As this edition is compiled, we once again see many University and College Union (UCU) members on strike for eight days at sixty-one universities and or undertaking action short of a strike. It is expected that more strike days will take place in the new year. Once again pensions are an issue but so too is the precarity of academic employment and the gender/ race pay gap. In 2015 the UCU argued that insecure and precarious contracts in higher education were a much bigger problem than universities have in the past been prepared to admit. A quick visit to the best-known website for academic jobs reveals the extent of the problem. It estimated that when the use of hourly paid academic staff is factored in some 54 per cent and 49 per cent of all academic staff are on insecure contracts. Among staff below senior lecturer or senior research fellows who do most of the teaching and research in our universities, many are on fixed term contracts meaning that they are employed to teach a certain number of hours at an hourly rate for the length of a module. Pay can vary enormously as can the time allowed for teaching or lecture preparation. Marking is often paid at the rate of so many thousand words an hour and the remuneration never equals the time spent in providing apt and timely feedback. At the end of a module there is no guarantee of future employment. This precarity of employment does, however, have many knock-on effects for young academics, for example obtaining a mortgage or bank loan is almost impossible, many early career academics live hand to mouth, work more than one job and spend part of every year looking for work. This leads to a feeling of under-appreciation, poor mental health and yet at the same time a sense of thanks to be employed in some form of role in HE. On top of undertaking the bulk of teaching the pressure to publish is ever present and this early career academics are expected to do in their own time mainly at weekends and evenings. The effect of the strike on this side of academia has yet to be seen. It is inevitable that a failure to encourage early career academics through security of employment can only be bad for Higher Education in the long-term. There are like in any industry both good and bad universities and I have been lucky to work at one where early career academics even those on hourly contracts are seen as an integral and important part of the department. Where they are remunerated fairly and appreciated within the department. In this environment early career academics can flourish, gain vital experience and be mentored into more permanent roles. Away from the strike this journal brings together a range of interesting articles. The first is by Rachel Lock-Lewis exploring the changing experience of parenting in post-War Wales. It shows how ideas, attitudes and aspirations changed between generations. This article relies on oral testimonies from women who became mothers between 1945 and 1975 and through their discourse reveals how these generations have formulated modern parenthood. As many of our articles are concentrated on the nineteenth century LockLewis’s contemporary history gives voice to an under-researched group of the twentieth century. It leads us to think about the significance of memory and social identities through the medium of oral history.

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社论

在编写此版本时，我们再次看到许多大学和学院联盟 (UCU) 成员在 61 所大学进行了为期八天的罢工，或者在罢工前采取行动。预计新的一年会有更多的罢工日。养老金再次成为一个问题，但学术就业的不稳定和性别/种族薪酬差距也是一个问题。2015 年，UCU 认为高等教育中不安全和不稳定的合同是一个比大学过去准备承认的更大的问题。快速访问最著名的学术工作网站就会发现问题的严重程度。据估计，如果将使用按小时计薪的教职员工计算在内，则约有 54% 的教职员工和 49% 的教职员工签订的是不安全合同。在我们大学中承担大部分教学和研究工作的高级讲师或高级研究员以下的员工中，许多人签订了固定期限合同，这意味着他们被雇用以每小时的费用教授一定数量的课程。薪酬可以有很大的不同，教学或讲座准备的时间也是如此。标记通常以每小时几千字的速度支付，报酬永远不会等于提供恰当和及时反馈所花费的时间。在模块结束时，不能保证未来的就业。然而，这种就业的不稳定确实对年轻的学者产生了许多连锁反应，例如获得抵押贷款或银行贷款几乎是不可能的，许多早期职业学者的生活口耳相传，工作不止一份工作，每年都花一部分时间找工作。这会导致一种被低估的感觉，心理健康状况不佳，但同时对在 HE 中担任某种形式的角色感到感谢。除了承担大部分教学工作之外，出版的压力一直存在，而且这一职业早期的学者预计主要在周末和晚上利用自己的时间进行。罢工对学术界这一方面的影响还有待观察。从长远来看，无法通过保障就业来鼓励早期职业学者，这不可避免地对高等教育不利。任何行业都有好大学和坏大学，我很幸运能在一个早期职业学者甚至是小时合同的学者都被视为该部门不可或缺的重要组成部分的地方工作。他们在部门内得到公平的报酬和赞赏。在这种环境下，早期职业学者可以蓬勃发展，获得重要经验，并被指导担任更长期的角色。远离罢工，该杂志汇集了一系列有趣的文章。第一个是 Rachel Lock-Lewis 探索战后威尔士育儿经历的变化。它展示了思想、态度和愿望如何在几代人之间发生变化。本文依赖于 1945 年至 1975 年成为母亲的女性的口头证词，并通过她们的话语揭示了这几代人是如何形成现代父母身份的。由于我们的许多文章都集中在 19 世纪，LockLewis 的当代历史为 20 世纪研究不足的群体发声。它引导我们通过口述历史的媒介思考记忆和社会身份的重要性。