The Questions of Tenure - Hardcover

Chait, Richard P

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0674007719 ISBN 13: 9780674007710

Publisher: Harvard University Press, 2002

Synopsis

Tenure is the abortion issue of the academy, igniting arguments and inflaming near-religious passions. To some, tenure is essential to academic freedom and a magnet to recruit and retain top-flight faculty. To others, it is an impediment to professorial accountability and a constraint on institutional flexibility and finances. But beyond anecdote and opinion, what do we really know about how tenure works? In this book, Richard Chait and his colleagues offer the results of their research on key empirical questions. Are there circumstances under which faculty might voluntarily relinquish tenure? When might new faculty actually prefer non-tenure track positions? Does the absence of tenure mean the absence of shared governance? Why have some colleges abandoned tenure while others have adopted it? Answers to these and other questions come from careful studies of institutions that mirror the American academy: research universities and liberal arts colleges, including both highly selective and less prestigious schools. This volume offers pictures of academic subcultures. Chait and his colleagues conclude that context counts so much that no single tenure system exists. Still, since no academic reward carries the cachet of tenure, few institutions will initiate significant changes without either powerful external pressures or persistent demands from new or disgruntled faculty.

About this title

Review

A thoughtfully constructed book that brings light to several aspects of tenure and related issues, where, until now, there has been mostly a good bit of heat and smoke. -- Stephen Vicchio "Baltimore Sun" (03/24/2002) [A] thoughtfully constructed book that brings light to several aspects of tenure and related issues, where, until now, there has been mostly a good bit of heat and smoke.--Stephen Vicchio"Baltimore Sun" (03/24/2002) Most books about academic tenure are based on anecdotal or subjective information, but this one attempts to analyze this contentious topic using empirical research. Chait...and several colleagues collected faculty employment policy statements from over 200 colleges and universities and then surveyed and interviewed many professors and administrators on a variety of topics related to tenure. This provided the data for the 11 chapters, which range from an overview of current policies to a study of trends in academic employment in foreign countries.--Will Hepfer"Library Journal" (02/15/2002)

About the Author

Richard P. Chait is Professor of Higher Education at the Harvard University Graduate School of Education. Charles Clofelter is Professor of Public Policy Studies and Economics at Duke University. He is also Research Associate of the National Bureau of Economic Research.

Edition details

• Publisher: Harvard University Press
• Publication date: 2002
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0674007719
• ISBN 13: 9780674007710
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 352