Exploring How Casualization Complicates Canadian Academics’ Information Practices

Abstract

An increasing number of academics working in higher education in Canada work on short-term contracts. The casualization of university work and the insecure nature of these contracts increases the difficulty that contract academic staff (CAS) experience, including often not receiving the information they need to carry out their work. While research around CAS has identified areas of challenge, there is a lack of research examining the information practices and environments of Canadian CAS. This paper reports on the findings from in-depth, semi-structured interviews carried out with CAS, focusing on their information experiences and how precarious employment and ongoing uncertainty influences their information seeking, sharing, creating, and use.