There’s an interesting discussion in US academia at the moment about whether a portfolio career is a good thing for an adjunct (or part-time, temporary) lecturer to be establishing. See the full discussion here for yourself. Portfolio careers (those with several part-time roles building up to one full time role) have certain advantages and disadvantages over the traditional one permanent job model and I’m going to look at some of those today.
In the US and the UK it’s still considered that part-time temporary lecturers are lower in status and of course pay. But for some people there is an advantage to working like this. For those just starting out in academia part time teaching is a way of getting experience of different ways of working. Also for people with outside commitments such as family responsibilities, the hothouse environment of the tenure track (ie permanent) job might not be what you’re looking for.
But most of those advantages are negated by the lowly status of part-timers, especially in the US. They have to shoulder the most challenging teaching tasks, taking on more hours’ work for their wages than the equivalent full-timer. They are given no encouragement or incentive to research and for many people the adjunct system ends up being a trap out of which they cannot climb.
So, in a provocative blog posting Audrey Williams June argues that part-timers could take on other responsibilities to build up a full time wage. The extra activities that they do for their department such as course design and student advising could constitute extra jobs. She calls this a ‘new model’ for adjuncts. Many part timers already do this sort of work as part of their meagre wages, so it’s not clear if she’s calling for an adjunct rebellion and a refusal to do these extras without extra pay, or whether she hopes for a gradual change in model.
The comments received on the blog show that part-time lecturers are especially discontented with their lot at the moment, but they see this as a systemic failure rather than the fault of privileged and lazy permanent professors. Perhaps we do need the sort of change that Audrey Williams June suggests so that those who choose to work part-time at least receive the remuneration and recognition they deserve.
You seem to imply that working part-time is a choice for most people that do so; more often than not it is a necessity. I have come across numerous committed and talented tutors who effectively work for less than the minimum wage and take on extra duties. What we need to press for is that these people (until recently including myself) are transferred to pro rata contracts so their work is seen as equivalent to their full-time counterparts. This requires part-time or adjunct faculty to be more pro-active on the one hand, which is easier in the UK as we have better employment rights, and on the other hand, for senior management to realise their staff will be more productive and happier if they do not have to juggle three or four jobs to pay the rent!
I think academia could have led the way here. Due to excessive capacity in every other area of work, the part-time freelancer will become an increasingly common job title across all industries.
Having had a number of part-time, temporary, non-tenured academic positions, I feel like an involuntary pioneer, especially as now friends in other walks of life are now having to adapt to these types of contracts.
The implication as I see it is that those who will most likely succeed in their chosen fields will tend to come from very supportive family backgrounds, as it is often the parents who offer the financial mortar to fill the cracks in our contracts.
I would love to work even part-time, but I have yet to see such positions advertised anywhere online. I can only conclude that they are heard about only if you are still doing your PhD and networking in your department.
I got my PhD two years ago and no longer have any contact with my university, so even part-time jobs must remain a holy grail for me.
The longer I remain outside of the academic loop, the less my chances of employment, yet to get back in the loop is difficult.
Dear Jeffrey
I am sorry to hear you’re having such a struggle finding an academic post. There are plenty of part-time teaching jobs available on jobs.ac.uk. I am not sure what your field is, but here’s just one example from my own field: http://www.jobs.ac.uk/jobs/TS612/Tutor_in_History_03_fte/
There are more part-time jobs around this time of year because departments are hiring replacements for staff who have been given external funding awards.
However, I do agree, networking within a department is a great way to get a job. Perhaps you could contact your old supervisor and ask if he/she knows of any posts on the grapevine. Or why not ask to do some part time or hourly paid teaching in your old department if they need anyone?