July 21, 2006

Are Scientists Forced to Waste Their Time & Expertise?

The Chronicle of Higher Education (July 10, 2006, Scientists spend nearly half their time on administrative tasks, survey finds) shared the results of a study that showed 42% of a scientists research time is used in filling out forms or participating in meetings.

Also, from the study, was the result that academic faculty thought they could save four hours per week with more administrative help. This is in direct competition with actions usually taken by academic institutions or businesses to save money by cutting administrative positions. It makes one ask - are we paying for and providing enough hours for our science researchers to do their best, most cost effective work?

The Case community can access the full article from the E-Journal Portal. Several of the sources have a one month embargo before the article is available.

(VIA: Case Daily, July 10, 2006)

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Comments

Posted by Eldan Goldenberg
Posted on July 21, 2006 04:09 PM

This certainly fits my experience, and it's the source of my biggest reservation about academia as a long-term career. I hadn't thought of it as a financial issue—just as poor organisation—but that angle does make sense to me: the apparent savings from employing fewer admin personnel end up costing more because the work they were doing ends up being done for a professor's salary instead.