The University System Observatory has carried out the following research work: Associate faculty: Work experience or precariousness? Here you can read the full work, in Spanish. In this work, among temporarily hired university professors, it gives much importance to a concrete figure: associate professors. Associate professors are hired, in theory, temporarily by universities, and the objective of these contracts is to teach students knowledge and experience in the world of work. However, the research carried out by the Observatory of the University System has shown that the misuse of this type of contracts has led to the precariousness of university teaching staff. Navarra is the second community with more associate professors in the Spanish state, with 41.4% of the associated professors. The CAPV, on the contrary, is one of the few associate professors of the Spanish State: 8.5%.

Precarization of university teaching staff

As already mentioned, this work focuses on the figure of the associated faculty and explains that the age of these hired professors is much lower than that of the rest of the professors, which shows that this figure is not being used to hire people with a lot of experience, but that this figure has become a way to access the world of teaching early and precariously for many professors.

To explain the increase in the number of associate professors, this study gives several reasons: that since the beginning of the economic crisis, universities were limited to hiring new professors, that reduced revenues to public universities, that associates have a low cost compared to permanent full-time professors and that no explanation is required for the hiring of associate professors.

Precariousness brings its compensations

This work highlights the consequences of the precariousness of university teaching staff: reducing research activity, weakening academic freedom and worsening the learning process.