Research into the conditions and experiences of casual (also known as sessional) academics at Australian universities is extensive, including accounts of unpaid work, ad-hoc and unregulated recruitment, excessive demands, and bullying. Although casuals make up a large proportion of the academic teaching workforce in universities, they are less likely to report such matters because of the precariousness of their employment.

I asked casual academics teaching online over the 2020-21 covid lockdown to describe the more challenging aspects of teaching online. These included at-home work spaces; teaching to black screens; unpaid work; and sexual harassment, bullying and threats.

Perhaps one of the most worrying trends was the incidence of sexual harassment, bullying, and threats made toward women by students. One female teacher was so affected by the experience of bullying from a male student that she stopped teaching. He would point out all the things that he felt were wrong with her class and the content. Several recalled online incidents of sexual harassment including being repeatedly complimented about their dress and appearance, about how attractive they were, and described in explicit sexual ways. One tutor remembered, “I had one guy come in and go, oh Miss I really like your earrings, oh Miss what are you doing this weekend and it took me a minute to realise what was going on. I told him to stop and continued with the class and he started in again, saying that he really liked older women […]  It would never happen on campus”. In line with other research that indicates that women and sexually diverse individuals report higher instances of workplace sexual harassment compared to men, the casual teachers who reported these experiences were all women.

These academics felt that students could exhibit a greater sense of freedom to say what they think and feel in the online environment. Accounts of students threatening to involve a casual teacher’s supervisor or the Dean for seemingly minor issues were mentioned. One tutor who was threatened by a student said, “she wrote to my supervisor ... and cc’d a lawyer”. In one case a student made a complaint about a teacher not wearing make-up, not being dressed formally, and that they could hear the teacher’s children in the background. One tutor had a student stay back in the online class and question her teaching. She remarked, “I’ve never felt so vulnerable”. 

Teaching activities are generally expected to be in the teacher’s home space. Most tutors did not have a dedicated office at home and so they taught classes from the couch, the dining table or in their bedroom. Participants would describe having to set up ‘office’ and pack away to make space for personal life. With a family at home, some of these spaces are in high-traffic areas which can be noisy. Home furniture becomes office furniture, uncomfortable and not ergonomically safe.

“Hello, anyone there?” was a comment made by a participant talking about the lack of engagement with teaching online on Zoom. Students would often turn off their camera. Tutors recognised that students had not originally signed up for online learning and might not have cameras, or be able to use them. Nevertheless, not being able to make visual contact and interact with students adversely impacted student learning. Along with black screens, there was little or no discussion in breakout rooms, unlike in physical classes. Casual teachers often rely on the subject coordinator to employ them and supervise their higher degree research. They are in a difficult position, unable to say ‘no’ when asked to undertake unpaid work such as responding to student emails, assisting the subject coordinator with the university’s online learning platform, providing additional assessment feedback, re-marking assessments, and student consultation.

Participants also described incidents that occurred pre-pandemic but not all these issues will disappear when teaching returns to campuses. In response to my study, Western has committed to reviewing and expanding casual teaching induction with a focus on well-being, and prevention of discrimination and sexual harassment. These issues are not Western-specific. All universities must investigate and consider the workplace safety and well-being of their casual academics in relation to gender discrimination, unpaid work, sexual harassment, bullying and threats.

Photo by Radoje Radovic of the author, Erika K. Smith, and Mimi Radovic-Smith, edited by Erika Smith using Graphite.