The American Federation of Teachers reports that an alarming number of adjunct faculty members are scraping by on poverty wages: Nearly 25 percent rely on public assistance to survive, and a whopping 40 percent have trouble covering basic household expenses. The April 2020 report, “An Army of Temps: AFT 2020 Adjunct Faculty Quality of Work/Life Report,” debunks the idea of college professors as well-established, stably employed and highly-respected intellectuals and unveils the truth: Part-time and contingent faculty are among the most vulnerable workers, members of a gig economy that offers little job security and none of the prestige so often associated with university professors.
