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15 Nov 2016
Brief

The Shifting Academic Workforce: Where Are the Contingent Faculty?

Steven Hurlburt, Delta Cost Project/AIR
Michael McGarrah, AIR

Contingent faculty—that is, full- and part-time instructors not on the tenure track—now comprise the majority of all faculty at U.S. colleges and universities. This shift in the academic workforce is well documented; what is less understood is the concentration of contingent faculty at different institutional types, the nature of their contracts, and how student outcomes are affected by the shift.

There is widespread concern about job security, working conditions, and diminished future prospects for contingent faculty, particularly among part-time contingent (adjunct) faculty, as well as the potential effects of this trend upon student learning.

With the collaboration and support of the TIAA Institute, AIR presents a profile of the contingent workforce, examining the number and percentage of non-tenure-track faculty at colleges and universities based on a variety of institutional characteristics. The first of a two-part series, the goal of this brief, The Shifting Academic Workforce: Where Are the Contingent Faculty?, is to provide a more comprehensive understanding of the landscape surrounding changes to the academic workforce, and to identify whether contingent faculty are more likely to be employed in certain types of institutions.

The second brief will evaluate how the concentration of contingent faculty—and the changing concentration of these faculty—relate to various measures of institutional spending.

Key Findings

  • Contingent faculty have increasingly joined the academic workforce across all types of institutions. By 2013, contingent faculty accounted for at least half of all instructional faculty across all types of institutions.
  • Part-time positions of one year or less make up the largest share of non-tenure-track positions at all types of institutions. The employment status of these non-tenure-track contingent faculty is tenuous, allowing institutions to hire and relieve most of their contingent instructional staff relatively quickly over a short period of time.
  • Contingent faculty have substituted for tenure or tenure-track faculty in most types of institutions.
  • Colleges and universities with higher shares of students at risk of noncompletion also have higher shares of contingent faculty, particularly among private four-year institutions.
PDF icon The Shifting Academic Workforce: Where Are the Contingent Faculty? (PDF)

Related Centers

Center

Delta Cost Project

The need for a college education is more important than ever, but the barriers mount as a result of rising tuition costs and dramatic declines in state support. With all eyes on college affordability, the Delta Cost Project makes a unique contribution to the dialogue by focusing on how colleges spend their money.

Related Work

30 Nov 2016
Brief

Cost Savings or Cost Shifting? The Relationship Between Part-Time Contingent Faculty and Institutional Spending

Colleges and universities are relying heavily on contingent faculty to increase flexibility and reduce costs, yet little is known about whether such savings actually result in lower overall costs or if the money saved on instruction is being spent in other areas. This brief documents the financial trade-offs being made by institutions as they hire more part-time contingent faculty.
Topic: 
Higher Education and Career Readiness, Higher Education
5 Feb 2014
Infographic

Delta-Cost-part-time-vsfull-time-infographic-01.png

Delta Cost Report: Increased reliance on part-time college faculty

Increased Reliance on Part-Time College Faculty

Using data from the Delta Cost project, this infographic shows the increasing rate of part-time faculty and instructors in higher education over the period 1990-2012.
Topic: 
Higher Education, P-12 Education and Social Development
1 Feb 2017
Spotlight

Spotlight on Contingent Faculty

Colleges and universities are relying heavily on contingent faculty to increase flexibility and reduce costs. These resources explore this trend to determine where contingent faculty are most often hired and savings actually result in lower overall costs.
Topic: 
Adult Learning and the Workforce, Higher Education

Further Reading

  • Cost Savings or Cost Shifting? The Relationship Between Part-Time Contingent Faculty and Institutional Spending
  • Spotlight on Contingent Faculty
  • Trade-offs of Increasing Contingent Faculty
  • Colleges Increasingly Use Contingent Faculty to Cut Costs, but Savings are Modest When Accounting for Compensation of All Employees
  • Infographic Series: The Non-Tenured Majority
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Steven Hurlburt

Steven Hurlburt

Senior Researcher

Topic

Higher Education and Career Readiness
Higher Education

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