From Community Pillars to Contractual Employees: The Changing Role of Professors

Tags: Faculty, Administrators, Students, Policy Makers

This is a brief opinion take on the changing role of professors in society.

There was a time when professors were not just employees of universities. They were independent figures, respected voices in their towns, and intellectual leaders who could not be easily silenced. Professors once carried a certain aura: fearless, outspoken, and deeply tied to the communities they lived in. Their influence extended far beyond classrooms, shaping civic debates, cultural life, and the moral compass of a generation.

That independence was not accidental. In earlier periods, professors were part of self-governing academic guilds or small colleges where their legitimacy came as much from community respect as from institutional ties. Even in twentieth-century America, professors in land-grant universities or small liberal arts colleges were consulted on matters of local importance, from policy to agriculture to education reform. Their role was never limited to teaching – it was about serving as public intellectuals.

Over time, however, this vision has eroded. The growth of administrative power, the pressures of the tenure system, and the rise of contingent faculty have shifted professors into a new role: that of employees bound to metrics, performance reviews, and bureaucratic compliance. Instead of being fearless critics of orthodoxy, professors often find themselves carefully calculating what they say, worried about evaluations, promotion, or contract renewal.

Tenure, originally designed to safeguard academic freedom, has paradoxically become a mechanism of control. Young professors on the tenure track often self-censor, avoiding risks that might jeopardize their chances of permanent employment. Meanwhile, the majority of instruction in U.S. higher education is now carried out by adjunct and contingent faculty – highly skilled professionals paid modest wages on short contracts. For them, speaking out too boldly or pursuing controversial lines of thought can threaten their livelihoods. The independence once associated with professorship has been replaced by precariousness.

This bureaucratic culture reshapes how professors are perceived by society. Increasingly, they are seen as service providers: teaching courses, producing research outputs, and meeting accreditation requirements. Their broader social role – guiding communities, sparking debate, and holding power accountable – has diminished. When professors lose independence, society loses trusted voices that once stood above politics and commerce to speak honestly about difficult truths.

The transformation is not just about faculty morale; it is about the health of civic life. A generation ago, professors were called upon to lead discussions on democracy, science, and culture in their communities. Today, their time is consumed by compliance paperwork, online teaching evaluations, and performance audits. The cost is not only personal burnout but a weakening of higher education’s connection to the public good.

Of course, nostalgia alone cannot restore the past. The conditions of higher education have changed, and so have the financial and political pressures facing universities. But if professors are reduced entirely to employees, we lose something vital. Higher education should not only produce degrees and research grants – it should cultivate wisdom and nurture independent voices.

The path forward requires both institutional and cultural change. Administrators must recognize that professors are not interchangeable staff but stewards of knowledge whose independence is central to the mission of education. Communities, too, must re-engage professors as civic leaders, valuing their insights and drawing them back into public life.

This brief opinion take is not an exhaustive account but a reminder: professors once embodied independence, fearlessness, and a civic presence that enriched society. Treating them solely as employees risks erasing that tradition. Reclaiming it may be difficult, but it is essential if we want higher education to remain not just a system of instruction, but a force for public good.