The Life of College Adjunct Faculty is Challenging

Many folks I know are employed at colleges in California as adjunct faculty. I’ve been surprised by the bemused expressions on their faces when I ask what the job is like. It seemed like my friends are of two minds about their careers in the teaching profession. This is a growth industry. Shouldn’t it be good to get a jig like this? I want to know.

Part-time and adjunct faculty are now an average of 49 percent of the faculty at post-secondary institutions in the United States. In California community colleges approximately 49,000 adjuncts were employed last year. Colleges are turning to adjunct faculty to reduce teaching labor costs, improve staffing flexibility, and quickly alter faculty numbers. The work life of these adjuncts can be rough, facing a lack of job stability and reduced benefits. The increasing employment of adjunct teaching faculty with low pay and minimal job security presents a problem of disillusionment and dissatisfaction for these folks.

Last year I began a study of job satisfaction with adjunct teaching faculty in California community colleges. I believe maintaining job satisfaction in adjunct faculty is important. Dissatisfied employees are likely to have low morale. I discovered that some individuals have low job satisfaction but remain in their jobs. Some folks have attachments on the job that keep them, including perceived job fit, links with people, and sacrifices required for leaving. Some stay with their institutions even under conditions where they would desire to leave and experience high levels of dissatisfaction.

Community Colleges in California

In 1901, Joliet Junior College opened its doors as the first public community college in the United States. Junior colleges served to prepare students for obtaining work or continuing into 4-year universities by offering two years of academic coursework; the term community college emerged in the 1940s. Junior colleges served the multiple missions of collegiate preparation, vocational preparedness, and terminal school experience.

The junior college system was partially seen as an alternative to higher education to prepare students for vocations. The evolution of the services provided by community colleges changed organically and mostly unplanned, eventually becoming institutions with diverse curriculum. Currently, community colleges offer transfer courses, occupational courses, and continuing education, and represent an integral part of higher education in the United States. The number, size, and enrollment of community colleges have increased since 1901. Almost one-half of all undergraduates in the United States start at a community college.

California enacted the district junior college law, in 1921, permitting the formation of districts to govern junior colleges. California Community Colleges offer a wide range of educational offerings, including employment training, basic English and math courses, preparation for transfer to four-year institutions, and certificate programs. The California Community Colleges system mission was further expanded in 1996 to include economic and community development programs. Currently, California community colleges lead the nation in numbers of campuses and students enrolled in 114 colleges serving 2.4 million students.

Changes have increased instability and pressures on California community colleges, including an increase in the number of community college student enrollments. Since the great recession of 2009, federal and state appropriations have declined, and community college enrollments have risen, exerting pressure on administrators to take additional steps to meet demands. Pressures on community colleges have increased with more demand for post-secondary education. For all these reasons, community college administrations will continue hiring adjunct teaching faculty at high rates.

Adjunct Faculty

Adjunct faculty members are postsecondary employees who teach on a contract contingent basis. Adjunct faculty may work part-time, full-time, or on a piece-work basis, and they often are not supposed to have the same workload and responsibilities as tenure-track faculty. Adjunct faculty members are increasing as an overall percentage of staffing at community colleges, while confronting feelings of disengagement.

At the present time, tenured faculty appointments are declining, with non-tenure positions on the rise. These changes are expected to continue with a growth of 13% in these faculty positions projected through 2024. The differing treatment between contingent and standard employees have consequences on perceptions of job security, cooperation, and other organizational behaviors.

Adjunct faculty must produce much of the same work output as full-time faculty, while adapting themselves to feelings of isolation, disconnection, and other sources of dissatisfaction including lack of respect and feelings of being undervalued. Job insecurity is a large worry for adjunct staff. The outcomes of low levels of self-efficacy include job dissatisfaction, emotional exhaustion, and burnout.

Job Satisfaction on Campus

As I mentioned, my friends are employed by community colleges, and many of them plan to stay on the job. Some say they want to leave but need to stay. I’ve been told that the job is bad, but the students and fellow employees are wonderful. So I again and again see mixed feeling about doing this job. Positive findings can include some adjuncts reporting feelings of satisfaction around job flexibility and interactions with students.

Some adjunct faculty report lack of support, which creates problems in the teaching tasks. While feeling under-supported, they still devote more than the required time to support the students. Adjunct faculty have expressed desires to improve their teaching but often don’t receive reliable feedback about their performance.

I will continue to try unraveling this complex skein. I contend that adjunct faculty seek to serve the students to the best of their ability, but find themselves in challenging circumstances. Adjunct faculty members are an increasingly important component of teaching in community colleges. It will benefit all of us if their teaching expertise is used wisely by college administrators.

To read more stories, visit me on Medium, and follow along my writing journey. To participate in a survey of California CC part-time faculty click here: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/ZD52YQV