Ask HN: Non-Tenure Track Computer Science Academic Job Market in 2024
Hello. After nearly a decade in industry, I have decided that I would like to transition to a full-time teaching career at the university level. I enjoy teaching; when I was teaching part-time during the pandemic I felt invigorated by my teaching job. I would love to teach full time, and before anyone asks, I don’t mind the pay cut transitioning from industry to academia. I have a master’s degree in computer science, and I taught two upper-division courses as a part-time lecturer and received good reviews from peer instructors and from students.
I am wondering what the job market for non-tenure track lecturers is like in 2024. On one hand, I’ve heard for years that there’s a shortage of computer science professors and lecturers, particularly at non-R1 universities. The shortage was fueled by increased enrollment and prospective teachers opting for higher pay in industry. On the other hand, there has been a lot of layoffs in the software industry lately, which could increase demand for teaching roles and could also decrease enrollment in computer science programs. I don’t know the “foot on the ground” situation, and so I’d like to ask for more information.