Sunday, April 01, 2012

Adjunct Nation – A Disturbing Trend

I troubled not only by the increase in part-time faculty, but also the growth in non-tenure track faculty.

Margaret Andrews considers an increasingly Adjunct Nation:

I came across an interesting article in The Economist the other day.  According to this article, based on data from LinkedIn, “one of the fastest-growing job titles in America is ‘adjunct professor’ (an ill-paid, overworked species of academic).”

Perhaps this shouldn’t come as a surprise – there has been a lot in the media about the rise of non-tenure-track faculty, aka “freeway fliers” because of their need to cobble together multiple teaching assignments to make ends meet.  Typically without benefits.  And often, poor working conditions.

According to a report by the American Association of University Professors, there has been quite a shift in who is teaching in colleges and universities since 1975.  For example, here’s how the makeup of instructional staff has changed between 1975 and 2009:

Adjunct nation

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