"When I was first hired as an adjunct at a public university in a large metropolitan area, I assumed my credentials would speak for themselves. I had earned a master's degree at an Ivy League institution, studied with one of the most prominent sociolinguists in the field, and was a PhD candidate at a nationally recognized graduate program. My department chair at the time even said they were impressed by my experience."
"But a year later, when the course I taught was no longer available, I asked the chair about teaching the department's introduction to writing course. Their response stunned me: They weren't sure I was qualified. It didn't matter that I was already teaching college-level courses, producing advanced academic writing, and training in a rigorous program. What mattered was power. And in academia, adjuncts don't have it."
"That moment made visible the structural exploitation so many of us live with as so-called contingent faculty. Adjuncts are treated as temporary labor-our expertise doubted, our pay kept low, our futures uncertain-while the institutions that rely on our work pretend this system is sustainable. We are asked to provide the same intellectual labor and student support as full-time faculty while being told, implicitly and explicitly, that we are disposable."
An adjunct with an Ivy League master's, study under a leading sociolinguist, and PhD candidacy assumed credentials would secure teaching assignments. After a course ended, a department chair expressed uncertainty about qualifications for an introductory writing course despite existing college teaching and rigorous training. Institutional power, not credentials, determined access to assignments. The experience revealed structural exploitation of contingent faculty: expertise is doubted, pay remains low, and futures are uncertain while institutions rely on adjunct labor. By meeting a new chair, asserting qualifications, research, and teaching value, the adjunct secured an invitation to design and teach an upper-level course.
Read at Non Profit News | Nonprofit Quarterly
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