Changing Faculty Employment at Four-Year Colleges and Universities in the United States

Arbeitspapier

We use panel data models to examine variations and changes in faculty employment at four-year colleges and universities in the United States. The share of part-time faculty among total faculty has continued to grow during the last two decades, while the share of full-time lecturers and instructors has been relatively stable. Meanwhile, the share of non-tenure track faculty among full-time faculty has been growing, especially among the professorial ranks. Dynamic panel data models suggest that employment levels of different types of faculty respond to a variety of economic and institutional factors. Colleges and universities have increasingly employed faculty whose salaries and benefits are relatively inexpensive; the slowly deteriorating financial situations at most colleges and universities have led to an increasing reliance on a contingent academic workforce. A cross-sectional comparison of the share of full-time non-tenure track faculty also reveals significant variations across institutions.

Object Details

• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Series: IZA Discussion Papers ; No. 9595

Classification and Topics

• Classification: Wirtschaft ; Higher Education; Research Institutions ; Labor Demand
• Subject: faculty employment ; non tenure-track faculty

Contributors, Places and Time

• Event: Geistige Schöpfung
• (who): Zhang, Liang ; Ehrenberg, Ronald G. ; Liu, Xiangmin
• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (who): Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA)
• (where): Bonn
• (when): 2015

Further information

• Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/127553
• Last update: 10.03.2025, 11:43 AM CET