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Showing posts from March, 2012

Ed Firmage's Essay "Wage Slaves in the Ivory Tower"

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From the UVU Review, March 26, 2012 Wage slaves in the ivory tower The glass ceiling for UVU’s adjunct faculty has been questioned. Illustration by John-Ross Boyce. S ome weeks ago, the UVU Review ran a story about the gap in pay for faculty men and women. According to the story, the average annual salary for male faculty at UVU is $73,000, while that for female faculty is $71,000. Clearly, despite official policy, sexual discrimination is alive at UVU. But women faculty have this consolation: sexual discrimination is not policy. There is a faculty group, however, that have no such consolation: UVU’s dedicated, talented and essential adjunct instructors, who constitute two-thirds of UVU’s teachers. In the case of adjuncts, the discrimination is on a scale that makes the school’s gender bias pale in comparison. And, it is deliberate and systematic. Let’s take my own case. I presently teach two classes totaling seven credit hours. For this, I receive a monthly check