An Army of Temps: AFT Adjunct Faculty Quality of Work/Life Report

The latest adjunct faculty survey from the American Federation of Teachers continues to show the difficult economic reality faced by millions of contingent and adjunct faculty at America’s colleges and universities. Nearly a quarter of adjunct faculty have an annual salary below the federal poverty line, while 38 percent report accessing government assistance. The report also shows that adjunct faculty did not receive the support they needed when moving their classes online during the pandemic.

This report details feedback from 1,883 respondents to a survey of contingent faculty at two-year and four-year institutions—both public and private. The 61-question survey, completed between May 21 and Aug. 18, 2020, follows up on our survey of contingent faculty conducted in 2019. Of the AFT’s 240,000 higher education members, 85,000 are contingent and 35,000 are graduate employees—making the AFT the largest union of contingent academic workers.