How the university works : higher education and the low-wage nation / Marc Bousquet ; foreword by Cary Nelson.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Bousquet, Marc, 1963-

Series:

Cultural front (Series)

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

College teachers--Salaries, etc--United States.

College teachers.

Universities and colleges--Employees--Salaries, etc--United States.

Universities and colleges.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (304 p.)

Edition:

[Nachdr.]

Place of Publication:

New York : New York University Press, c2008.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Uncovers the labor exploitation occurring in universities across the country As much as we think we know about the modern university, very little has been said about what it's like to work there. Instead of the high-wage, high-profit world of knowledge work, most campus employees—including the vast majority of faculty—really work in the low-wage, low-profit sphere of the service economy. Tenure-track positions are at an all-time low, with adjuncts and graduate students teaching the majority of courses. This super-exploited corps of disposable workers commonly earn fewer than $16,000 annually, without benefits, teaching as many as eight classes per year. Even undergraduates are being exploited as a low-cost, disposable workforce. Marc Bousquet, a major figure in the academic labor movement, exposes the seamy underbelly of higher education—a world where faculty, graduate students, and undergraduates work long hours for fast-food wages. Assessing the costs of higher education's corporatization on faculty and students at every level, How the University Works is urgent reading for anyone interested in the fate of the university.

Contents:

Front matter

Contents

Acknowledgments

Foreword

1. Introduction

2. The Informal Economy of the “Information University”

3. The Faculty Organize, But Management Enjoys Solidarity

4. Students Are Already Workers

5. Composition as Management Science

6. The Rhetoric of “Job Market” and the Reality of the Academic Labor System

Appendix A

Appendix B

Notes

Works Cited

Index

About the Authors

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (p. 255-273) and index.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

9780814789926

0814789927

9780814791127

0814791123

OCLC:

913695254