Background: In recent years, higher education has become increasingly characterized by issues concerning insecure employment arrangements and working conditions. Among those who report high job insecurity in Swedish academia, little is known regarding the individual’s experience of their work situation and of insecurity. The current study strives to address this knowledge gap by investigating how insecurity and concerns about one’s work situation and working conditions are experienced by faculty in Swedish academia. Specifically, this study seeks to answer the following research question: How can insecurity and concerns regarding one’s work situation and conditions be understood based on individuals’ experiences of their work and employment situation in Swedish academia?

Method: This study forms part of a research project and includes a qualitative follow-up to a questionnaire study which revealed that some faculty in Swedish academia belong to profiles of high job insecurity. To identify the current participant group, faculty belonging to these high insecurity profiles who had previously indicated a willingness to participate in an interview study were contacted and screened for eligibility. Individuals were considered eligible if they still worked in Swedish academia and reported moderate to high job insecurity. The participant group consisted of 11 faculty (five women, six men) from five public Swedish higher education institutions. Interviews were semi-structured and conducted digitally. Subsequently, the interviews were transcribed verbatim and de-identified to protect participant integrity. The material was analysed using reflexive thematic analysis.

Results: Two overall themes were identified. The first theme, ‘Where is the grass greener?’ describes the ambiguity as to where, in academia, the best place to be is: where faculty are able to do the work they desire; where in the work situation insecurity exists; and what insecurity actually means in the academic context. The second theme, ‘Doing research in headwinds’ explains how faculty who have a great passion for, interest in, and motivation to do research, face obstacles and challenges, which often impede possibilities to make time for, and actually conduct, quality research. Not only do the demands of the job affect the work itself, but there are also consequences for the well-being and private lives of faculty. The risk is an existence of constant worry for the changing content of one’s work, with various related consequences.

Conclusion: This study reveals how the experience of insecurity among faculty in Swedish academia is a result of a number of intermingling factors characterizing academic work. These include the desired percentage of one’s position dedicated to research and teaching, and beliefs about future successes with grant applications, for instance. Among those who wish to focus predominantly on research, concerns arise about research quality and whether one is able to spend the desired amount of time on research. Importantly, these factors evoke the qualitative aspects of job insecurity. To address these issues, Swedish higher education institutions should strive to ensure that faculty are entitled to and can make use of research time, funded by the institution. This would contribute to both quality and continuity of research and higher education.