Always a Bridesmaid, Never a Bride: Experiences of Contingent Faculty on the Academic Job Market

• In Event: Thursday Roundtable Session 2:30 pm
  In Roundtable Session: The Future of Faculty (Table 20)

Abstract

Contingent (adjunct) faculty comprise over 75 percent of the postsecondary instructional workforce. Literature on adjunct faculty has centered on either student outcomes or working conditions. Missing is examination of how working as a contingent faculty member can lead to a permanent appointment. Our overarching aim was to investigate experiences of contingent faculty on the academic job market in North America and investigate how being an adjunct helps and hinders securing a full time appointment. Findings highlighted three themes: garnering employability skills (e.g. ability to craft teaching and diversity statements, teaching experience), diminishing returns to working as an adjunct, and the bias contingent faculty experience when they are internal candidates for permanent appointments. Implications for faculty and practitioners will be discussed.

Authors

• Diane Cardenas Elliott, Kutztown University of Pennsylvania

• Yana Kuchirko, Brooklyn College - CUNY