Chapter 8: The Precarious Position of Adjunct Professors

The COVID-19 pandemic has had an unprecedented impact on our society, one that has not been seen since the Spanish Flu of the early 20th century. However, while not as deadly (as of this chapter’s writing), this pandemic has shown us how fragile many aspects of our society, and indeed ourselves, really are. Many institutions of American society have been impacted for better or worse.

The COVID-19 virus (also known as the coronavirus) has affected all people but has had a particularly detrimental effect on historically marginalized groups. The working poor are specifically impacted by the closing of the businesses that provided their income. This book will focus on many historically dispossessed groups: LGBTQ, racial minorities, the underclass, and so forth. One group that is not often thought about in those conversations are professors, specifically adjunct professors, or contingent faculty. For this chapter, adjuncts are anyone who lectures in higher education but receives an appointment from semester to semester and are paid per class that they teach while often receiving few benefits (healthcare, retirement, etc.).