Research on liberal arts colleges (LACs) has yet to consider possible effects of using Non-Tenure Track Faculty (NTTF) on the character of LACs. LACs are characterized by their strong academic ethos, collegial faculty-student relationships, all at a sanctuary-like setting. Tenure Track Faculty (TTF) and administrators at three LACs were…

The article interrogates the 'mobility imperative' and its impact on precarious academics. Drawing on 40 biographic interviews with academics with experience of long-term precarity in Irish higher education, and using a Bourdieusian framework, we identify the specific conditions, uses and impacts of international mobility for these workers. This…

This article explores an important aspect of academic precarity: the use of fixed-term contract researchers as factotums within universities. The practice can be defined as the taking-on of tasks that are outside of core research activities, including substantial amounts of time spent teaching, supervising students and preparing research…

The tenure evaluation process is characterized by a lack of clarity and governed by unspoken rules. At the same time, while institutions have increased the presence of racially minoritized people among the ranks of faculty over the last 30 years, this growth in numbers has been concentrated among non-tenure track and pre-tenure levels. This study…

The purpose of this study was to explore the extent that contingent faculty from Michigan's 15 public universities engage with on and off-campus professional development (PD) to improve their teaching practice. Addressing a spectrum of research questions, this study utilized an explanatory sequential mixed-methods approach, combining quantitative…

Current literature shows a trend away from hiring faculty on a tenure line and instead hiring full-time non-tenure track faculty. Full-time non-tenure track faculty are becoming the majority base of the full-time faculty. It is unclear how this new majority of full-time non-tenure track faculty perceive shared governance at their respective…

This qualitative study is an examination of how 20 tenure-seeking Women of Color and White women academics at a public research-intensive university define collegiality and its perceived role in rank advancement. By engaging culture of hegemonic collegiality, we identified two salient themes: (a) collegiality is defined through weapon and survival…

The employee-organisation relationship between academics and universities is a critical issue in higher education (HE) human resource management. Previous studies have mainly investigated the segmentation between full-time and part-time academics, or academics working in different countries. However, few studies have explored academics'…

Many research studies have found that faculty value collaborative professional development (PD) activities that provide practical applications. Faculty seek out PD for improved skills and career support, including advancements. To acquire promotions in higher education, these employees must complete high-stakes evaluations through annual reviews,…

This national qualitative exploratory study utilizes a critical social class lens to analyze how nontenured part-time faculty members' relationships with their tenured/tenure-track colleagues and management shape their attitudes and behaviors toward their employment in higher education during the COVID-19 pandemic. The 54 participants were…

This chapter uses a descriptive methodology that focuses on how the undergraduate team at a large multi-campus research university located in a mid-Atlantic state advocates and provides support for the scholarship of teaching and learning for non-tenure nursing teaching faculty from a variety of perspectives.

The following exploration examined the impact of working conditions on faculty teaching for full-time faculty and non-tenure track faculty within an academic department at a large Midwestern university to determine whether employment status and working conditions potentially impacted student learning outcomes. Questions asked of participating…

This dissertation explores the perceptions of part-time and full-time non-tenure track (NTT) faculty at a Midwestern university with a focus on teaching. As NTT faculty are increasingly utilized to instruct a majority of the undergraduate courses in U.S. postsecondary education understanding their experience is essential to their integration into…

This qualitative ethnographic single case-study was conducted to investigate what influences pre- and post-tenured humanities faculty course design, the effects of those influences, and their perceptions about career readiness. This study focused on a career readiness initiative at Mid-western Michigan University (MMU), which was built around the…

Higher education institutions have adopted diversity course requirements while hiring more faculty members off the tenure track. Non-tenure track faculty members' experiences teaching required diversity courses while navigating their precarious employment status has not been sufficiently explored. Addressing this need, the present study examined…