Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: The number of adjunct faculty and other contingent faculty in higher education in the United States is now greater than it has ever been, and data from the National Center for Education Statistics (https://nces.ed.gov/) show the use of adjunct faculty steadily increasing every decade, and almost every year, since 1970. Adjuncts and other contingent faculty now do most of the undergraduate teaching in U.S. colleges and universities. Meanwhile, graduate programs continue to turn out new doctoral graduates, year by year, who in most disciplines and in most years outnumber the total of tenure-track jobs available. The authors of this book are considering adjunct faculty as the new precariat--a work force that, while highly educated, has been generally unable to secure professional status, a living income, a stable job, and the protections of employment benefits such as health coverage and retirement options. The same situation also characterizes the newer Internet economy, where an underpaid digital work force deals with similar conditions and similar lack of protections.
DOI: 10.13016/m2ndzv-0up5
Language: English
Subfield: Industrial relations
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7169056748