According to the National Bureau of Economic Research, the Great Recession began in December 2007 and ended in June 2009. With a duration of eighteen months, this recession was almost double the length of the average post-World War II economic downturn. Although the worst recession since the Great Depression is now technically over, this analysis…

For those who still see tenure primarily as a form of job security, the larger economic context should be plain. No one, not even in the traditional professions, can any longer expect a fixed pattern of employment in the course of his or her lifetime. In this article, the author discusses how this generation is witnessing the merging of the…

Nearly 1 million full-and part-time faculty members teach at some 3,400 colleges and universities in the United States. At some point, all of these faculty members have participated in the academic labor market as a buyer or a seller. Social scientists often characterize the higher education market as inefficient and idiosyncratic. Yet…

This article reports the findings of a 1999 survey conducted by the Coalition on the Academic Workforce (CAW), a group of higher education and disciplinary associations concerned about the dramatic rise in contingent faculty, to examine the staffing practices across eleven humanities and social science disciplines. The comprehensive report showed…

The trend toward staffing ongoing programs with part-time faculty should be reversed, and some proportion of the part-time positions introduced since the 1970s should be converted to tenure-track assistant professorships. Part-time faculty should not be consigned to a permanent marginal labor pool through superficial improvement of part-time…

The principal distinction between nonfeminist and feminist economists is that the latter view the present assignment to economic duties based on sex as unfair and wish to draw a system of work and family relations that will be fair to men, women, and children. (MSE)

The statement, prepared by representatives of ten academic associations attending a September 1997 conference on part-time and adjunct college faculty, argues that often the terms and conditions of such appointments are inadequate to support responsible teaching or, by extension, a career, and urges institutions not to rely inappropriately on…

While women are making some progress, the structure of employment in higher education is highly resistant to change. Concern for women's issues is no longer a high priority for educational leaders. Both administrators and women themselves must be committed to the advancement of women in higher education. (MSE)

Statistics suggest that, despite ongoing financial difficulties, the rate of graduation from historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) is improving, and students of these colleges have higher average wages than similar individuals who did not attend college or who attended non-HBCUs. (MSE)

The 1980s college enrollment crisis never materialized because demographics are not the sole determinant of enrollment trends. The actual employment and earnings experiences of graduates will heavily influence the economic well-being of most postsecondary institutions. If private investment in postsecondary education remains high, enrollments will…

A discussion of the status of women college faculty looks at the slow rate of gender integration in academe, patterns of full-time women faculty in different institution types, strategies for changing the gender imbalance, and further steps for overall diversification of the professoriate. (MSE)

Areas of change and nonchange in college faculty employment since the 1950s are examined, particularly as they affect faculty mobility. External factors (prestige, labor market, public opinion) and internal factors (the department structure, institutional policy, and changes within disciplines) are discussed. (MSE)

An anthropologist seeking academic employment reflects on the plight of young, underemployed, often temporary faculty in a difficult job market. Conflicts between expectations and the reality of the stratified academic culture are highlighted. (MSE)

The American Association of University Professors' annual faculty salary survey is summarized and extensive tabulated data are presented. The survey reports full-time faculty salaries, academic rank, and gender patterns by region, sector, and institution type. Over 2,200 colleges and universities participated in the survey. (MSE)

Changes in college faculty employment patterns since the 1970s are examined, focusing on the current lack of available positions, increased use of part-time faculty, dual appointments, racial/ethnic and gender distribution among college teachers, and growth in class size. (MSE)