Date: Wed, 2 Aug 1995 11:25:54 -0400 (EDT)
From: glevy-AT-acnet.pratt.edu
Subject: RE: College Professors and the Working Class


Will:

Thanks for picking-up my post.  I think there might be some differences 
between universities in the US and the UK.

One of the points that I made in my post concerns the disparities in 
income, benefits, and relative power among faculty at colleges in the US.
Here, while tenured faculty often receive income and benefits greatly in 
excess of those received by secretaries, part-time (and even non-tenured 
full-time) faculty often receive less.  In the case of part-time faculty, 
they frequently receive *much* less.  There are also differences in 
relative autonomy among faculty.  Full-time (especially tenured) faculty 
have a much greater role in college governance than do part-time 
faculty.  Moreover, at many colleges full-time faculty have a supervisory 
role regarding part-time faculty and sometimes treat these faculty with 
similar contempt and disdain.  On the other hand, the relation between 
support staff and part-time employees is often less elitist and 
patronizing due, in part, to the fact that there are less inequalities in 
terms of income, autonomy, and status between these two groups of 
workers.  On the other hand, many of the part-time faculty, since they 
want to eventually become tenured faculty, sometimes replicate the 
patronizing and elitist behavior towards support staff.  I do think that 
false consciousness has a role in the above dynamics. 

Status is another question.  My status within a college depends on who I 
am relating to.  It is much greater among non-faculty and students than 
it is among faculty.  Similarly, outside of university life, I have a 
status which is way out of proportion to my actual wages, benefits, and 
working conditions.  In other words, status is attached to me by other 
groups because of a misunderstanding on their part of the nature of my 
labor. Sometimes this status can be used for political advantage (e.g. 
"Academics for Mumia").  However, it also creates a wall between other 
workers and myself that I try to break through.

Jerry


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