The Reward Structure for Part-Timers in Academe.
Surprisingly little information is available on the earnings determinants of part-timers. This may reflect the absence of a source of detailed yearly data such as that provided for full-timers by the American Association of University Professors (AAUP)[5] or the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES)[13]. It is also because part-time employment is only now emerging as a subject worthy of further study. The absence of a body of literature on the earnings of parttimers may also reflect the mistaken belief that since some part-timers are paid a flat amount irrespective of their credentials, and since most hold unranked positions, there is little or no variation in part-timers' salaries. In this paper, we show that a substantial amount of variation does exist. We argue that part-timers' skills do not play a major role in determining salary differentials and that institutionally determined factors are the major identifiable source of salary differences. The implications of these findings for the earnings of part-timers, and for their willingness to spend time investing in skills are also explored.