This report examines the changes, and the potential consequences of those changes, in the employment patterns of American academics, focusing specifically on the use of short-term and temporary instructors by postsecondary institutions. Following a brief introduction, the report describes shifts in hiring patterns of postsecondary institutions,…

Issues concerning the increasing use of part-time and adjunct faculty in higher education that must be addressed include the need for research on faculty work, jobs, and careers, and on the institutional setting for part-time employment; faculty career patterns, incentives and disincentives; role of this group in the academic community; and…

This paper, one in a series about the priorities of the professoriate, traces the rise in the use of part-time faculty and asks whether academic employment has become a dual labor market. Data for the study was derived from the 1993 National Study of Postsecondary Faculty. The research focuses on the effects on part-time faculty and on educational…

Discusses differences between part- and full-time faculty demographics, work profiles, attitudes and motives, and opinions about teaching and learning in the community college. Asserts that investing in part-time faculty's capabilities, instead of treating them like replaceable parts, will yield long-term returns in teaching effectiveness and…