contingent faculty

Definition

The polite term for the academic underclass - adjuncts, lecturers, and non-tenure-track instructors who now teach the majority of college courses while receiving a fraction of the pay and zero job security. The gig economy, PhD edition.

Example Usage

As contingent faculty, I teach at three institutions, earn less than $30,000 a year, and have no office or health insurance.

Origin

Labor relations terminology adopted by higher education in 1990s-2000s

Fun Fact

Contingent faculty now comprise over 70% of all instructional staff in U.S. higher education, a dramatic shift from the 1970s when most college instructors were tenure-track

Source: Higher education labor and employment terminology

Related Terms

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The phenomenon where students who enter an academic program together share characteristics and outcomes that differ from other groups, making it tricky to determine if changes are due to the program or just that particular batch of humans. Basically, statistical proof that Year-of-the-Rat kids might actually be different from Year-of-the-Ox kids.

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subject matter expert

An SME—someone with deep knowledge in a specific field who consultants or course designers collaborate with for content accuracy. It's a fancy title for "the person who actually knows what they're talking about" while others design around them.

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learning styles

The widely-promoted but scientifically-debunked theory that students learn better when instruction matches their preferred modality (visual, auditory, kinesthetic). Education's horoscope: personally appealing, pedagogically useless, yet immortal in faculty development workshops.

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teaching dinosaur

A tenured professor who refuses to update teaching methods or course content, still using yellowed lecture notes from decades ago and dismissing pedagogical innovations. They survived the academic meteor but haven't evolved with changing educational landscapes.

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paper mill

A commercial service that sells pre-written or custom academic papers to students for plagiarism purposes, ranging from high school essays to doctoral dissertations. These academic black markets undermine integrity while proving remarkably difficult to prosecute.

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Office Hours

Designated times when professors sit in their offices waiting for students who will never come, creating the academic equivalent of a birthday party no one attends. The three students who do show up are either lost, need a letter of recommendation, or are crying.

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