agitation July is for me, working as a hot month: correcting homework, theses, projects and work to quit, well beyond the eight hours of many works from the office ... all taking as basis a room where the only defense, compared with 35 ° is given by a ventilatorino. Sure, it's not like stay all day to pick tomatoes in a field in the province of Latina, but the point is not that. The point is that with the budget package passed the Senate July 15, Government, and (for now, a branch of) the Parliament decided that the "reorganization" of the Italian public finances will be largely paid by civil servants. With particular attention to the university, which will freeze wages for three years without even pace with inflation - which equates to a decrease
salary of university teachers and researchers estimated, depending on how inflation will go, in a 6-10% by 2013.
And in response, I adhere to the protests this summer.
This does not mean that Italian universities, as it stands now, is perfect entity to be defended at all costs. Quite the contrary. But it is not completely disastrous: more to produce graduates of good quality, research, service ... He does, apparently, so a bit
' less efficient than universities in other large European countries (including estimates like those of Roberto Perotti, very critical, in fact, speak of costs per student are 10% above those of other countries Europe: it is not sure of the depths of madness ...). How much of this difference is the responsibility of those who work in college, and the external environment? Hard to say. I have my ideas ... but to clarify the point we start with the reasons for the protest.
Now, one thing that many external ignore: from the perspective of those who work within it, the Italian university is egalitarian in some respects, quite arbitrary to some others. In what sense? At the same seniority and role, the salary is the same for all: these are the official tables
University of Pisa, and the transition from one level to the next pay day is every three years and until last year occurred every two. Knowing the role and length of service, you can always know what it takes (at least) a teacher.
The actual working conditions, however, are very different. There are universities and departments in which whole groups of staff are not involved in teaching, and other bands in which they must work to exceptional levels simply to keep in walk the degree which they are attached. Or, more simply, there is a huge generational difference.
Take as an example for the latter point two researchers: A and B. They are not well defined, but fall into categories familiar to those working within the university.
A role came in in 1982, less than thirty years. Today earns more or less on three thousand euro per month; kindly in recent years, it has lent to do a course of 30 hours per year, and there will exhaust its educational efforts. Every year (well, not all-every year, but almost ...) publishes a magazine on the usual (a) review of a page (a) a book on its subject. Every so often follows some thesis, or do some exercise. Within ten years will retire at nearly full salary.
B instead of role came a few months, but forty years were spent in a while. Today, as it is "waiting for confirmation," it takes one thousand three hundred euro per month as salary, and thanks to the Finance Act pending will remain at this level or so for almost six years, until the beginning of the fifties. Then, in the absence of competitions and posts, will probably researcher until retirement - and from seventy years (to 2040, fingers crossed, should be the retirement age) will, if all goes bene, uno stipendio di 2200 euro o giù di lì, destinato a dimezzarsi al momento del pensionamento. Nel frattempo, insegna in due o tre corsi, pubblica, partecipa alle attività amministrative...
Sembrano due mondi diversi, e lo sono. Il primo non è confrontabile con nessuna realtà europea: da nessuna parte si guadagna così tanto, con altrettanta sicurezza, in cambio di così poco. Il secondo è confrontabile come impegni con quelli dei principali paesi europei, ma con una paga decisamente più bassa, e ottenuta a un'età molto più avanzata.
La cosa più carina, però, è un'altra. Uno di questi due ricercatori non rispetta la legge. Ma, contrariamente a ciò you might think, the offender is not A, B: Italian researchers have clear limitations to what can
do - that is up to 350 hours of teaching activities, including lectures, theses, examinations, corrections duties. .. B and there is no doubt that exceed this limit.
Crowds? Not too much. Ultimately, the "researcher" was intended as a young figure in training - the equivalent of a PhD student (figure who can teach, but within strict limits, primarily because it has to study) or a research assistant. Therefore natural that it should spend their time studying, rather than teaching. Except that today this figure is no longer that young, by birth and as an experience. A bit 'at a time, the Italian university has begun to lean to the researchers, that today, according to some estimates, play a little' less than a third of the teaching (being approximately one third of the teaching staff structure). The matter then becomes even more complicated ... but for people interested in exploring a more detailed history of the matter is found in a
Reflection on the legal status of researchers Fausto Longo.
So, instead of paying a teacher, now normally you pay a researcher - which costs much less, compared to an ordinary or associate professor with a minimum length. Turning a blind eye to signs of law. So there is not incentive to make good researchers or professors in common: after all, already do the same job, but cost less ...
From the point of view of researchers, there is no doubt that this is a bad thing. It is also from the viewpoint of the university in general, and the taxpayer? At first glance, might seem no: you get the same service for less money. But in reality, a place the conditions to attract much, a place under the conditions of B attracts less. One reason not to follow the marginal academic career, until about fifteen years ago, was the fact that this sector, while paying little at the beginning, gave considerable freedom and promised Discrete salaries at the end of his career. In some areas, the recruitment of academic staff is rather a problem today - simply come to miss these conditions, the difference of pay from the outside is too strong (we're not talking about people taken at random: we're talking about people, rule, large capacity). In the humanities the issue has been heard on less, but in recent years is becoming difficult to find good people here interested in starting an academic career. Have not yet gone, thankfully - but compared to some years ago the difference (at least to me) seems obvious.
And then? Make more burdensome and less remunerative work, passed a certain level, it becomes counterproductive: the good people simply go to do another (or, if they are already inside, they begin to think that instead of doing the B could do after all the A ... according to some data Nearly one third of the researchers did not produce anything
from scientific point of view in recent years - with, of course, peaks of inactivity among the elderly and prepensionandi). If the university has to be just a piece of paper factory, it is not a problem, though educational institution must be of good quality, the problem is definitely there.
In this context, the current government has already put limits on career progression and reduced funds allocated to the university; is now freezing salaries. After completing this course, Italy will have a university with less waste or less good teachers with a university and less motivated? The cuts do not even try to distinguish between those who work well and those who work evil, and so I have no doubts about the answer. That is, in fact, an examination of the protest and the other begins.
