What does the 2007 UCT Institutional Climate Survey tell us (the full report is available at the UCT transformation web page, and also at www.hall.uct.ac.za)?

The overall impression of the survey is of a divided community.  There is evidence of several intersecting fault lines: by race and gender, by academic rank and payclass, and between academic and professional and administrative  (PASS) staff. 

Thus only a minority - 38% of all staff - believe that the university treats its staff fairly, while 19% disagree with this statement. 44% of staff feel that workload is unfairly distributed and, asked whether an atmosphere of co-operation exists at UCT, 29% felt that it did while 37% felt that it did not. A majority does not believe that there is mutual respect between PASS staff and Academic staff.

The survey suggests that these dissatisfactions are not primarily caused by immediate work relationships. 65% of staff are satisfied with the relationship with the person they report to, and 60% are satisfied with the relationship with staff who report to them. Discontent is more with university management in general, whether at the Faculty or PASS leadership level, or with the Executive. Thus 66% of those who took part in the survey were either indifferent to communication by university management, or believed that management did not communicate effectively.  Only 14% of staff agreed with the statement that there is regular and open communication among staff at UCT.

The overall indication is that about half of all staff are broadly happy, and other half are not. Thus 52% agreed that, overall, they are satisfied with their jobs. 47% agreed that they experienced a sense of value and respect as UCT employees and 56%  felt that the work environment at UCT is welcoming to them as individuals.  44% agreed that they feel a strong sense of belonging at UCT.

Race, Gender and the Rights of Individuals

The Institutional Climate Survey concludes that “employment location in a university is a powerful determinant of both personal experience as well as perceptions of climate. This is borne out in the recent Wits study which found that African women in the lower ranks of employment were most likely to express dissatisfaction with their personal treatment on the indicators of fairness and respect. Men were also less likely to see gender as a problem than women, while white staff were less likely to see race as a problem than black staff”.

This general conclusion is substantiated in a range of detailed responses which indicate the continuing saliency of race and gender in individual experiences of university culture. Thus 50% of white males and 52% of white females agreed that they have not been treated differently because of their race and gender.  However, all categories of black staff had the inverse response.  Similarly, asked whether staff members of different identities are equally valued and respected at UCT, white males and females agreed while black staff disagreed.

However, this polarization begins to break down with perceptions of the wider institutional climate, with a significant number of white staff expressing concern. Thus 53% of all respondents saw the lack of racial diversity at UCT as a problem and 37% of all respondents regarded racial harassment as a problem.  80 respondents (7.7% of the sample) reported that they had personally experienced racial harassment at work.

Similarly for gender; 43% of all respondents saw discrimination on the basis of gender as a problem and 29% of all respondents saw sexual harassment as a problem.  106 staff (10.3%) reported that they personally experienced discrimination on the basis of gender and 30 staff (2.9% of the total sample) reported that they had personally experienced sexual harassment at work.

The Institutional Climate Survey provides important indicators of additional areas in which the protection of individual rights in the workplace requires attention.

In common with other universities (for example, in the United Kingdom, where this has received focused attention), bullying and victimization is seen as prevalent, with  477 respondents – 47% of the sample – flagging victimisation when speaking out or taking action on issues as a danger. 134 staff who took part in the survey (13%) reported that they had personally experienced  victimisation when speaking out or taking action about harassment or discrimination.

The survey also flagged other areas in which staffs’ basic rights may be violated in the UCT workplace: harassment on the basis of sexual orientation (16%); harassment on the basis of religious affiliation (17%); discrimination on the basis of physical or mental disability (25%); and discrimination on the basis of social class (8%).

Staff Retention and Development

A key issue for the university is the recruitment and retention of staff.  This is also a focal point for this climate survey, which was enabled by the Carnegie Corporation as part of the wider staff transformation programme.

The survey results show that only a minority (17% ) has confidence that current policies and practices are effective in retaining staff. More than half of the staff who participated in the survey (54%) do not believe that UCT rewards performance, and 66% feel that good work is not always recognized.  Despite this, just under 50% of respondents agreed that they have adequate opportunities for training and development.

Staff commented unfavourably on the quality of administrative work, increasing administrative loads and increasing bureaucracy, attributed to  decentralisation and devolution of administrative duties.

On the other hand, the survey indicated that a number of interventions are regarded as successful and beneficial.  For PASS staff, these included the work of transformation committees, employment equity initiatives, the Khuluma programme and staff development programmes offered by the HR department.  For academic staff, notable initiatives included employment equity initiatives, transformation committees and staff development programmes, and also the Emerging Researchers’ Programme.