The Caste System in Higher Education

By Pablo Eisenberg, Senior Fellow, Georgetown Public Policy Institute. The caste system in higher education is alive and well, according to a report recently issued by the Center for the Future of Higher Education. The report, "Who is Professor 'Staff'," is based on a survey of adjunct or contingent faculty members, over three-quarters of them part-time, conducted last fall by the New Faculty Majority Foundation, a national association that promotes better work conditions for adjunct faculty in colleges and universities. The report, primarily written by foundation staff, takes its title from the way adjunct professors are often described on course schedule -- a dehumanizing aspect of the adjunct experience. The report leaves no doubt that adjunct teachers are treated like second-class citizens.