I was playing a game of Scrabble with my husband when I went into labour last time. I’m proud to say that I still won.

But I still want to be an academic, because I love the law and I love teaching. Also, despite the insecurity of being on contract, it’s far more flexible than working as a solicitor – I’d never get to see my children if I went back to practice. (There’s a silver lining to every cloud – I’d rather be a sessional academic than a stressed out senior associate). And I can’t afford to go to the bar – I think it would be better to wait until my children were older. So I’ll just keep plugging away here.

Excluding the first one of those (and very occasionally the second), I think you’ll find the same applies to non-casual full time staff (many of whom are on 3 year contracts themselves). Usually managment only acts when things go wrong (which really should be read: When student happiness evaluations don’t turn out happy enough).

Also, at least in Australian universities, most casual staff don’t realize the extent of the drudgery that full-time jobs entail (it’s administrivia city, and the main role many people have is trying to get money from the government and other sources, whether they want it or not). Personally, if you are good at law, you’d be crazy to become an academic in Australia. (Not that I know anything about it, but I imagine most of the decent staff in law are leftovers that have simply been in the system too long to move out).