On Adjuncts As Good Samaritans.

Ok, the adjucts as slave labor debate has raged on long enough that I think it's time I contributed to it. Let's make sure we're all up to speed on what's happened in the last 6 months. Mary Margaret Vojtko, an 83 year old former adjunct professor at Duquesne was fired and then died on the side of the road, poor, jobless, and uninsured. This story went viral, and next thing you know it looks like Duquesne is in the habit of killing their adjuncts (note: we are not).

Since then it's been revealed that Ms. Vojtko was not quite the saintly figurehead that the pro-union movement would want her to be, but it has ignited an important conversation across academia.

What is our responsibility to adjuncts? And how do they fit in to the increasingly part-time labor driven structure of academia?

Here's what strikes me as interesting about the debate. There are very few industries where it truly looks like two people are performing precisely the same task, but are being treated with such glaring inequality. I mean, sure, there's a blatant inequality between the compensation and benefits of CEO's at Walmart and the greeters, but nobody could argue that they are doing anything near the same job. Now are CEO's for some reason more worthy of benefits because they wear suits and sit in offices? Certainly not, but at least the extrinsic disparities are obvious.

But for the sake of argument, let's assume that in the case of adjuncts vs. full-time faculty the difference in pay and benefits is reasonable. Then why on earth would you stay in such a horrible job? All sorts of people are forced into undesirable circumstances due to the opportunity gap, structural racism, or any number of reasons. But for someone with a bachelor's degree, probably a master's, and maybe even a Ph.D.-- you've made it! You're obviously smart and capable, surely there is some job where you could make at least $40,000 per year and sign a substantive contract.

But then I see this strange thread of discussion pop up time after time, the thread where people are teaching in the name of serving the community. When did teaching become a community service? I think that perpetuating this idea of teachers as good samaritans is the most dangerous thing that America can do with their already suspect education system. (Now, mathematician as starving artist, that's a different story). Teaching should not be done out of the goodness of your heart and your desire to change lives, it should be done out of an ability to deeply understand a subject and convey it to the populace in a meaningful way. No doubt it is an important job, and that's why it should be treated like the real grown-ass job that it is.

Unfortunately this doesn't really shed much light on the plight of the adjunct, but I think it's helpful to refocus the discussion through the lens of intention.