Employees in change: an exploration of academics’ perceived employee-organisation relationship in the reform of the tenure-track system in China

Abstract

The employee-organisation relationship between academics and universities is a critical issue in higher education (HE) human resource management. Previous studies have mainly investigated the segmentation between full-time and part-time academics, or academics working in different countries. However, few studies have explored academics’ perceptions of their relationship with universities under the recent tenure-track reform in the Chinese HE system. Drawing on psychological contract theory, this qualitative study explores how academics perceive their relationships with their university. Through interviews with 21 tenure-track academics at a Chinese university, this study found four types of psychological relationships: (1) high-risk with high-yield, (2) optimistic trust, (3) mutual benefit, and (4) content and satisfied. Among the four types, tenure-track academics’ expectations of universities are diversified. These findings suggest that universities should pay more attention to understanding academics’ perceived employee-organisation relationship and their corresponding expectations to improve managerial efficiency.