'Your Flexible Friends': Sessional lecturers in the UK further education sector, commitment, quality and service delivery

This research examines the utilisation of part-time lecturers in the further education (FE) sector and considers the impact that has on the quality of service delivery. The research has used qualitative and quantitative methods in a longitudinal study of a sample of 42 sessional lecturers drawn from colleges within the East Midlands. The article explores changes within the sector providing a literature review on the changing nature of the FE sector. The article then considers the experience and reality of those employed as sessional lecturers, highlighting the beneŽ ts of a  exible workforce to the organisation, but also considering some of the main issues surrounding its utilisation. The article concludes with re ections on the implications for college management of present trends in  exible stafŽ ng. Introduction and Rationale This article describes research undertaken in East Midlands further education (FE) colleges into the recruitment and utilisation of part-time lecturers and considers the impact of contemporary stafŽ ng strategies on the quality of service delivery. Throughout the 1990s the sector saw the impact of, on the one hand, widening participation and, on the other, the need to face commercial realities and greater accountability. The sector is at the forefront of the government’s agenda for raising educational attainment and employability, but can colleges deliver rising targets and expectations of service quality in the light of changes in stafŽ ng and strategy? It is suggested that in terms of utilisation the ‘ exible workforce’ in UK FE has now become the ‘core’, but without corresponding changes in recruitment, conditions or staff development; the consequence of this may potentially undermine the college’s service delivery. Do sessional staff offer comparable levels of learning support to FE’s already diverse client base and do they in turn receive the levels of institutional support they require? The research has used quantitative and qualitative research methods based on a sample of 42 sessional lecturers drawn from a range of East Midlands colleges. The following sections investigate, Ž rstly: the historical context of organisational ISSN 0309-877X print; ISSN 1469-9486 online/02/040363-13 Ó NATFHE DOI: 10.1080/0309877022000021766 D ow nl oa de d by [ U ni ve rs ity o f So ut he rn Q ue en sl an d] a t 0 3: 34 0 8 M ar ch 2 01 2