Higher education has a problem. Academics are increasingly burned-out and demotivated. Attempts to foster interactions between universities and industry is underpinned by unpaid overtime and wage theft. Junior academics and prospective academics face uncertain career prospects.

The result is a descent into mediocrity that is bad for everyone.

A life of uncertainty and risk

Many young prospective academics become a postdoctoral student, or postdoc, or teach on contract. For a contract teacher, your income depends entirely on how many classes you are given the next term. For a postdoc, life is “better” but there is significant uncertainty about whether you will have a job next year, what that job will be, and whether there will be grant funding