Trends in the Academic to Non-Academic Staff Ratio in Higher Education: Drivers, Impacts, and Recommendations

DOI

10.2991/978-2-38476-551-5_12How to use a DOI?

Keywords

Higher Education; Staff Composition; Non-academic Staff

Abstract

Over the past few decades, the field of higher education has undergone significant changes, with the composition of university faculty experiencing particularly notable shifts. This ever-changing trend is now gaining more attention worldwide. Relying on historical data and empirical studies, the review article examines the reasons behind this trend, analyzes its effects and implications, and provides recommendations. After a review of current trends, the paper firstly talks about the complex underlying causes, including shifts in educational philosophy, fluctuations in economic conditions, advancements in technologies, and rising attention to holistic student services. Meanwhile, the debate on whether the shift is beneficial or not is still ongoing: while critics argue that this shift leads to “administrative bloat” that results in low efficiency and excessive costs, supporters believe the shift of the trends contributes to student success, institutional efficiency, and a better campus atmosphere. Furthermore, the study discusses broader societal impacts brought by this changing ratio, such as its influences on local economies, tuition fees, and the overall outlook of the educational industry. Finally, the paper presents some recommendations fitting all situations, including paying more attention to students’ voices, finding the “ideal ratio” through some models, and keeping teaching and researching as the top priorities. By exploring the drivers and impacts of this evolving ratio and presenting recommendations, this paper aims to reflect on current issues in higher education and address them to improve the entire industry.

Copyright

© 2026 The Author(s)

Open Access

Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

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TY  - CONF
AU  - Yichen Deng
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/03/26
TI  - Trends in the Academic to Non-Academic Staff Ratio in Higher Education: Drivers, Impacts, and Recommendations
BT  - Proceeding of 2025 8th International Conference on Humanities Education and Social Sciences (ICHESS 2025)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 115
EP  - 123
SN  - 2352-5398
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-2-38476-551-5_12
DO  - 10.2991/978-2-38476-551-5_12
ID  - Deng2026
ER  -