This Atlantic story about how adjuncts are being treated in American colleges makes for a depressing read. They too have fallen victim to the gig economy
Nowhere has the up-classing of contingency work gone farther, ironically, than in one of the most educated and (back in the day) secure sectors of the workforce: college teachers. In 1969, almost 80 percent of college faculty members were tenure or tenure track. Today, the numbers have essentially flipped, with two-thirds of faculty now non-tenure and half of those working only part-time, often with several different teaching jobs.
The marketing machines that are these colleges are likely spending the bulk of their resources to "sell" the brand to prospective applicants and their parents. This is no different than any other retailer with goods too peddle. The rising cost of college tuition is going to pay for priorities that don't align with giving students the best possible education. To that end, college is becoming a time to focus on all manner of other goals apart from education. There is also the school of thought that college is not as useful anymore and should not be the only bridge between high school and real-life. Irrespective of the merits of college education, the perspectives on how a student can best utilize their time in college, few will disagree this math is deeply immoral and unfair
“each student paid $45,000 in tuition and took about 4 classes a semester.… I think their parents would be rather upset to learn that only $65 of the $45,000 went to pay one professor for an entire semester.”
Nowhere has the up-classing of contingency work gone farther, ironically, than in one of the most educated and (back in the day) secure sectors of the workforce: college teachers. In 1969, almost 80 percent of college faculty members were tenure or tenure track. Today, the numbers have essentially flipped, with two-thirds of faculty now non-tenure and half of those working only part-time, often with several different teaching jobs.
The marketing machines that are these colleges are likely spending the bulk of their resources to "sell" the brand to prospective applicants and their parents. This is no different than any other retailer with goods too peddle. The rising cost of college tuition is going to pay for priorities that don't align with giving students the best possible education. To that end, college is becoming a time to focus on all manner of other goals apart from education. There is also the school of thought that college is not as useful anymore and should not be the only bridge between high school and real-life. Irrespective of the merits of college education, the perspectives on how a student can best utilize their time in college, few will disagree this math is deeply immoral and unfair
“each student paid $45,000 in tuition and took about 4 classes a semester.… I think their parents would be rather upset to learn that only $65 of the $45,000 went to pay one professor for an entire semester.”
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