Opening Data to Visualize the Adjunct Crisis: An Experiment in Public Sociology

• In Event: 191 - Regular Session. Public Sociology

Abstract

In this conference paper draft, I explore the promise of open data and visualization to advance a more nuanced understanding of the “new faculty majority,” while engaging wider publics. The 2006 AAUP Contingent Faculty Index showed that contingent faculty constituted just over 60 percent of all faculty in the United States, leading researchers to treat “adjuncts” as a new demographic category and examine their impact on higher education. By opening up and visualizing the AAUP Index, I illustrate variations within this demographic that raise new questions and identify significant cases for further study. By visualizing and sharing the data in Google Fusion Tables and Tableau Public I seek to engage non-specialists in the exploration of quantitative data and advance public action.

Author

• Carey L. Sargent, Occidental College