Publication Date
5-16-2024
Abstract
This article applies Erving Goffman’s conceptual theory of the “nonperson treatment” to the empirical reality of contingent faculty in higher education. According to Goffman, the nonperson treatment is a technique of diminishing the social status of a person, often foregoing all acknowledgement of a person’s humanity beyond transactional civilities. Contingent faculty in higher education experience job insecurity, limited opportunities for advancement, low wages, insufficient benefits, a corporate style of management, curtailed academic freedom, alienation from faculty governance, ineligibility for professional development, limited schedule autonomy, invisibility on campus, and limited access to campus resources. The inequities and exclusionary practices faced by contingent faculty are a classic case of the nonperson treatment. Beyond illuminating how contingent faculty experience the nonperson treatment, this article proposes policy recommendations for making higher education more equitable.