Two new
studies reinforce previous research showing college students are less likely to
continue their education if the first courses they take are taught by adjuncts
or part-timers, rather than tenure-track faculty.
The Chronicle of Higher Education reported one study
looked at community college students taking remedial and introductory courses
and found that fewer students in adjunct-taught classes moved on to the next
course in the sequence. The other study examined students enrolled in STEM
courses at four-year schools. More STEM majors switched to other fields after
experiencing intro courses led by adjuncts.
Both
papers were presented at the American Educational Research Association’s annual
conference.
The
reason doesn’t appear to be that adjuncts are overall less capable at instruction
than full-time faculty. Instead, the findings pointed to the lack of
opportunities for adjuncts to assist students individually after class, often
because they don’t have time due to a larger teaching load (sometimes at multiple
campuses, requiring travel) and they may not have an office. Struggling
students who can’t get help from their instructors tend to drop out or shift to
an easier major.
“The
new papers suggest that providing better support for nontraditional faculty
members could make a difference for students,” noted the Chronicle article.
