By Aaron Chen
So… What Are Adjunct Faculty?
Tenured professors are permanent employees of their institutions, enjoying a near-unshakable level of job security. Conversely, non-tenure track professors (AKA adjuncts or contingent faculty) do not have automatically renewable contracts, and often are hired temporarily for semesters at a time (Brander). But now with many colleges moving to the "adjunct system" to cut costs, far fewer faculty are in tenured positions.
The NCES estimates that in 2018-2019, only 45.1% of faculty at institutions with tenure systems had tenure. For 4-year doctoral institutions, that percentage is 37.6%, and for 2-year colleges, 28.8%.
The Problems "Academia's Permanent Underclass" Face
The conditions that adjunct faculty experience vary greatly from institution to institution. Generally, contingent faculty at higher ranked colleges are treated more equitably than at lower-ranked schools with fewer resources. Regardless, contingent faculty generally face a plethora of challenges, injustices and issues including a lack of health insurance, retirement contributions, private offices, staff support, scheduling preferences, and funding.
Not only this, but contracts are renewed unpredictably and contingent faculty may be fired at any time due to shifts in enrollment. Oftentimes, adjuncts may need to take on teaching six courses per semester with no limits on hours just to make a living wage — wages range from $1,800 per course to $7,500 per course part time, or $24,000 to $60,000 per year full time — a disproportionately low amount for a job that requires such high qualifications (Bradner).
Another study conducted by the American Federation of Teachers that surveyed 1900 adjunct instructors in 2020 showed that a quarter of respondents earned less than $25,000 a year from all teaching positions, while another third earned less than $50,000. 48% reported that they weren't even sure if they'd have a teaching assignment a month before classes begin.
That's not even the worst part of it. Contingent faculty often struggle to meet basic needs. A mere 20% of respondents said they were able to comfortably cover all monthly expenses, 22% said they struggled to afford adequate food, less than half of respondents have employer-provided health insurance and 20% rely on Medicaid. 45% of adjuncts had to forgo getting healthcare and 64% dropped dental care.
And it's not like adjunct faculty aren't qualified enough — 23% of respondents had a Ph.D, 39% had a nonterminal master's degree, 17% had a terminal master's degree, 5% had a professional degree, and another 5% had finished doctoral studies but hadn't finished their dissertation.
In the last 40 years, we've gone from 70% of professors being tenured or tenure eligible to 75% being ineligible today and 47% holding part time positions. Additionally, requirements for tenure are often extremely unclear and/or vague — there's no "specific checklist" that one needs to complete to get tenured. Furthermore, most non-tenured staff are already busy handling what's happening in the classroom rather than building a portfolio (The Ithacan).
Sometimes, being eligible for tenure doesn't guarantee a position as a tenured professor, either, and being denied just once can be a significant barrier to having a career take off.
How Adjunctification Impacts Students
With adjunct faculty being forced to take on immense workloads to make ends meet (while still barely being able to afford basic needs), it is no surprise that while some still dedicate many unpaid hours out of passion, many others are forced to cut corners. Lecturers may limit the number of recommendation letters they'll write, hold office visits by phone, or reduce the number of assignments (Los Angeles Times). These overworked staff members do the best they can, but are simply unable to turn their attention to doing the close reading needed for the success of hundreds of students when self-preservation is already difficult enough.
Non-tenured faculty also lack academic freedom, which is deemed to be the "backbone" of higher education. Lecturers that don't have the same protections and security as tenured faculty may be less likely to offer their valuable views, opinions, and expertise, as they're vulnerable to being fired if their teaching styles or materials are not approved of (The Ithacan). The entire process can be described as "playing defense" — any time spent on anything other than the classes they teach (which have rigidly defined curriculums that adjuncts usually can't modify) goes completely unrewarded, and it's dangerous to speak out or be an advocate (La Seur).
Conclusion
The adjunctification crisis is but a tiny crack in a web of issues plaguing higher education: attacks on academic freedom, tenure, funding, tuition, and anti-activism policies (The Chronicle of Higher Education). This reflects a broken higher education system that chooses to outsource the most important part of its work — teaching. There's still a lot to be done to change the adjunct system for the better, but we can also make huge impacts as individuals.
Adjuncts can join unions, or if there isn't already one on campus, can work towards establishing an organization, or join the AAUP's projects. More senior faculty who are already tenured can speak out for their coworkers and give advice on how to build a portfolio. The situation is complex, the questions many, and the solutions are not so simple. But by leveraging collective bargaining, adjunct faculty and their tenured allies can help both contingent faculty and their students reach their full potential.
Works Cited
Bradner, Alexandra. “The Cruelty of the Adjunct System.” Blog of the APA, 20 June 2023, blog.apaonline.org/2022/04/13/the-cruelty-of-the-adjunct-system/.
Carrie La Seur, Daily Montanan March 9. “Derailed: How Students Are Impacted by Adjunct Faculty.” Daily Montanan, 9 Mar. 2022, dailymontanan.com/2022/03/09/derailed-how-students-are-impacted-by-adjunct-faculty/.
“Editorial: Colleges’ Overreliance on Adjunct Faculty Is Bad for Students, Instructors and Academic Freedom.” Los Angeles Times, 28 Nov. 2021, www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2021-11-28/editorial-colleges-overreliance-on-adjunct-faculty-is-bad-for-students-instructors-and-academic-freedom.
Flaherty, Colleen. “Survey of Adjuncts Finds Pandemic Made Their Situation Worse.” Inside Higher Ed | Higher Education News, Events and Jobs, www.insidehighered.com/news/2022/02/24/survey-adjuncts-finds-pandemic-made-their-situation-worse.
“How to Fix the Adjunct Crisis - the Chronicle of Higher Education.” The Chronicle of Higher Education, 30 May 2018, www.chronicle.com/article/how-to-fix-the-adjunct-crisis/.
Lorien Tyne, Maddy Vogel. “Junior Faculty Face Obstacles to Have Job Security and Tenure: The Ithacan.” amazonAd, 6 Apr. 2023, theithacan.org/news/junior-faculty-face-obstacles-to-have-job-security-and-tenure/.
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