RESEARCH PRODUCTIVITY OF TENURED AND NONTENURED FACULTY IN U.S. UNIVERSITIES: A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF FOUR FIELDS AND POLICY IMPLICATIONS
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/eb009810 |
| Date | 01 January 1979 |
| Published date | 01 January 1979 |
| Pages | 92-101 |
| Author | YORAM NEUMANN |
| Subject Matter | Education |
THE JOURNAL OF EDUCATIONAL ADMINISTRATION
VOLUME XVII, NUMBER
1
MAY, 1979
RESEARCH PRODUCTIVITY OF TENURED AND
NONTENURED FACULTY IN U.S. UNIVERSITIES: A
COMPARATIVE STUDY OF FOUR FIELDS AND POLICY
IMPLICATIONS.1
YORAM NEUMANN
This study examines differences between the tenured and nontenured faculty in
research productivity. The major hypothesis tested is that, in a given unit of
time,
the
tenured faculty demonstrates and publishes its research more than the nontenured
faculty. The study does not unequivocally verify this hypothesis for published books
and articles. Policy implications of these findings in the context of designing an
optimal reward system are discussed and explicated.
THE TENURE PROBLEM
The tenure system adopted by most U.S. universities allows faculty a
seven-year probationary period after which they are entitled to a formal
assessment and are either granted life employment or dismissed by their
institution. This system, though currently under pressure to reform, was
codified in 1940 by the American Association of University Professors
and the Association of American Colleges. Shull documented some of the
problems created by the system:
Many of our major universities have relatively high ratios of tenured to non-
tenured faculty members. In many cases, more than half the faculty is
tenured; more commonly, three quarters or more may be tenured; and in a
few exceptional situations, all faculty members are tenured.2
Shull believes that such high ratios are undesirable for the university.
Shulman3 raised some other problems with regard to the tenure issue:
academic freedom, "deadwood" faculty, institutional finances, etc.
Several alternatives have been suggested to overcome the non-growth
period for the university. The two most popular alternatives involve
replacement of the tenure system by five to seven year renewable
contracts or the raising of tenure criteria for junior professors.
YORAM NEUMANN is Associate Director, Centre for Applied Social Science and
Assistant Professor of Sociology
at
Boston University. He holds the degrees of B.A., M.B.A.
(Tel-Aviv) and Ph.D. (Cornell). Among his recent publications are articles concerned with
organizational research methodologies.
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