This phenomenological qualitative study has been designed to explore and describe the lived workplace experiences of adjunct faculty who have been employed for at least one academic year at a single district, multi-campus community college, and who are not seeking full-time employment. The focus of their lived workplace experiences is on their…

The importance of the study lies within the gap in practice where online education focuses primarily on the student experience and technology, leaving little focus on the successes and challenges of the instructors. The purpose of this basic qualitative study was to look at the perceptions of adjunct faculty towards the successes, challenges, and…

Sessional academic staff form most of the teaching staff cohort in Australian universities. The available literature supports that this important staff cohort often experience precarious and insecure work, restricted access to training, support and development, and limited opportunities for career progression (compared to their colleagues in…

This paper aims to further explore the impact of need and culture as they relate to orientation, training, development, and administrative policies on regional university adjunct faculty. The use of adjunct faculty has risen considerably over recent years making their university experience more relevant in today's higher education climate. Adjunct…

Adjunct faculty at colleges and universities in the U.S. are quickly outnumbering full-time faculty. This new faculty majority often struggles with low pay and sub-par working conditions. Recognizing this issue has a number of negative impacts for higher education, researchers at a comprehensive university in the southeastern United States…

In this brief, the authors argue that creating avenues to support VITAL faculty is an essential role for leaders within academic affairs, and particularly those in faculty affairs. While the authors review a host of supports needed, they argue for the importance of sustained professional development opportunities like faculty learning communities…

Institutional reliance on tenure-line faculty reached a historic low after the Great Recession in 2009, remaining at approximately a third of all faculty through 2022. Postsecondary institutions have steadily increased their reliance on full-time adjunct faculty over the last two decades. Part-time adjuncts, meanwhile, were hired in great numbers…

The problem addressed in this study was the negative impact salary has on adjunct faculty job satisfaction and under what conditions adjunct faculty experience job satisfaction in higher educational institutions in the United States. The purpose of this study was to explore adjunct faculty attitudes and perceptions of how salary impacts adjunct…

Objective: The purpose of this study was to describe the relationship between community college department chairs and their adjunct faculty. Methods: This was a descriptive phenomenological qualitative study that used individual semi-structured interviews of 14 department chairs from a purposive sample drawn from a midwestern community college.…

This article explores gendered day-to-day lived experiences of (relatively) marginalised teaching-only academic staff on insecure contracts through the lens of space and place. It stems from a collaborative auto-ethnography focusing on the experience of two UK early-career academics on temporary contracts (at the time of this research) who occupy…

Compassion satisfaction (CS) and compassion fatigue (CF) are well-documented phenomena within healthcare, representing the positive emotions derived from aiding others and the emotional strain of caring for those in distress (Figley, 1995; Stamm, 2010). This research addresses a gap literature regarding CS and CF in higher education, particularly…

Drawing on a case study of media technology, this article addresses theory-practice conflict in an educational work setting. This conflict is expressed in employment contracts and career opportunities and in how professional identity is made. We demonstrate how ideas about practical and theoretical knowledge are negotiated in the academic career…

This paper considers the state of contingent laborers, Ph.D. holders, lovers of robust scholarship, and hopeful academics who toil away in the neoliberal university in the search for the academic good life. The author argues that the academic good life is a fantasy and agrees that the fantasy is cruel, i.e. not attainable or livable, but does…

Adjuncts continue to be an integral part of higher education; however, they are rarely onboarded at higher education institutions. Onboarding involves systematically introducing a new employee to an organization's values, processes, and procedures. For adjuncts, they also need formalized training in pedagogy. Without onboarding adjuncts, higher…

Sessional staff are commonly excluded from opportunities which can enhance their professional development, despite being responsible for the majority of university teaching. For educators teaching in widening participation or enabling programs, this can create additional separation or feelings of being 'illegitimate'. This article interrupts such…