Attitudinal Differences Between Full- and Part-Time Faculty

ERIC Clearinghouse for Community Colleges
EdInfo Number 98-16

A nation-wide study involving over 1500 faculty from 127 community colleges in 41 states identified similarities and differences in individual professional attitudes between full- and part-time faculty. Respondents completed a questionnaire that surveyed five areas believed to illustrate the qualities and attitudes of professional persons: (1) knowledge acquisition, including integration, application, and practice; (2) service ethic; (3) autonomy; (4) commitment to a calling; and (5) integrity. The data revealed the following results:

Knowledge acquisition - Part-time faculty showed significantly lower levels of involvement in curriculum, instruction, and scholarship.
Service ethic - Part-time faculty expressed significantly higher expectations for students. Part-time faculty members' lack of longevity at their institution and their consequent idealism regarding student achievement may contribute to their high service ethic. This finding contradicts earlier research which implied that part-time faculty tend to inflate grades.
Autonomy - Part-time faculty expressed significantly lower autonomy within their institutions than did full-time faculty. Lack of decision-making power in this group, in conjunction with perceived inequitable institutional policies regarding pay, benefits, and promotions contributed to lower autonomy scores for part-timers.
Commitment to a calling - The study found no appreciable differences in professional attitudes between the two groups. Both groups were equally committed to teaching and to students.
Integrity - Part-time faculty deviated significantly from full-timers in their ethical sense of responsibility. They expressed less concern for maintaining good professional relationships with other faculty, less participation in departmental curricular planning, and less inclination to distribute performance criteria to students. This finding may be largely attributable to part-time faculty not being an integral part of the educational community.

This study, which contains 40 references, also embodies a review of literature pertinent to the ongoing debate of part-time versus full-time community college faculty.

This information was reported in JC 980 181, "Differences Between the Professional Attitudes of Full- and Part-time Community College Faculty." A full-text copy of this document may be obtained from the ERIC Document Reproduction Services, 7420 Fullerton Road, Suite 110, Springfield, VA 22153; or call (800) 443-ERIC.

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