The academic workplace has changed drastically in 50 years with far fewer permanent positions available and increasing reliance of temporary and part time staff. This might all change again with the forthcoming funding crisis, but what does it mean for the student and the jobseeker?
According to a recent New York Times article in the US temporary lecturers now far outweigh tenure tracked staff:
“In 1960, 75 percent of college instructors were full-time tenured or tenure-track professors; today only 27 percent are. The rest are graduate students or adjunct and contingent faculty — instructors employed on a per-course or yearly contract basis, usually without benefits and earning a third or less of what their tenured colleagues make. ”
The article points out that this can affect students too, with temporary staff often working a number of jobs at different universities to make ends meet and therefore being less available for easy contact. Adjunct staff also often get lumbered with the large entry level survey courses that permanent staff don’t want to teach: these form a student’s first experiences of university when they generally need more help and guidance, not less.
This is not to say that all adjunct teachers neglect their students or provide a second class service, far from it. Some of the most dedicated staff members fall into this category. But because adjuncts are treated worse than permanent staff members, this has a knock on effect on the students.
Things have been going in the same direction in the UK, with most departments using a small army of temporary teachers to plug their recruitment short-falls. Perhaps this will change over the next few years as temporary staff budgets get squeezed and permanent staff are expected to do more teaching hours. This could have a big impact on those scholars seeking experience towards a permanent job and on the students themselves.
