The Indonesian academic profession is heavily regulated and monitored by the government. The rigid requirements, rules, and regulations are meant to maintain the quality and roles of the profession, but it also creates barriers and unwanted consequences such as low academic mobility and cost to apply for an academic job. Recruiting casual lecturers is a common practice in higher education institutions worldwide, especially with the massification of higher education. However, this strategy is becoming more difficult to implement in Indonesia with the government's tight monitoring. This chapter presents the findings from two studies of Part-Time Academics (PTAs), which aim to explore their academic identity and the factors that contribute to it. The first study involved in-depth interviews with fourteen PTAs and eleven Full-Time Academics (FTAs) as the cross-cases. The results were able to provide insights into individuals and the way they experience the meso-structure of the academic profession. The second study was an observation of postings and replies in one Facebook group for Indonesian lecturers. Using keywords related to the academic profession, this study provides insights into the impacts of the meso- and macro-social structures of the academic profession. These findings provide a picture of a bitter-sweet profession: passionate teachers who do not really have a career path to pursue, or legal aliens (Legal alien is quoted from a song by Sting: "An Englishman in New York") who are at risk of precarious employment, low pay, and entrapment in a bureaucratic system. As Sting said in his song: "I'm a legal alien, I'm an Englishman in New York", there are some academics who meet all legal requirements to be considered full-time but live the life and conditions of part-time academics. [For the complete volume, "Education in Indonesia: Critical Perspectives on Equity and Social Justice. Education in the Asia-Pacific Region: Issues, Concerns and Prospects. Volume 70," see ED675979.]