An exploration of the experiences of higher education lecturers in a further education setting

Over the past decade, there has been an increase in government initiatives to widen Higher Education (HE) participation in the UK. Consequently, various Further Education Colleges (FECs) provide HE in order to meet that drive. In 2021, 162 FECs provided HE undergraduate degrees , yet little research has been focused on HE lecturers and their experiences of working within these settings. As the literature reveals, staffing is a consistently problematic aspect of FE and impinges on the experiences and therefore satisfaction of lecturers in those settings. Based on preliminary questionnaires, semi-structured interviews were initiated with 10 College Based Higher Education (CBHE) lecturers in one General FEC to explore their professional perspectives and to shed light on the experiences of those in CBHE environments. The most significant finding revealed that, despite the passion lecturers feel for their job and the FE sector in which they work, there is significant dissatisfaction among CBHE lecturers which predominantly stems from the demands of juggling both HE and FE professional responsibilities. Similarly, there is a feeling that there is insufficient support provided by leaders and managers in these settings and, consequently, it is commonplace for lecturers to feel undervalued and overworked.