A new report from the Hope Center for College, Community and Justice analyzed the rates of basic needs insecurity among faculty and staff at higher education institutions. The findings are alarming.
According to the report, 38% of respondents surveyed experienced some form of basic needs insecurity in 2019.
The “Basic Needs Insecurity in the Higher Education Instructional Workforce” report used results from the Hope Center’s #RealCollege Faculty and Staff survey in 2019. This included responses from almost 550 instructional staff at Dabney S. Lancaster Community College, North Lake College, Massasoit Community College, Compton College and Metropolitan State University of Denver.
Within the 30 days before the survey, 17% of instructional staff were food insecure compared to 46% of students at the same colleges. One in five respondents were unable to pay for balanced meals while 5% ate less than recommended due to financial challenges, the report found.
Meanwhile, 33% of instructional staff and more than half of students encountered housing insecurity throughout 2019. Homelessness also affected 8% of instructional staff and 19% of students, according to the research.
“I think it is a really silent issue that the report brings to light,” said Dr. Adrianna Kezar, Dean’ s Professor of Leadership and Wilbur-Kieffer Professor of Higher Education at the University of Southern California. “There was sort of this idea that everyone who is an adjunct is somehow well-off and just chooses to teach on top of some kind of full-time job they have, which is just not the reality at all.”
Results varied based on racial and generation demographics as well as family and employment status.
