with little stress. My husband and I did not want to become parents in an uncertain situation. Where will I be working in two years? In Amsterdam, Leiden, Groningen, maybe Maastricht? As a university lecturer and researcher, you don't have that many options. In addition, I am the main breadwinner. I earned almost twice as much as my husband and that also caused me stress, because a lot would depend on my work situation.”
Where will I be working in two years? In Amsterdam, Leiden, Groningen, maybe Maastricht?
That's why she kept putting off getting pregnant. Marieke finally became pregnant at the age of 38. “I've been waiting for the moment of it's now or never. That we dared was because we trusted our social network with dear parents and in-laws and friends. If necessary, we could fall back on them. But when you are almost forty you want to be financially independent and be able to take care of your own child.”
When you are almost forty you want to be able to take care of your own child
The pregnancy fell right in a period of expiration of a temporary contract. “Once you have the plan to go for a child, it often doesn't work right away. When I was pregnant my contract ended. It was an exciting period. With a temporary contract you have to blast every time, write your best paper, perform super high to stay ahead of colleagues with applications. When Lilli was born, I took her to daycare extra early to get back to work and keep my resume up to date. And I worked until the day I was admitted to the hospital.”
Buil has had a permanent contract at VU University for a year now. This has taken a huge amount of pressure off her shoulders. She had often made it known that she missed a permanent contract, but everyone always said: I can't help that. “It didn't matter what tier I went to in college. The people who said 'I can't help that' did have a permanent contract.”
If she had had a permanent contract before, like many of her friends, she would have wanted to get pregnant between the ages of 30 and 35. Emotionally, she says: “I now regret that we did not start a family sooner. Our daughter is one and a half and I wish her a brother or sister. Now I'm almost forty and then there are more risks during pregnancy.”
Tired of moving
Rui Santos* is 29 and teaches culture and media at the University of Groningen. Since 2019 he has been working on a temporary contract with an appointment of 0,9 fte. His contract has already been extended twice and expires at the end of this school year. He has no idea what will happen to him next. In order not to reduce his chances of a permanent position, he does not want his real name in it Education magazine. “The fact that I don't have a permanent position makes it difficult for me to really feel at home in Groningen,” he says. Colleagues and professors advise him with good intentions to apply for positions at other universities in the Netherlands or abroad. But, he says, that doesn't suit me at all. “In the university world, it has become normal to move everywhere for your profession. But I don't want to move at all. As a child we moved so often that I am tired of moving. I came to Groningen to study and soon realized that I wanted to settle in this city. I have built up a circle of acquaintances with strong ties, almost like family. Only my work is not cooperating.”
Temporary lecturers are permanent shoring posts of the university
His situation frustrates him. He loves his job and the university. But, he says, “they don't love me”. At least, not in the way he'd like it to be. “They appreciate my work and that's why my contract keeps getting extended. They also like my research proposals, but for top researchers they prefer to look across the border and look for international scientists. I wonder why a top researcher should not also come from Groningen?”
He does not want to have to choose between his beloved city and his beloved work. But the situation forces him. “I am no longer willing to be treated like this. It could lead me to drop out of college and look for a data analytics job. It doesn't exactly inspire me, teaching is what I feel passionate about, but a different job gives me more security and above all the chance to really feel at home in this city.”
For Tim Kassenberg the opportunity came to return to the city he had just left. When they offered him a new contract, he had to look for a place to live. He could buy an apartment through the grapevine if he managed to get financing. “With a temporary contract with a view to a permanent contract, they don't get excited at the bank. HR did not want to issue a letter of intent that I would get a permanent contract in the long term. In the end it worked out with an expensive mortgage advisor. I had to write a letter of motivation to convince that one mortgage lender who wanted to work with me that there is always work for me. The position of temporary lecturers is that they are permanent pillars of the university. I also wrote that to the mortgage lender. It was a lot of stress, but I was able to get it done financially, purely with my own persuasiveness.”
The real name of Rui Santos is known to the editors.
What the flex
Temporary contracts are the AOb an eyesore for years. In the efforts of the unions for a new collective labor agreement at the universities, they demand more and faster permanent contracts, especially for researchers and lecturers. At the moment the AOb along educational institutions in the country with a bus van AObWhattheflex rehab clinic to assist drivers with a flex addiction. “I hope we can cure many drivers from their addiction,” says AObchairman Tamar van Gelder. “And this protest action is with a wink, but the problem is certainly not that. There are far too many people who have to live from temporary contract to temporary contract. You cannot live in a temporary contract. That is disastrous for your future plans, your private life and therefore for the quality of the work you can deliver.” Go to Whattheflex.nl
