On March 14, the Virginia General Assembly voted to give over half a million public sector workers collective bargaining rights. But not me. I'm an adjunct faculty member who was just left behind by those in power, left to endure the exploitation of higher education.
I’ve been teaching in the arts as an adjunct faculty member for 5 years. I piece together semester-based contracts, along with other work, to stay afloat financially. Throughout my interdisciplinary career, I’ve had to navigate the harm of institutional trauma. Higher ed is one of those institutions that inflict harm.
I spend hours preparing lessons. I spend months researching material to provide my students with meaningful and beneficial engagement. I attend professional development workshops to grow as an educator and student advocate. At the same time, I’m managing the pain and anxiety of uncertainty, not knowing if my teaching contract will be cancelled just days before the semester begins.
Not sure whether my Tetris budget model will suffice.
Not knowing if I’ll be able to contribute meaningfully to my household’s financial plan.
I am not an outlier. I am the pattern. It’s exhausting.
Black women in academia are disproportionately concentrated in contingent, non-tenure-track positions. Our white male counterparts are more likely to hold stable, tenure-track appointments. This is documented. This is known. And yet institutions continue to build their operating model on our labor while directing resources elsewhere.
