Postsecondary institutions rely heavily on part-time faculty.
Part-time faculty provide institutions with a flexible work force that allows them to adjust to enrollment changes, fill temporary vacancies, teach specialized courses, and reduce faculty costs. Some faculty teach part time by choice, such as parents who care for children, but others do not. Consequently, they may be less available to students and less able to participate in the activities of any one institution. In each type of postsecondary institution, instructors and lecturers were more likely than faculty of higher academic rank to be employed part time. Women were more likely than men to work part time at each type of 4-year postsecondary institution.