So, not quite so much there. Adjunct professors are, by definition, not on the tenure track. You're thinking, perhaps, of associate professors, who receive wa

So, not quite so much there. Adjunct professors are, by definition, not on the tenure track. You're thinking, perhaps, of associate professors, who receive wages which are roughly commensurate with e.g. high school teachers but are frequently fired after 7 years (denied tenure). Adjuncts are a permanent academic underclass, in just about every sense of the word. (The one glimmer of hope, for adjuncts who have an MA but not a PhD, is to finish their PhD and then get an associate professorship afterwards. If you're a PhD and an adjunct, your career as an academic is functionally over.)