Job Security for Contingent Faculty in the California State University System: A 40-Year Fight

• In Event: The Struggle Against Oppression and Racial Injustice in Education

Abstract

Over 75% of faculty in the US work as contingents, lacking job security and consequently the power to exercise academic freedom, raising the question of the purpose of higher education. This paper describes pivotal moments in the 40-year struggle of contingent faculty (Lecturers) in the 23-campus California State University system. It identifies the various terrains upon which the struggle has taken place. Drawing on interviews, archival research, and the participant activist role of the authors, it uses CHAT to analyze the overall project and its change over time. Today, Lecturers have won a significant degree of job security. The purpose of this paper is to highlight some of the less obvious forms that job security takes.

Author

• Helena Harlow Worthen, University of California - Berkeley