In the fourth episode, we talked with Dr. Albert Fu, who is a professor of Sociology at Kutztown University of Pennsylvania. Albert started to work as a temporary faculty member at a community college right after he got his PhD. A year after, he was "lucky" enough to get a tenure track job, so he has seen both ends. Thus, he knows why adjuncts deserve better, and he feels grateful to have a stable life with the securities that a tenure job gives him. He has seen both ends. Thus, he has observed closely how tenured faculty can contribute to the exploitation of the adjuncts.
In this episode, Albert walks us through a strike that his union had in 2016. The strike was particularly significant because it improved the working conditions of the faculty, including adjuncts. As he told us about the terms of employment for adjuncts at his university, we were surprised to hear something different than the conventional though still very real vulnerability about adjuncts.
Academia is going through a difficult time, but to be honest, it has been like this for decades. The long-standing dream job is falling apart, adjuncts are being fired in droves during the pandemic, and the number of tenure track jobs has dropped drastically. In this episode, we want to discuss the future of higher education by changing perspectives and bringing the adjunct and tenure systems in conversation together. We can take a step to fix the damage and prevent the expansion of vulnerability in the higher education by asking more provocative questions. We can start by asking this question: What does the creation of such a vulnerable group of adjuncts tell us about the future of tenure?

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