The Wal-Mart-ization of higher education: How young professors are getting screwed

By Keith Hoeller. More and more faculty at America's colleges and universities are underpaid and undervalued. Can that change?
In 2009, Money Magazine published a survey titled “The 50 Best Jobs in America.”  Their reporters analyzed job data and conducted an online survey of thirty-five thousand people, taking into account such factors as salaries, flexibility, benefit to society, satisfaction, stress, job security, and growth prospects. The proverbial college professor sat high on the list at No. 3, with a median salary of $70,400 for nine months’ work, top pay of $115,000, and a ten-year growth prospect of 23 percent. College teaching earned “A” grades for flexibility, benefit to society, and satisfaction, and a “B” for job stress, with 59 percent of surveyed professors reporting low stress. More...