Neoliberalism and its implications for job instability at the National University of Costa Rica

Abstract

Neoliberalism  has  reached  university  education  in  the  Latin  American  region,  commercializing  education  and,  consequently,  its  structures.  This  is  reflected  in  the  working  conditions  of  people  employed at institutions of higher education, regardless of whether they are public or private. Instability, in most cases,  generates  forms  of  flexibility  and  job  insecurity,  which  prevails  in  the  neoliberal  development model. Thus, the objective of this research was to determine the working conditions of a population of academic  and  administrative  staff  hired  temporarily  by  the  Faculty  of  Social  Sciences  and  the  Faculty  of Philosophy and Letters at the National University of Costa Rica (UNA). As a methodology, the qualitative,  exploratory  approach  was  used.  The  sample  consisted  of  a  group  of  working  people  from  the  aforementioned  faculties,  selected  by  a  simple  random  procedure,  with  whom  eight  semistructured  interviews were conducted. As a result, profiles of the working population were obtained, which include characteristics associated with their career path and their perceptions regarding the implications of job instability, future expectations linked to their continuity or permanence in the university and their family life, among others. It is concluded that temporary hiring is a problem that is associated with the logic of economic and political development in the country, which hinders future results as it affects higher educational institutions as much as their staff.