Erin Marie Andro
Published: 2021
Total Pages: 138
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Many researchers have documented an increase in adjunct faculty members due to the increasing amount of people going to college (Jacobsohn 2001; Schell and Stock 2001), the increase in the amount of people completing PhD programs and needing employment (Anson and Jewell 2001; Schell and Stok 2001), and the increase in universities needing cheaper labor (Dobbie and Robinson 2008; Gappa and Leslie 1993; Jacobsohn 2001; Schell and Stock 2001). This growing group of faculty in the university is characterized by lack of representation in department decisions, lower pay, lack of benefits, and poor job security (Anson and Jewell 2001; Jacobsohn 2001; Lipson and Voorheis 2001; Peled et al. 2001; O'Grady 2001; Wyles 1998). In this research I asked: how do adjunct faculty perceive their work, how do adjunct faculty perceive their positionality in the university, and how do adjunct faculty who support unionization differ from adjunct faculty who are against unionization? I found that adjunct faculty felt their job was to bring specialized knowledge, skills, and work experience into the classroom. They also felt their purpose was to fill gaps in teaching and to be cheap labor for the university. Adjuncts described their working conditions as isolated. They talked about how they were isolated because they had no interactions with other people in their departments, they were excluded from department meetings, and they received little to no feedback on their work. Their isolation made them feel invisible and insignificant in their departments. Finally, I found three groups of adjuncts, those who were pro unionization, unsure about unionization, and mostly against unionization. Those who were unionized hoped a union would bring them better pay, job security, an organized voice, and someone to fight for them. Those unsure about unionization acknowledged that unionization would be good for adjuncts who rely as their sole source of income, they felt the union would not be beneficial for them, and they had a lot more questions about unionization before they could decide. Only three participants in my sample were mostly opposed to adjunct unionization. My hope for this research is that it can be used to improve the working conditions of adjunct faculty members.