DOES CHEAPER MEAN BETTER? THE IMPACT OF USING ADJUNCT INSTRUCTORS ON STUDENT OUTCOMES

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Bettinger, Eric P.; Long, Bridget Terry
• 署名单位: Stanford University; National Bureau of Economic Research; Harvard University
• 刊物名称: REVIEW OF ECONOMICS AND STATISTICS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0034-6535
• DOI: 10.1162/REST_a_00014
• 发表日期: 2010-08
• 页码: 598-613
• 关键词: teaching assistants; EMPLOYMENT

摘要

Higher education has increasingly relied on part-time, adjunct instructors. Critics argue that adjuncts reduce educational quality because they often have less education than full-time professors. On the other hand, by specializing in teaching or being concurrently employed, adjuncts could enhance learning experiences. This paper quantifies how adjuncts affect subsequent student interest and course performance relative to full-time faculty using an instrumental variable strategy that exploits variation in the composition of a department's faculty over time. The results suggest that adjuncts often have a small, positive effect on enrollment patterns, especially in fields related to particular occupations.