Higher Ed Hiring Needs a Revolution And Fast!

Higher Ed Hiring Needs a Revolution — And Fast

Volume 1 | August 2025

Why Is It So Hard to Get Hired in the Field That Creates Every Other Field?

Finding a job as an educator shouldn’t be this hard. Educators build the foundation for every career ,doctors, engineers, entrepreneurs, artists, and even other educators. Yet when it comes time for us to find a job, we’re met with an exhausting, discouraging, and sometimes humiliating process. Applications disappear into black holes. Responses , if they come at all take three to six months.

And more often than not, rejections roll in for jobs we’re overqualified for. This isn’t a fluke. It’s a systemic problem in higher education hiring practices one that needs immediate attention.

We train the workforce, shape minds, build futures yet when it comes time to find a job, we’re left searching, waiting, and wondering if anyone’s even reading our applications.

We’re Overqualified, Underpaid, and Ignored

Let’s be honest: most higher ed jobs are not competitive because the candidate pool is weak. They’re competitive because the hiring process is broken.

What’s wrong?

• Underpayment: Institutions offer salaries that fail to reflect the experience and education required. For example, full-time lecturer roles requiring a PhD and 5+ years of experience often pay less than $70,000 with no benefits.

• Delayed Responses: Job seekers routinely wait 4+ months for an email just to be told “we’ve decided to go in another direction.”

• Unrealistic Expectations: Job descriptions ask for expertise in multiple disciplines, administrative experience, DEI work, and teaching excellence for entry-level pay.

Worst Offenders: A Closer Look

Here are some well-known institutions and education companies with widely criticized hiring practices:

1. Johns Hopkins University

   • Thousands of open roles, yet few callbacks. Candidates report applying to 20+ positions with no follow-up even when meeting or exceeding all posted qualifications.

2. University of Southern California (USC)

   • Repeatedly posts adjunct and lecturer positions with low wages, vague expectations, and no timeline for hiring decisions.

3. Western Governors University (WGU)

   • While they tout flexibility and innovation, applicants describe a rigid, automated hiring process where human communication is nearly nonexistent.

4. Pearson Education

   • Hundreds of freelance and contract positions are open at any time, but applicants say the process lacks transparency, feedback, and consistent communication.

This Isn’t Just Frustrating, It’s Harmful

These practices hurt more than job seekers:

• Students miss out on passionate, highly qualified instructors.

• Departments lose valuable talent due to bureaucratic delays.

• Universities foster environments where talent feels unwanted and exploited.

It’s Time for Change: Solutions That Can’t Wait

We need higher education institutions to walk the talk of equity, efficiency, and respect. Here’s how:

1. Set Clear Hiring Timelines : Every job posting should include:

• Application deadline

• Estimated decision date

• Number of hiring rounds

2. Acknowledge Every Application: Automated replies are a bare minimum. Institutions should follow up with status updates especially after interviews.

3. Post Realistic Salaries: Transparency around pay isn’t optional it’s ethical. Candidates shouldn’t waste time applying for roles that won’t sustain them.

4. Streamline the Application Process: Eliminate redundant portals, multi-step forms, and systems that ask for information already provided in the resume.

5. Create Talent Pools : Rather than ghosting good candidates, institutions should create internal talent networks and actually use them when new roles open.

Educators shouldn’t have to beg for jobs in the very system they sustain. We don’t just want jobs we want to teach, to mentor, to lead. Most of us aren’t in this work for the money (though fair pay is non-negotiable). We’re here because we believe education changes lives. But the system is pushing educators out before they ever get a chance to begin. It’s time for institutions to reimagine what ethical, efficient, and humane hiring looks like. Not next year. Now.

Have your own hiring horror story? Or a model department that’s doing it right? We’re collecting voices to push for real change in higher education hiring.  Reply to this newsletter or email us directly your story matters.

Let’s demand better. Let’s build better.