A longitudinal analysis of organizational determinants of part-time faculty employment in private baccalaureate colleges and universities

The purpose of the present study is to examine the driving and constraining forces of part-time faculty employment using a conceptual framework grounded in organizational sociology. Rather than positioning higher education institutions as economic organizations seeking to maximize cost saving, this study frames higher education organizations as highly institutionalized organizations. This study seeks to expand upon previous work by Liu and Zhang regarding part-time via an improved methodological approach and a more conceptually homogenous dataset. Employing longitudinal analysis to data about part-time faculty at private baccalaureate institutions, the model explores the institutional characteristics that may serve as drivers of rates of part-time faculty employment. Findings include a negative effect of high salaries on part-time employment, suggesting that institutions may not be hiring part-time faculty to engage in cost savings.