ABSTRACT
In 1984, aged 50, I took early retirement from my post as Lecturer in Social Policy at the University of Lancaster. For the following five years I had a ‘leaseback’ contract for a substantial amount of teaching and some administration. Being substantially engaged in personal research and retaining my previous office and job title, my working life was little changed apart from the fact that I no longer sat on any university committees and could live life at my own pace, leaving more time for outside professional and personal interests. In a nutshell, thanks to Sir Keith Joseph (former Conservative Secretary of State for Education and Science) and his cuts, I was out of the rat-race. One circumstance which affected my decision to opt out was the then minuscule prospect of being promoted within the traditional university sector. On arrival at Lancaster in September 1976 I had already gained unusual promotion (for a woman) within the polytechnic sector, to the rank of Principal Lecturer with Acting Head of Department status. But this was for administrative and teaching competence. Having seized the chance of transferring into the university sector so as to engage in research as well as teaching, I was rightly warned on arrival that any promotion would be reliant on a successful publication record. At the time I was embarked on obtaining my PhD by thesis.
