Rutgers’ adjunct professors deserve equal pay for equal work | Opinion

[Tango Two]

Rutgers’ adjunct professors deserve equal pay for equal work | Opinion

Part-time lecturers do just as much work as full-time faculty but are paid an unlivable wage.

www.nj.com

 

[retired711]

Rutgers’ adjunct professors deserve equal pay for equal work | Opinion

Part-time lecturers do just as much work as full-time faculty but are paid an unlivable wage.

www.nj.com

I agree that adjuncts are treated badly. But full-time faculty are expected to do research (good luck getting tenure, promotion or merit raises without it) and adjuncts are not.

 

[srru86]

I agree that adjuncts are treated badly. But full-time faculty are expected to do research (good luck getting tenure, promotion or merit raises without it) and adjuncts are not.

Agreed that adjunct faculty are treated rather shabbily (not just at Rutgers).
But comparing the two groups because they both teach classes misses a lot.

The example from the article of the one that was both tenure and adjunct and did the same thing in both roles might explain why they are no longer on the tenure track.

People don't voluntarily leave the tenure track if they want to still be academics. It would be like leaving a civil service job to take a similar private sector job.

Happens, but rare.

 

[retired711]

[snip]

People don't voluntarily leave the tenure track if they want to still be academics. It would be like leaving a civil service job to take a similar private sector job.

Happens, but rare.

People do make that move, but they do it because they are going to make a lot more money in the private sector.

 

[srru86]

People do make that move, but they do it because they are going to make a lot more money in the private sector.

Oh yes, if they want to leave the academic world and go to industry, certainly.
Of course not every field has a high paying private analog to the academy.
An adjunct with a Phd in the humanities is in a very different situation over a marketer or computer science prof. I think the heat around this topic is generated more by the former.

 

[retired711]

Oh yes, if they want to leave the academic world and go to industry, certainly.
Of course not every field has a high paying private analog to the academy.
An adjunct with a Phd in the humanities is in a very different situation over a marketer or computer science prof. I think the heat around this topic is generated more by the former.

You're correct.The result is that there are folks with a Ph.D. in the humanities who are stringing together multiple adjunct gigs. It doesn't work well, just as you'd expect. Many of those Ph.Ds could get decent jobs in the private sector because their research and writing skills are useful (and having earned a Ph.D. shows that someone has energy and stick-to-it-ivness) but you're certainly right that they're not going to do as well as someone in a STEM, business or legal field.