Shame and Loathing in Academia: For-Profit Education and the Adjunct Crisis

Abstract

ABSTRACT:The job market in higher education is in shambles. The ratio of contingent faculty to full-time and tenure-track jobs is deeply skewed. The introduction of for-profit education has introduced a new and costly element to the situation. This article narrates the author's recent experience of teaching at a for-profit school and illuminates the ways in which the rise of for-profit education is entangled with the adjunct crisis. The article also examines the politics of shame at work in many educational work places that keep contingent faculty from talking about the financial and psychological toll of part-time work in academia—including the perceived disgrace surrounding employment at for-profit institutions.