{"product_id":"9781914487217-secret-lecturer","title":"The Secret Lecturer","description":"\u003cmeta content=\"text\/html; charset=utf-8\" http-equiv=\"Content-Type\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eWhat Really Goes on at University\u003cbr\u003eOdd students, falling standards, leery colleagues, striking staff, and poor student welfare. the candid diaries of a British university lecturer.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWhat Really Goes On at University – told by the insider who can’t give their real name\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003eWhat if everything you \u003ci\u003ethink\u003c\/i\u003e you know about British universities is wrong?\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003eIn \u003ci\u003eThe Secret Lecturer: What Really Goes on at University\u003c\/i\u003e, an anonymous academic with fifteen years’ experience in UK higher education lifts the lid on life behind the campus branding, glossy prospectuses and “student experience” slogans. Structured as a sharply observed academic year, this candid diary shows the modern university as it really is: part corporation, part bureaucracy, part psychiatric ward – and still, somehow, a place where learning clings on.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003eFrom overcrowded, crumbling classrooms and outsourced mental-health support, to “Mickey Mouse degrees”, grade inflation and Vice-Chancellors on eye-watering salaries, \u003ci\u003eThe Secret Lecturer\u003c\/i\u003e walks you through the lecture theatres, open‑plan offices and leaking libraries where the future of higher education is being quietly hollowed out. Along the way, we meet adjuncts on precarious contracts, overworked support staff, anxious students crushed by debt, and senior managers obsessed with “impact”, league tables and arms‑industry funding.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003eBoth darkly funny and deadly serious, this book dissects:\u003cbr\u003e \u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cb\u003eThe marketised university \u003c\/b\u003e– students as “customers”, the student-loan system, tuition fees, and the corporate mindset reshaping UK campuses.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cb\u003eThe culture wars, “woke” panics and free-speech rows \u003c\/b\u003e– how media myths about snowflakes and safe spaces collide with very real racism, sexism, homophobia and transphobia on campus.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cb\u003eMental health and burnout \u003c\/b\u003e– the epidemic of anxiety and depression among students and staff, long waiting lists for support, and the emotional load dumped on front‑line lecturers.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cb\u003eCasualisation and exploitation \u003c\/b\u003e– armies of hourly paid lecturers, bullying, harassment cases quietly settled, and departments shut down in the name of “efficiency”.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cb\u003eResearch, REF and reputation \u003c\/b\u003e– impact scores, plagiarism scandals, dodgy partnerships, and the rise of the academic “brand”.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e \u003cbr\u003eAll of it is told with a dry, elegant wit and a clarity that cuts through the jargon of “innovation”, “excellence” and “Year Zero” timetables to reveal the human cost underneath.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003eThis book is ideal for:\u003cbr\u003e \u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cb\u003eParents \u003c\/b\u003ewanting to know what really lies behind the open day smiles, student satisfaction surveys and graduate‑outcomes statistics.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cb\u003eProspective and current students \u003c\/b\u003etrying to navigate tuition fees, student loans, debt, housing, mental‑health pressures and the reality of online learning.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cb\u003eLecturers, teachers and university staff \u003c\/b\u003ewho will recognise every committee, audit, restructure and “strategic vision” – and finally see it captured on the page.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cb\u003eReaders of campus satire, dark academia and political non‑fiction \u003c\/b\u003ewho enjoy books that are sharply observed, politically aware and very readable.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBuy the paperback now\u003c\/b\u003e and step inside the modern university – before the next restructure shuts it down.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eReviews\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e'\u003cb\u003eBeyond the often amusing accounts of interactions with difficult people\u003c\/b\u003e, there are also numerous moments where the author offers a glimpse into what reads as more systemic issues such as grade inflation and student cheating, the struggle for research time, casual instances of prejudice. an engaging read.' \u003ci\u003eDebbie McVitty, Editor, WONKHE\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e'The Secret Lecturer conveys a dry, ironic and often self-deprecating humour \u003c\/b\u003eand considerable humanity, particularly through consideration of mental health, sexism and racism.' \u003ci\u003eLinda Hill, Linda's Book Bag\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eExtract\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003eThe UK public seems to think a university lecturer is an idle, sherry-swigging stereotype out of a 1970s campus novel. Perceptions of students are frozen in the 1980s – they’re either idle, undernourished wimps à la Neil from the BBC sitcom \u003ci\u003eThe Young Ones \u003c\/i\u003eor like his housemates Rick (naïvely militant blowhard) or Vyvyan (shouty, intoxicated hooligan).\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003eMany of the students I teach are well-behaved, eat healthily and aren’t uniformly obsessed with getting smashed. Some of them even vote Conservative. But an even more disturbing development that few in the ’80s could have predicted is the epidemic of mental illness among students – and staff. Readers may be surprised to find out that legions of lecturers are overworked and underpaid, and on casual contracts.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003eAs you will also see, academic standards are slowly being obliterated, though that has more to do with financing than with a slide into ‘wokery.’ The conversion of students into customers we can’t afford to upset has resulted in an upsurge in grades, non-attendance, abusive behaviour and plagiarism.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003eHardly anyone ever fails, no matter how badly they perform. Not to be left out, lecturers can plagiarise, too – usually each other’s lecture notes and research ideas. A mania about external funding has destroyed research ethics.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eBuy the book and start reading\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Rarewaves","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":41513858531425,"sku":"9781914487217","price":14.83,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0092\/7504\/8033\/files\/stand_31793399.jpg?v=1734596489","url":"https:\/\/www.rarewaves.com\/products\/9781914487217-secret-lecturer","provider":"Rarewaves.com","version":"1.0","type":"link"}