Conclusion

Abstract

While scholarship addressing contingent faculty positions tends to lump all non-tenure track jobs together, we realize the complexities of teaching and working off the tenure track. Many off-the-tenure-track faculty members move back and forth between and among positions, especially those who accept adjunct positions both while in graduate school and between degrees. We have heard from contingent faculty members who are quite happy with their current jobs, but of course there are many others who are frustrated and rapidly burning out. The commodification of teaching and accompanying marginalization of a large instructional workforce paints a bleak picture of contingent labor and the repercussions for students; by publishing this work, we do not intend to dismiss the realities of contingent labor incongruities or undermine discussions regarding labor supply and demand inequities. We are in no way advocating that contingent faculty members must be required to publish, serve on additional committees, or increase workload.