This collaborative project consists of a two-part conference, one part for faculty members themselves, and one for their administrators (to be held next year). This work explores the working realities of contingent faculty who represent over 46% of the employed faculty in higher education systems.

In particular, the project seeks to understand the challenges many contingent faculty, primarily from the Latinx communities, experience in the CSU system. CSUs collectively form one of the largest pools of HSIs in the nation in terms of Latina/o undergraduate enrollment in HSIs. This work will contribute to a fairly untapped and underexplored area of research to help uncover the hidden barriers that prevent the success and navigation of these individuals in their professions.

“Having worked as contingent faculty in the CSU for many years, their contributions resonated with me,” Muñoz said of the conference participants. “I felt we met one of our major goals, which was to create an environment where the participants could network and make connections, which potentially can endure. I believe this was one of the major takeaways of the event itself.”

Although the conference was primarily focused on Latinx contingent faculty in STEM, the anticipated work and results will serve as a baseline for future research as well as policy-informed initiatives to support the success of these faculty, and by extension their students.

“The project itself was meaningful as we provided a setting for contingent faculty who are responsible for much of the teaching across the CSUs,” said Muñoz. “A majority of the non-white lecturers (including all disciplines) are Latino, which is one of the significant findings that emerged as we prepared for our conference.”

For more information, read the NSF grant abstract.