Does Cheaper Mean Better? The Impact of Using Adjunct Instructors on Student Outcomes
研究了兼职讲师（adjunct instructors）相比全职教授对学生后续兴趣和课程表现的影响，发现兼职讲师通常对选课模式有微小的正面作用，尤其在职业相关领域。
Higher education has increasingly relied on part-time, adjunct instructors. Critics argue that adjuncts reduce educational quality because they often have less education than full-time professors. On the other hand, by specializing in teaching or being concurrently employed, adjuncts could enhance learning experiences. This paper quantifies how adjuncts affect subsequent student interest and course performance relative to full-time faculty using an instrumental variable strategy that exploits variation in the composition of a department's faculty over time. The results suggest that adjuncts often have a small, positive effect on enrollment patterns, especially in fields related to particular occupations. © 2010 The President and Fellows of Harvard College and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.