Jeffrey J. Williams on “The Great Stratification”

Professor Williams has helped shine a light on some of the inequites within the professoriate itself.  (See  http://chronicle.com/article/The-Great-Stratification/143285/ )

I think these inequities are important to know and understand.  The fact that there is so much stratification within higher education is revealing.  It makes clearer who faculty are, in spite of who they may seem to be, who they say they are, or even  who they think they are.  In many prestigous institutions, professors make a good living (low 6 figures) doing what they love, while hiring instructors and adjuncts at very low wages.  (See Prof. Williams article for a discussion of this.)

I will finish this post with a copy of my comment on Prof. Williams article.  I think that Clark Kerr’s observation that I quote is an important insight into the mind of many faculty.

“The author writes “…shouldn’t those of us in a humanistic institution, presumably charged to inculcate humane values and preserve the best of our culture, support and enact fair labor practices…”
It’s worse than that. I would put it this way: “shouldn’t those of us who rant against bankers and businesses, be willing to sacrifice even a little to clean up our own profession?”  Of course the answer is yes; but, replace “shouldn’t” with “would”, and the answer is no for too many of us.  Clark Kerr was right when he observed just “…how radical some professors can be when they look at the external world and how conservative when they look inwardly at themselves…”  (From the 2001 Preface to “The Uses of the University”)”