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ILR Impact Brief - Faculty Tenure and the Gap between Policy and Practice

Author
Tolbert, Pamela S.; Sine, Wesley D.; Park, Sangchen
Abstract
Almost all four-year institutions of higher education have adopted the tenure system as a formal policy for faculty employment. The degree to which tenure systems are actually implemented, however, depends on resource flows and institutional pressures. Fewer resource constraints (i.e., greater per-student revenues and larger endowments) increase the proportion of professors employed on tenure-track lines; likewise, a stronger research orientation positively affects the share of faculty in tenure-track slots. Colleges and universities that rely more heavily on tuition for revenues and those with larger numbers of accreditations (from professional and occupational associations) generally employ fewer tenure-track professors. Other variables also matter: Tenure is more prevalent at public, older, and more complex universities and colleges and is less widespread among institutions that enroll larger numbers of students and among those that include a medical school. And finally, the share of tenure-track faculty declines on campuses with a larger pool of graduate students who are available to teach.
Journal/Series
Impact Brief
Description
The ILR Impact Brief series highlights the research and project based work conducted by ILR faculty that is relevant to workplace issues and public policy. The are prepared by Maralyn Edid, Senior Extension Associate, ILR School.
Date Issued
2006-04-01Subject
faculty; tenure; gap; policy; practice; employment; college; universities; education; employ; student
Rights
Required Publisher Statement: Copyright by Cornell University.
Type
newsletter