
I'm an adjunct professor who teaches five classes. I earn less than a pet-sitter - jseliger
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/jun/22/adjunct-professor-earn-less-than-pet-sitter?CMP=share_btn_link
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apdinin
I'm an adjunct. No... adjuncting does not pay well. But anyone getting a
degree with the expectation of being a professional academic should know this
going in. I certainly did so I approached the job marketing accordingly.

I've never tried to be a tenure track professor. Instead, my approach -- for
what it's worth -- is to make adjuncting my passion.

Instead of "being a professor," my profession is software engineer. As a
result, being an English professor gets to be my hobby. I teach one course a
semester and I love it. It allows me to be a member of an academic community,
I can participate in talks/lectures/conferences, I can publish, and I can do
all the other "academic" things I want to do and no one has ever told me I'm
not qualified or made me feel unwelcome. Usually, the opposite is true. I get
at least half-a-dozen invites every semester from my university and
neighboring schools asking me to come lecture about my work. In addition, I
can bring real-world experience and expertise into my classes every day, which
my students appreciate.

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jklein11
@apdinin I'd really like to learn more about your background. Would you be
interested in setting up a time to chat?

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apdinin
@jklein - just seeing this... sorry. Happy to chat. What's the best way to get
in touch?

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cafard
It appears to me that someone with two law degrees, and sufficiently
accomplished to teach law school and to be invited to conferences, could
practice law. Not necessarily at a big firm with big pay, but paid enough that
adjunct work would be a nice supplement to his income, not the bulk of it. The
writer might have excellent reasons for doing what he does, but it's not as if
he has a Ph.D. in Hittite.

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rdancer
As long as there is supply surplus on the labour market, of people willing to
work for any wage, this will keep driving the wages down. I am indeed a little
surprised adjuncts are still paid at all.

And pet-sitting and bagging groceries as a way of supplementing one's income?
-- Being so bent on finding the least-paying part-time work, perhaps the angle
should be, minimum wage enforcement should have more teeth?

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segmondy
So stop teaching and start pet sitting.

