Union warns ‘unrealistic’ REF targets will force out junior staff

“Staff who have been scoring each other in good faith are now finding out these scores are being used against their colleagues, which severely undermines collegiality,” a spokesman for Liverpool’s UCU branch said. “It also undermines the accuracy of these scores because staff may now feel they have to support younger colleagues with a score that isn’t accurate." On the other hand really good young researchers may find their score marked down by older established Academics who feel threatened by them, then there's the opportunity for gender discrimination, in both directions...