Via a friend on Facebook and The Guardian:
…as an adjunct professor, whether teaching undergraduate or law-school courses, I make much less than a pet-sitter earns.
Click the link to see more: I am an adjunct professor who teaches five classes. I earn less than a pet-sitter | Lee Hall | Comment is free | The Guardian
Points:
- “I receive no benefits, no office, no phone or stipend for the basic communication demands of teaching.”
- “Some writers have discussed adjuncts waiting tables or bagging groceries alongside their students as though it’s the ultimate degradation. I see things differently. I’m trained by the people who deliver parcels, serve meals and bag groceries and who might, any day, apply to take my courses. I am their equal, and I know it at a level most established faculty members do not.”
- “Faculty members do not even interact with each other as equals. Most adjuncts aren’t included in regular faculty meetings, let alone conferences where ideas are exchanged and explored.”
Some thoughts: I am an adjunct as well. However, I lost interest in becoming a faculty member after spending time in the workforce. I discovered the same rewards in terms of developing people and making the world a better place.
- I’m an adjunct for the purpose of investing myself in people’s futures. I used to think the same way as the writer until I learned how to regard other forms of work as bringing value to this world.
- The essay’s tone gives the impression of dismissing pet-sitting, for example, as if it’s of less worth. I’m probably taking it wrong because the writer doesn’t elaborate much on the significance of his statement about seeing those who wait tables as equals.
- My impression is the writer might want to help us recalibrate our attitude toward work. Pet-sitting provides value to the dogs’ owners as do other occupations that don’t seem as exalted as faculty positions. I think Mike Rowe would agree.
- The book Shopcraft as Soulcraft has similar observations. All work is noble. For those who put stock in the Good Book, work came before the Fall, so it’s of God.
- There are fields where teachers’ skills are useful, but if the writer absolutely has to teach (I couldn’t tell if he was an attorney or just a law degree holder), becoming a trainer can be a less stressful and more rewarding path. I know trainers to make at least $1000 per day to teach a 3 day course, and they don’t have to grade papers.
- Talent development (the latest buzzword for training and development) can be a rewarding path. Penn has even tailored an Ed.D. for that career path.
- I think there really are alternatives the writer may have overlooked that would give him self-actualization and fiscal rewards.
- I get that a focus of the essay is on benefits and fair wages for adjuncts, but I doubt that would ever come to pass given today’s economics of higher education.
- The real service to adjuncts may, therefore, need to include help in identifying how their skills can apply in different career paths.