Contingent Academic Labor in the United StatesShane Boyle

The 2nd Best Job in America!

The Academic Class System

• Upper-Level Administrators

• Tenured and Tenure-Track Professors

• Contingent Labor– Part Time/Adjunct– Non-Tenure Full Time– Graduate Students

Contingent Labor By the Numbers

• 1.3 Million +– 1,046,299 FT and PT non-tenure faculty

– 355,916 graduate students

• 2013: 76% of instructional workforce– 1974: 43.2% of instructional workforce

Annual Pay• Tenured

– $167,118 (Private)– $123,393 (Public) – $71,000 for tenure-track, but not tenured

• Part-Time/Adjunct– $24,926– $2,700 per course– No wage premium based on experience and credential

Work Conditions• 89% no retirement benefits (including pension)

• 80% no health benefits (before Affordable Care Act)

• Most share offices or have no office• Almost half work at multiple institutions• Uncertain future• 360,000 people with graduate degrees on food stamps

• Little to no professional or research support• Racialized: Minority instructors are two times as likely to work as an adjunct/part-time

Student Tuition and Loan Debt• Average Annual Tuition: $31,231– Public: 18,943– Private: 42,419

• 2014: $1.3 Trillion in Student Debt– 41 Million with Debt

• Average Student Loan Debt: $28,400– With MA: $40,208– With Doctorate: $58,967

Mary Vojtko“Death of an Adjunct”

Resistance and Organisation

Unions

Adjunct Action Network• Metropolitan-Focused Organizing Strategy

• SEIU: 10 Cities– Washington DC: 22,000 Organized– Boston

•Faculty Forward •February 4 Boston University)

– Los Angeles• United Steelworkers: Philadelphia• AFT: Pittsburgh

Solidarity

National Adjunct Walkout Day25 February

•#NADW•@nationaladjunct•nationaladjunct.tumblr.com/

• The Adjunct Project– http://adjunct.chronicle.com/

• Coalition of Contingent Academic Labor– http://cocalinternational.org/

• New Faculty Majority– www,newfacultymajority.infor

• Adjunct Action Network– http://adjunctaction.org

• Academic Workers for a Democratic Union– www,awdu.net

Sources:• http://www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat/2013/11/19/

adjunct_professor_job_mobility_why_it_s_hard_for_contingent_faculty_to_find.html• http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/education/2013/11/

death_of_duquesne_adjunct_margaret_mary_vojtko_what_really_happened_to_her.html• http://adjunctaction.org • http://www.slate.com/articles/life/counter_narrative/2014/01/

adjunct_crisis_in_higher_ed_an_all_too_familiar_story_for_black_faculty.html• https://chroniclevitae.com/news/292-an-alarming-snapshot-of-adjunct-labor?cid=at• http://www.npr.org/2012/05/15/152751116/why-so-many-ph-d-s-are-on-food-stamps• https://chronicle.com/article/From-Graduate-School-to/131795/• http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2013/04/20134119156459616.html• http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/08/education/gap-in-university-faculty-pay-continues-to-grow-report-finds.html?_r=3&• http://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2013/12/the-worst-time-of-the-year-to-be-an-adjunct-professor/282314/• http://adjunctaction.org/faq-2/• https://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2015/02/05/nlrb-remands-decisions-3-catholic-colleges• https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2015/02/04/adjunct-professors-vote-join-union/ZFda3byVWQKK0YrPaFaWOK/story.html• http://chronicle.com/article/As-Part-Time-Faculty-Wait-for/136723/?cid=oh&utm_source=oh&utm_m• http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2012/08/2012820102749246453.html• http://www.aaup.org/our-work/coalitions/about-coalition-contingent-academic-labor• http://www.aaup.org/issues/contingency/contingent-faculty-collective-bargaining• http://vimeo.com/37920244• http://www.academicworkforce.org/CAW_portrait_2012.pdf • http://chronicle.com/article/In-Academe-the-Future-Is-Part/148489/• http://chronicle.com/article/Power-in-Numbers/145863/?cid=longform-related• http://chronicle.com/article/OveruseAbuse-of-Adjuncts/143951/• http://chronicle.com/article/Adjuncts-Gain-Traction-With/144343/• https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2014/10/28/tufts-adjuncts-tout-pay-and-job-security-gains-first-union-contract• http://www.salon.com/2014/02/16/the_wal_mart_ization_of_higher_education_how_young_professors_are_getting_screwed/• http://chronicle.com/article/Grad-School-Debt-Is-Said-to/145539/• http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/nov/18/loan-student-debt-zero-free-tuition• http://america.aljazeera.com/opinions/2014/10/for-profit-collegestuitionhighereducationstudentloans.html• http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2013/10/23/charts-just-how-fast-has-college-tuition-grown• http://www.forbes.com/sites/specialfeatures/2013/08/07/how-the-college-debt-is-crippling-students-parents-and-the-economy/• http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2014-11-13/college-tuition-in-the-u-s-again-rises-faster-than-inflation• http://www.theguardian.com/higher-education-network/blog/2014/jun/20/why-no-value-place-on-teaching-experience-uk-universities• http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rj-eskow/liberate-41-million-ameri_b_6547510.html• http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/11/13/college-student-debt-states_n_6146242.html• http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/19/education/study-links-growth-in-student-debt-to-pay-for-university-presidents.html?hp&_r=0• http://www.salon.com/2014/06/08/

colleges_are_full_of_it_behind_the_three_decade_scheme_to_raise_tuition_bankrupt_generations_and_hypnotize_the_media/ • https://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2014/10/06/national-adjunct-walkout-day-planned• https://www.jacobinmag.com/2014/08/students-at-the-barricades/ • https://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2014/08/01/student-debt-relief-adjuncts-bill