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My friend & colleague @sldecrausaz made an excellent 5-min vid about life on the sessional/adjunct circuit. I wish everyone in a faculty role had experienced at least 1 year of sessional work (& some will have), but this video is a good place to start. The system is deeply broken https://twitter.com/Humansin5/status/1296447817133817856
Of particular note is that she has been working unpaid for weeks. This is the case for most sessionals - they are only paid when a course is running. But because starting prep for 3 online courses the 1st week of classes would be catastrophic, they do the required work for free.
I was a sessional @ualberta last year & I don't even want to think about the hundreds of hours I worked for free beyond my contract, especially after the pandemic hit & we had to pivot online. Going from a sessional to a Banting scholar often feels like a dark fairy tale.
I know everyone knows that sessionals/adjuncts in their department are exploited, working for below-poverty line wages & often without benefits. The entire post-secondary system is built on the backs of these labourers & the pandemic has made things significantly worse.
Like Dr. Decrausaz, I was grateful for the job & used it as a stepping stone (& may do so again). I grew professionally & personally. But it is soul crushing to do work that is so blatantly exploitative, especially while also trying to publish, win grants & apply for "real" jobs.
I don't have a solution & many more articulate people have tried to tackle this topic. Just don't look the other way or give up, esp if you're secure faculty or admin. I don't know what post-COVID #highered looks like in Canada & beyond, but there has to be a better way.
