The Alienated Academia: Exploring the Lives of Visiting Faculty in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa through Karl Marx’s Theory of Alienation

Abstract

This study investigates the living experience of visiting faculty in higher education institutions, i.e., postgraduate colleges and universities in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Visiting faculty are sometimes called ‘permanent visiting teachers’; they face a lot of hardships and challenges in their journey to achieve the milestones of acknowledgment and stability. We examine the role of visiting teachers and the challenging conditions of the academic job market by conducting an extensive analysis of existing scholarly works. We interviewed forty visiting faculty members, ensuring their confidentiality per their wishes. Our interview guide emphasised themes like employment insecurity, psychological distress, lack of support, and intellectual alienation, following Marx’s Theory of Alienation. The study findings are that visiting teachers lack support from their respective departments, are denied research supervision, are given fewer opportunities to utilise the institution’s resources, are delayed, and are underpaid. Such difficulties cause the visiting teachers to experience psychological stress; this is consistent with Karl Marx’s thesis of alienation, as they feel cut off from the institutions, their coworkers, and themselves. Higher education institutions should implement changes such as fair recognition, prompt payment, more excellent representation, and a calm, harmonious, and expanding environment for visiting teachers. Through provoking a critical conversation, this study hopes to promote a more inclusive academic environment that recognises the priceless contributions of visiting faculty members while pursuing an equitable and prosperous educational system.