"The institution of the faculty wife is alive and well in academic culture. She's an adjunct."

Ha! I should have a new blog called "The New Faculty Wife," shouldn't I?

NAH... are you kidding me?

In fact, that line is so painful to read that it just had to become a blog post title.

(well, it is still painful, even after I read the really, really [irritatingly] upbeat article that the pseudonymous "Marie Smith" wrote yesterday FIVE years ago for the Chronicle, but which someone tweeted this week, so I read it, unaware it was so old ;-). Her strife to write a "resentment-free" essay paid off, but her anonymity makes it clear that it's an unpleasant situation to be in. Sigh...)

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I remember the day I met my office mate as if it were yesterday. I also met another "faculty wife" right then, but we never saw each other again. I wonder if that bright German young lady is still around... (I'll answer this question at the end!)

Anyway, I met E at the end of the orientation program at U#1 and we had just come out of a very depressing session for "part-time faculty." We were right outside the building, sitting on the steps and talking, commiserating about our lame "part-time" jobs. P, the German young woman sitting next to us, sounded pretty rebellious and I jokingly said we should begin an association of adjuncts -- I should have probably said "adjunct wives!" (I didn't know back then that there were no unions here).

E, my current office mate at U#2, had just moved to the U.S. from Spain because she'd gotten married to a TT professor at U#1 (he'd been there for several years). P, the German girl, hadn't been married long as well and her husband -- like mine -- had just started his TT job at U#1. The main difference was that P had a degree in the same area as her husband so she would be teaching in the same department.

Back to E, though... She was an adjunct for two years at both U#1 and U#2 and in the second year she was actually also full-time at U#3 -- a one year appointment to replace someone who had taken a leave of absence which wasn't renewed.

On the year I started at U#2 she also applied for a full-time lecturer position there and we started together (that's why I asked to share an office with her, it was nice because we already knew each other).

Last year the department decided to give E and two other lecturers (including the current chair's spouse) three-year contracts which came with a 14K pay raise!

I teach the "wrong" language, though, so, as you already know, I am risking going back to part-time next semester. The "perfect time" to learn, after looking for her in the university website, that P, the young German woman is actually a "visiting assistant professor" right now -- the perks of being on the same discipline as one's husband!!*

In any case, I don't know if P will ever become tt faculty and I know that E doesn't want it at all, she's happy to continue as a lecturer.

Right now, I will be "over the moon" if only I can remain a full-time lecturer because that sounds the tiniest bit better than simply "adjunct!" Wish me luck!

* My husband's department has not one, but TWO faculty couples in which one was a tenure-track professor and the other one ended up entering the TT later after being full-time non tt faculty for a while. Interestingly, both couples are from Romania!