Johnston, Alan ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4796-466X and Davies, Eleanor (2025) Academics’ psychological contract. Applying discretionary effort. Journal of Further and Higher Education. (In Press)

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Abstract

Limited research has been conducted on the academic psychological contract and the role it plays in influencing academic behaviour. This qualitative study investigated the impact that the psychological contract has on 18 academics working across 9 university business schools, by understanding how they perceive the employment relationship, and how this perception influences their work activities with a particular focus on the application of discretionary effort. The research conducted followed an interpretivist design using semi-structured questions to seek out the lived experience of the academics. Findings suggest that discretionary effort is focused on what individuals perceive as being or not being academic work, but is not readily recognised as such, instead it is considered part of the job suggesting that perhaps it may be considered induced and is an outcome of increased managerialism in the sector. The outcomes of this research provide an interesting insight into the workings of academics and as such should enable improvements in the employment relationship between academics and their host University. The research investigates the construct of the psychological contract from a different perspective.

Item Type:	Article
Status:	In Press
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HD Industries. Land use. Labor > HD28 Management. Industrial Management L Education > L Education (General)
School/Department:	York Business School
URI:	https://ray.yorksj.ac.uk/id/eprint/11554

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