Teaching Culture Survey 2022

Key Findings Teaching Culture Survey

The Teaching Cultures Survey (TCS) is a global collaboration of universities committed to improving how university teaching is supported and rewarded. The TCS has been conducted in 2019 (TCS 2019) and 2022 (TCS 2022); a third survey is scheduled for 2024/25. Through an online survey administered at the participating universities, the TCS captures perspectives of the academic community on: (i) their institution’s teaching and learning environment; (ii) the institutional commitment to university teaching; (iii) the status of teaching in key institutional processes; and (iv) expectations and desires for change. 

Delft University of Technology (TU Delft) is one of 16 universities participating in the TCS 2022. Over 750 members of its academic community took part in TCS 2022, ranging in seniority from PhD students to university leaders. The university’s survey response rate (18%) is lower than the TCS 2022 institutional average (24%). This confidential report summarises findings from TU Delft’s 2022 survey; comparisons are also made with findings from its TCS 2019. Additionally, TU Delft’s findings are compared with the amalgamated findings from all 16 universities participating in TCS 2022 and with the smaller group of 13 universities that participated in both TCS 2019 and TCS 2022. 

Compared to global peers, TU Delft participants were significantly more positive about the teaching and learning environment at their university. For example

• 64% of participants reported that TU Delft “provides a supportive learning environment with opportunities to develop and improve my teaching practice” (all TCS 2022 institutions: 57%);
• COVID-19 restrictions also appear to have had a less significant impact on academic workloads at TU Delft than at global peers: 38% of TU Delft participants reported that their workload in university teaching “increased to a level where I needed to work additional hours most weeks” over the previous year, compared to 43% at all TCS 2022 institutions

Perceptions of the institution’s commitment towards rewarding university teaching were more mixed

• the proportion of TU Delft participants agreeing or strongly agreeing with the statement: “Time spent on university teaching has a positive impact on the career progression of academics at my institution” has decreased over time, from 25% in 2019 to 21% in 2022;
• however, TU Delft participants were more likely than global peers to anticipate that academics’ significant contributions made in teaching and learning during COVID-19 ‘emergency teaching’ would be rewarded by their university.

Opportunities also exist to enhance the status of teaching in key institutional processes at TU Delft: only 23% indicated that their achievements and ambitions in university teaching were explored in depth in their most recent annual appraisal (no change since 2019; all TCS: 29%);

• the proportion identifying sources of evidence used to assess university teaching at TU Delft as ‘very’ or ‘somewhat’ robust has decreased over time, from 40% in 2019 to 30% in 2022.

The survey also indicated increasing support at TU Delft for enhancing the status and role of university teaching, despite the challenges and pressure introduced by COVID-19 restrictions since TCS 2019:

• the proportion that anticipate an increase in the priority given to university teaching in academic promotion at TU Delft increased, from 31% in 2019 to 35% in 2022.
• the proportion that would like to see such an increase in the priority given to university teaching in academic promotion at TU Delft has also increased, from 57% in 2019 to 61% in 2022;

Overall, TU Delft findings point to a positive university learning environment as well as institutional resilience during COVID-19 emergency teaching. While perceptions of the institutional culture as one that does not reward university teaching persist amongst many academics, there is a growing commitment to institutional change.