<p>Institutions of higher education have adopted corporate-style business models grounded in a capitalistic approach to education that shapes their policies, decision-making, and culture. Academic capitalism drives an increased dependence on non-tenure-track faculty, often on short-term contracts, who teach large classes and receive low compensation. We used the theory of academic capitalism and institutional ethnography to examine the experiences of both non-tenure-track and tenured or tenure-track faculty and the policies that shape faculty experiences at a research-intensive U.S.A. university. Interviews with faculty who teach large-enrollment classes across four STEM disciplines revealed points of tension that were perpetuated by personnel policies, the enactment of those policies, and a lack of policies that better support non-tenure-track faculty. Academic capitalist themes of rankism, continuous performance evaluation and competition for resources created disjunctures between policies and lived experiences of faculty. Analysis of personnel policy documents at the university, college, and department levels, and their enactment perpetuated a two-tiered structure, reinforced the view that teaching was less valuable than research, and promoted inequities that influenced decisions about using student-centered pedagogy.</p>