The California Community College system relies on part-time faculty labor. Data indicates that more than half of all faculty are part-time and are treated differently because of their employment status. This treatment is causing a variety of effects. Current literature hones in on the inequality in pay, benefits, and resources. Others examine job satisfaction, and analyze the quality of instruction offered by part-time faculty. What is lacking from the extant literature are studies focused on the emotional effects of how adjuncts are treated. A qualitative autoethnographic approach was utilized to examine the adjunct experience in order to research how the treatment part-time faculty received from their colleagues and their institutions made them think, feel and act. Purposive sampling, elicited documents, and thematic coding was employed to examine this issue. Three themes emerged from the findings: (1) Upstairs/Downstairs, (2) Paying the Price, and (3) Chasing the Dream. This study determined that adjunct faculty perceived a clear division between how full-time and part-time faculty members were treated and this perception created the feeling of being marginalized. Furthermore, the findings demonstrated that being employed as a part-time faculty meant that both monetary and emotional tolls were exacted. Finally, the pursuit of a tenure-track position is not only difficult because of the rigor and lack of transparency in the application process, but because of the emotional effects that are endured from not being selected for full-time employment.
