Between Instability and Silence: Working Conditions and Power Relations among Part-Time University Faculty in the State of Mexico

Abstract

This article analyses the working conditions of subject lecturers at a public university in the State of Mexico, with the aim of understanding how these conditions shape specific power relations within institutional life. The study draws on critical frameworks that bring together contributions from critical theory, the sociology of academic work and research on job insecurity in higher education. Using a qualitative approach, a case study was conducted based on semi-structured interviews with university lecturers, focusing on their career paths, day-to-day experiences and strategies for securing long-term employment and teaching loads. The analysis of the testimonies was carried out using a thematic coding process aimed at identifying patterns of precariousness, hierarchisation and institutional discretion. The results show that precariousness and contractual instability are not exceptional situations, but rather a structural feature of academic work, reinforced by opaque practices regarding the allocation of teaching hours, contract renewal and unequal access to opportunities. Furthermore, it is found that teaching staff employ individual strategies — such as constant availability, unpaid work, the building of political and relational networks, and appealing to their vocation as teachers — which, whilst enabling them to persevere and find meaning in their work, contribute in an ambivalent way to the normalisation of precariousness. Finally, it is concluded that there is a need to rethink the institutional policies governing the work of subject-specific teaching staff, moving towards greater levels of stability, transparency and professional recognition.