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[exploitedadjunct]

Today, I suddenly realized, after being rejected for another full-time, tenure-track position, that my adjuncting is no different from working at a car wash, a burger joint, or a local WalMart.

It's a dead-end. It pays this month or next month's bills, but it will never result in anything permanent. I have been an adjunct for three years—despite being published, I am marked for exploitation. It will be harder and harder with each passing year to attain meaningful employment.

There are only two options: 1) accept I am a wage slave or 2) find another career and work as an adjunct until I am able to transition out of academia.

I was trained for one job, and one job only—the professoriat. The center cannot hold. Many of us will have to abandon our careers and redefine ourselves as independent scholars. Or teach part-time as a hobby, like a yoga instructor at the Y on weekends. Or jettison it altogether.

Academia has become a limbo for fools and masochists.

[sciencephd]

Do go on....

[exploitedadjunct]

Do go on....

What is there left to say?

No self-pity here. I could whine about struggling for my Ph.D. (and finally earning it), juggling my responsibilities as a father and a husband, and agonizing over my inability to climb into the safety of tenured employment.

But why bother? 

Two decisions: 1) stay and lose hope with each passing year or 2) get out gradually.

That's it.

I guess there is one other option—go hardcore union and demand equal pay for equal work. But is that really an option?

[inthelab]

What's your field?  You might want to consider teaching high school; AP and and IB classes are college-level; in my neck of the woods many HS teachers out-earn college profs.

[born2late]

I'm beginning to think I'm in the same boat. I've not gotten a single word from any apps. Ever.

[mathguy]

Exploitedad,


You have correctly assessed the situation.

Generally speaking, adjuncting in academia is indeed a dead-end job. There are more possibilities for career advancement working at McDonalds (busboy -> cook/cashier -> store manager -> district-wide manager) than there are for adjuncts in academia. As you know, adjunct are treated as disposable slave labor in academia.

Unless a person has a COMPELLING reason(s) to be an adjunct, I see no reason why he/she should spend their best working years (in terms of earning wages) as a slave.


Mathguy
Ph.D. Lecturer (Adjunct)

Today, I suddenly realized, after being rejected for another full-time, tenure-track position, that my adjuncting is no different from working at a car wash, a burger joint, or a local WalMart.

It's a dead-end. It pays this month or next month's bills, but it will never result in anything permanent. I have been an adjunct for three years—despite being published, I am marked for exploitation. It will be harder and harder with each passing year to attain meaningful employment.

There are only two options: 1) accept I am a wage slave or 2) find another career and work as an adjunct until I am able to transition out of academia.

I was trained for one job, and one job only—the professoriat. The center cannot hold. Many of us will have to abandon our careers and redefine ourselves as independent scholars. Or teach part-time as a hobby, like a yoga instructor at the Y on weekends. Or jettison it altogether.

Academia has become a limbo for fools and masochists.

[educator1]

You have it wrong, and right.

You are correct in stating that adjuncting is not a bridge to other employment.

You are wrong in equating it to a McJob. That term is generally used for jobs held by individuals that have such a poor education (usually HS dropouts) that they do not qualify for anything else and are thus desperate for ANY job. Non-TT types do not fall into that category. They are highly intelligent and highly educated and they DO have employment options. 

[king_ghidorah]

I have posted this now about five times in several threads like this one.  I am in (what I hope) is the last year of my PhD writing in absentia - I've been an adjunct for a year and a staff person for the last semester as I finish.  I will leave this business before getting caught on the adjunct treadmill if things don't workouy in, say, two years after finishing.

What I wonder, based on only a few situations I've seen, is about the dedication to finding jobs - the successful TT people I've known have flooded the job market during the entire job season, sometimes over a 100 applications, and sometimes for two years or more.  The return rate is maybe, if they are lucky, something like 2%.  But all it takes is one TT job then you can throw away the little hat and polyester shirt.

And I think, even given its limitations, that academic adjuncting is still an extremely respectable, even impressive job title - not everything is proven by money, after all.

[jackalope]

You have correctly assessed the situation.

Indeed. After one or two courses, adjuncting moves your farther from TT employment, not closer. Adjuncting a class now and then while you have another full time job (of any kind) is fine, but piecing together a living via adjuncting makes you look sad.

Far better to start on some alternative but hopefully related career. The new set of skills you learn will also make you a more attractive candidate for a TT job than if you had the scarlet letter A (for adjunct) on your forehead.

[zuzu_]

I just wanted to add that this is not necessarily true if you are looking for CC jobs. Teaching is all that matters, and adjuncting is teaching experience. While 20 years of adjuncting might raise a red flag, a candidate with five years of adjunct experience would be far more attractive than a fresh PhD.

You would, of course, need to present yourself in your application materials as someone with a passion for teaching.

[watermarkup]

Are you teaching full-time at one school, or are you stringing together part-time teaching assignments?

Have you been publishing regularly, or has it been impossible to find the time?

Have you gone to conferences and kept in touch with your field, or has it been too expensive for you to do that?

Are you able to support your family at the moment, or are you sliding into debt?

And what field are you in, anyway?

Depending on your answers, maybe you should stick with what you're good at for the time being, because right now is a really crummy time to be out of work. But if you're part-time, haven't been able to publish, and aren't able to make ends meet, then maybe it's time to try something else.

[exploitedadjunct]

Are you teaching full-time at one school, or are you stringing together part-time teaching assignments?

I teach three courses at a CC and one or two courses at a 4-year private institution.

Have you been publishing regularly, or has it been impossible to find the time?

Actually, I find it easy to publish. I had a major article accepted in a peer journal last year and I have contracts for two books, both of which should be ready for the publisher in late 2009. I write book reviews, columns, etc.
My main problem is location. My wife is a corporate attorney. I cannot move outside of my metropolitan area.

Have you gone to conferences and kept in touch with your field, or has it been too expensive for you to do that?

Conferences are a weakness for me—not so much the expense, but the exhaustion of prepping another paper on top of my teaching responsibilities and my writing. That is a vulnerability for me.

Are you able to support your family at the moment, or are you sliding into debt?

Nope, no debt, just the discomfort of being underpaid.

And what field are you in, anyway?

Film Studies, groan. Ah, the humanities. What a farce.

Depending on your answers, maybe you should stick with what you're good at for the time being, because right now is a really crummy time to be out of work. But if you're part-time, haven't been able to publish, and aren't able to make ends meet, then maybe it's time to try something else.

I plan to keep teaching, but I am now actively researching jobs that have nothing to do with my Ph.D. Again, I rebel against wage slavery. I don't like being exploited.

My crime was to assume a meritocracy existed. Hahahahahahahahahahaha!

[exploitedadjunct]

I just wanted to add that this is not necessarily true if you are looking for CC jobs. Teaching is all that matters, and adjuncting is teaching experience. While 20 years of adjuncting might raise a red flag, a candidate with five years of adjunct experience would be far more attractive than a fresh PhD.

You would, of course, need to present yourself in your application materials as someone with a passion for teaching.

I would love to work full-time for a CC. I would like to believe that my teaching record at my current CC would make me an attractive candidate. But you never know...

[patchouli]

Unfortunately, there are hundreds of applicants--I'm not saying it couldn't happen, but the odds are still very low . . .

I just wanted to add that this is not necessarily true if you are looking for CC jobs. Teaching is all that matters, and adjuncting is teaching experience. While 20 years of adjuncting might raise a red flag, a candidate with five years of adjunct experience would be far more attractive than a fresh PhD.

You would, of course, need to present yourself in your application materials as someone with a passion for teaching.

[zuzu_]

I just wanted to add that this is not necessarily true if you are looking for CC jobs. Teaching is all that matters, and adjuncting is teaching experience. While 20 years of adjuncting might raise a red flag, a candidate with five years of adjunct experience would be far more attractive than a fresh PhD.

You would, of course, need to present yourself in your application materials as someone with a passion for teaching.

I would love to work full-time for a CC. I would like to believe that my teaching record at my current CC would make me an attractive candidate. But you never know...

Are you credentialed to teach English Comp? (18 grad credit hours in English courses?) I bet you could get a job in a CC English department. I teach English, and I am able to incorporate quite a bit of Film Studies into my courses. There is (relative to other humanities fields) a big demand for comp teachers.

Perhaps you should focus your job search (and application materials) on CCs. Be sure to read this series on articles on CHE: http://chronicle.com/jobs/news/archives/columns/the_twoyear_track/

If you are geographically mobile, and if you don't come off as a research snob in your cover letter, I think you would be a strong candidate for a CC position in English. And I have been around the block with the CC English job search, both as an applicant and SC member.