On the surface, Daniel McKeown seemed like a success story: he has a PhD in STEM from a good school and a job teaching at a top US university in a desirable location. But not every ‘professor’ job is created equally. It turned out, Dr. McKeown was barely scraping by at UCLA, so he decided to take his plight public in a series of TikTok videos.
His story went viral and he became known as the ‘Homeless’ Professor. My Tweet alone commenting on his case was viewed 3.6 million times.
I ended up getting something wrong in my Tweet: Dr. McKeown was not an adjunct. He was a full-time lecturer at UCLA. I know that because he reached out directly to me to make the correction, which is reflected in my article on his case.
To my surprise, most of the higher education trade publications like Inside Higher Ed or Chronicle, did not pick up his story, despite the virality and intense interest. So I decided to do it myself here on College Towns—the power of independent media!
Dr. McKeown agreed to the interview, as he wanted to tell his full story. We recorded right before the US presidential election, so I have been holding the post for several weeks as I didn’t want it to get drown out in other news.
You can watch the entire uncut version above, or I have also provided some abridged highlight clips below that address some of the specifics of the issues.
Entering a ‘Promising Field’, Not From California (2:44 min.)
What Were They Telling You About the Job Market In Grad School? (1:47 min.)
Applying for Jobs in Industry (1:19 min.)
Applying to Jobs Outside California and Abroad (2:18 min.)
Full-Time Job at UCLA, 200 Student Classes (2:05 min.)
Faculty Pay at $66K/ Year and Living in LA (3:02 min.)
Faculty Housing Possibility and Student Loan Debt (1:14 min.)
Requesting a Raise to $100K and Media Misreporting (1:04 min.)
You can listen or watch the full interview above. I’d also encourage you to read my previous article discussing his situation. His story should provide a cautionary tale about the sad state of the academic job market. The higher education sector must take heed.
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