One of 500 - Lee Skallerup Bessette, Inside Higher Ed

ed note: as higher education shrinks, we leave many thousands of quality teachers and researchers (people with dreams and their families) behind - this essay articulates the frustration of one who applied for an opening, along with 500 other applicants. They are casualties or victims of the retrenchment. When “we” complain about the systemic inequities that exist in higher education, it’s because of this: 500 applicants, many if not most of whom were qualified for the position, one job. We complain because we were misinformed and misled about our chances on the job market. And, out of fear and desperation, we go further into debt, we push ourselves harder and harder to publish, go to conferences (hence the debt), pay others to improve our application materials, and wear ourselves out trying to differentiate ourselves from the other 499 candidates. If we give up and walk away, it’s not because we couldn't “handle” academia, it’s because academia has told us, in no uncertain terms, there is no room for us, no place for us at the table, but that the institution is more than willing to exploit us as adjuncts. When we speak up, when we fight, when we demand change, we are silenced, shamed, and shunned, not by everyone, but by enough people who hold positions of authority and power that it is clear we are not welcome. We’re told, you’ll never get a job with THAT attitude, or that we’re just entitled and unwilling to work, and I wonder if I even want to work in higher education with colleagues who would treat others with such disdain and disrespect. http://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/college-ready-writing/one-500