What we know (and don’t know) about adjunct faculty as teachers at four-year institutions

Abstract

While historically adjunct faculty were concentrated at community colleges, their hiring is increasing at four-year institutions (Kezar & Sam, 2010b). Towards better understanding this growing segment of college faculty, this paper presents an analytic review of the extant research on adjuncts as teachers at bachelor-granting institutions. It identifies five major areas of research on adjunct faculty as teachers: motivations to teach, qualifications to teach, institutional support, job satisfaction, and teaching effectiveness. It concludes with recommendations for how future educational research may deepen understandings of adjunct faculty as teachers through utilizing new theoretical perspectives and research methods.