Abstract

This study investigates the degree of precarious employment in the Chilean English language teaching industry. We recruited a random sample of two hundred and twenty-three English teachers from the primary and secondary schools, Universities, as well as Private English Institutes through an online survey. A cross-sectional study of the socio-demographic variables of precarious employment was conducted through the analysis of proportional variances according to gender, age, school curriculum, educational qualification, and teaching status. Nine indicators represented the six dimensions of the Employment Precariousness Construct were adopted for the measurement. The results revealed that the majority (56.8%) of English teachers have temporary contracts. Although the degree of precariousness was higher in dimensions comprising temporariness, wages, rights, and the exercise of rights, vulnerability among teachers holding temporary contracts comparing with those possessing permanent contracts, there was no significant difference between the two groups concerning the dimension of disempowerment. Overall, our results showed that the level of precarious employment in the industry is moderately low. Implications of the results and future research directions are presented.