As I read this report on a recent meeting of an organization called the Coalition of Contingent Academic Labor my thoughts turned toward a simple solution to the problems of these non-tenured teachers: change careers. Sure it’s overly simplistic but it is an option. That’s what makes Western democracies such wonderful places to live; the freedom to change one’s destiny. If universities are not offering you the kind of package you want, and there’s no reasonable expectation of the situation changing, move on to something more satisfying. 

One objection to this approach might be that it would lead to a shortage of teachers. After all, if every dissatisfied, adjunct teacher switched careers, what else could we expect? Well, we all know that not every adjunct teacher will move on, so that’s not really a consideration. However, if a large enough number of people dropped out of teaching in order to do something else, then it could lead to universities revising their packages for the better. After all, if they can’t attract qualified people with the non-tenured, low-paid, no-benefits packages which currently keep them steadily supplied with “academic labor”, universities will have to come up with something better. It seems to me that this is much more likely to produce the desired results than negotiating with unions and attempting to bring some sort of legislature pressure to bear on universities, as is suggested by some prominent members of this organization. 

Maybe it’s because I have a job in an institution that gives me a package that is so much more attractive than anything that I’ve found in the US (yet the job is certainly no more secure) that I lack sympathy for the aims of this organization. Or it might be because I’ve come to the conclusion that there are better ways to get what I want than complaining and bullying, which seems to be the approach of many teachers and their representative organizations.