> Skip to content
FEATURED:
  • The Evolution of Race in Admissions
Sign In
  • News
  • Advice
  • The Review
  • Data
  • Current Issue
  • Virtual Events
  • Store
    • Featured Products
    • Reports
    • Data
    • Collections
    • Back Issues
    • Featured Products
    • Reports
    • Data
    • Collections
    • Back Issues
  • Jobs
    • Find a Job
    • Post a Job
    • Career Resources
    • Find a Job
    • Post a Job
    • Career Resources
Sign In
  • News
  • Advice
  • The Review
  • Data
  • Current Issue
  • Virtual Events
  • Store
    • Featured Products
    • Reports
    • Data
    • Collections
    • Back Issues
    • Featured Products
    • Reports
    • Data
    • Collections
    • Back Issues
  • Jobs
    • Find a Job
    • Post a Job
    • Career Resources
    • Find a Job
    • Post a Job
    • Career Resources
  • News
  • Advice
  • The Review
  • Data
  • Current Issue
  • Virtual Events
  • Store
    • Featured Products
    • Reports
    • Data
    • Collections
    • Back Issues
    • Featured Products
    • Reports
    • Data
    • Collections
    • Back Issues
  • Jobs
    • Find a Job
    • Post a Job
    • Career Resources
    • Find a Job
    • Post a Job
    • Career Resources
Sign In
ADVERTISEMENT
The Review
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • Show more sharing options
Share
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • Facebook
  • Email
  • Copy Link URLCopied!
  • Print

What Do Adjuncts Want? Respect and Support

April 22, 2012

To the Editor:

Perry Glasser is right: no teaching career was promised to Joshua A. Boldt (“Who’s to Blame? The Adjunct?” The Chronicle, April 1). But Mr. Glasser’s approach is rather disappointing.

“The fact that 70 percent of all sections are being taught by underpaid adjuncts may be a shame and is undoubtedly exploitive, but it is no secret,” he writes. But what Mr. Boldt’s Adjunct Project attempts to reveal is the depth and variation of that exploitation. Changing exploitative conditions starts with quantifying what the conditions are.

We’re sorry. Something went wrong.

We are unable to fully display the content of this page.

The most likely cause of this is a content blocker on your computer or network. Please make sure your computer, VPN, or network allows javascript and allows content to be delivered from c950.chronicle.com and chronicle.blueconic.net.

Once javascript and access to those URLs are allowed, please refresh this page. You may then be asked to log in, create an account if you don't already have one, or subscribe.

If you continue to experience issues, contact us at 202-466-1032 or help@chronicle.com

To the Editor:

Perry Glasser is right: no teaching career was promised to Joshua A. Boldt (“Who’s to Blame? The Adjunct?” The Chronicle, April 1). But Mr. Glasser’s approach is rather disappointing.

“The fact that 70 percent of all sections are being taught by underpaid adjuncts may be a shame and is undoubtedly exploitive, but it is no secret,” he writes. But what Mr. Boldt’s Adjunct Project attempts to reveal is the depth and variation of that exploitation. Changing exploitative conditions starts with quantifying what the conditions are.

“Had he performed due diligence on the marketability of a master’s degree in English, he’d have learned there’s a glut in the market,” Mr. Glasser says. Translation: It’s the adjunct’s own fault. Putting the responsibility solely on the adjuncts—well, that’s easy, isn’t it? It’s blaming the unemployed or underemployed, not the structure that encourages and facilitates the situation. That way the colleges who hire adjuncts aren’t the problem, and full-time faculty members who get to avoid teaching those pesky “lower level” courses aren’t the problem. (How many composition classes is Professor Glasser teaching this semester as a tenured faculty member at Salem State University? Zero, according to the university’s Web site.) No, it’s clearly the adjuncts. How’s that different from blaming illegal immigrants for working in the U.S. illegally, rather than blaming the companies that hire them?

Professor Glasser is right that “nothing about a teaching career was promised” to Mr. Boldt. But as adjuncts are now the majority of instructors, why is Mr. Glasser so threatened by the idea of solidarity? After all, isn’t that what has solidified his benefits, his tenure, his stability of employment? Why does he feel it’s appropriate to bash adjuncts doing the same?

ADVERTISEMENT

Adjuncts don’t jump into teaching with any sense of entitlement or demand (nor is what we’re claiming now an “entitlement”). We find our ways into it, often unexpectedly: sometimes for supplemental income, sometimes because opportunities arise, and sometimes because we fall in love with teaching as a result of TA’ing in grad school. Regardless, most of us aren’t necessarily looking for full-time tenured positions like Mr. Glasser’s.

But we would like a few reasonable things that many don’t see as horribly extreme.

We would like respect and support from our institutions. We’d like respect from the full-time faculty members, since we’re doing the jobs they won’t, but also because we’re often working just as hard, if not harder. I’ve regularly taught five to seven courses a semester on top of publishing articles and working other jobs. All the while, I’ve received regular disdain from faculty members (though not all faculty members) at Mr. Glasser’s university (yes, I taught at Salem State as an adjunct).

We would also like more and better support—in terms of payment, stability, and benefits—from our institutions. I’d like payment that represents the work I do in a way that doesn’t have me comparing my per-hour pay to that of someone getting paid less than minimum wage. And if I’m an adjunct at a college for three-plus years, I think some sense of stability should be afforded me. That I don’t know if I will be rehired from semester to semester is insulting and reflects poorly on a college supposedly so invested in its students.

Also, if I’ve taught at a college for three-plus years, I should be afforded some benefits, such as discounted education—so maybe I can get a degree for a field that is less exploitative.

ADVERTISEMENT

Lance Eaton
Peabody, Mass.

We welcome your thoughts and questions about this article. Please email the editors or submit a letter for publication.
Opinion
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
  • Explore
    • Get Newsletters
    • Letters
    • Free Reports and Guides
    • Blogs
    • Virtual Events
    • Chronicle Store
    • Find a Job
    Explore
    • Get Newsletters
    • Letters
    • Free Reports and Guides
    • Blogs
    • Virtual Events
    • Chronicle Store
    • Find a Job
  • The Chronicle
    • About Us
    • DEI Commitment Statement
    • Write for Us
    • Talk to Us
    • Work at The Chronicle
    • User Agreement
    • Privacy Policy
    • California Privacy Policy
    • Site Map
    • Accessibility Statement
    The Chronicle
    • About Us
    • DEI Commitment Statement
    • Write for Us
    • Talk to Us
    • Work at The Chronicle
    • User Agreement
    • Privacy Policy
    • California Privacy Policy
    • Site Map
    • Accessibility Statement
  • Customer Assistance
    • Contact Us
    • Advertise With Us
    • Post a Job
    • Advertising Terms and Conditions
    • Reprints & Permissions
    • Do Not Sell My Personal Information
    Customer Assistance
    • Contact Us
    • Advertise With Us
    • Post a Job
    • Advertising Terms and Conditions
    • Reprints & Permissions
    • Do Not Sell My Personal Information
  • Subscribe
    • Individual Subscriptions
    • Institutional Subscriptions
    • Subscription & Account FAQ
    • Manage Newsletters
    • Manage Your Account
    Subscribe
    • Individual Subscriptions
    • Institutional Subscriptions
    • Subscription & Account FAQ
    • Manage Newsletters
    • Manage Your Account
1255 23rd Street, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20037
© 2023 The Chronicle of Higher Education
  • twitter
  • instagram
  • youtube
  • facebook
  • linkedin