|
January 19, 2008
The popular conservative image of universities is that they are dominated by left-wing, granola-head faculty who endeavor to corrupt youth with political correctness and relentless questioning of authority.The reality is somewhat different, especially in the US that is obsessed with national security.
On the economic side of things academia increasingly faces pressures of corporatization and flexibilization that have given rise to the segmentation of academic labour into stable tenured or tenure-track professors and “flexible” sessional and adjunct faculty. Along with the corporatization of the university and the casualization of academic labour is the university becoming akin to a sausage factory, in that the academics (teachers and researchers) are similar to workers in a meat-processing plant, as they are value-producing labour with the purpose of enriching the institution.
Harald Bauder in The Segmentation of Academic Labour: A Canadian Example in ACME says that:
Increasingly, temporary and part-time positions are being created where tenured and tenure-stream positions should exist. Segmentation no longer serves to stabilize the positions of tenured faculty; rather, the secondary segment threatens to replace the primary segment. Segmentation becomes a
strategy of reducing wages and labour standards in the entire academic labour market.
The segmentation of labour refers to the fact that some workers are valued less than others, and therefore receive lower wages, fewer benefits and less recognition, despite having similar qualifications. It results in first- and second-class staff or faculty.
|
Gary,
When I look at what tenured academics have to do I wonder why anyone would want to be one. Even though casuals have insecure employment and lower wages there's stiff competition among casuals who want to stay casual rather than enter into the catfight that is the tenured position.