Latest news with #tenure
Forbes
2 days ago
- Science
- Forbes
The Impact Of Faculty Tenure On Research Output Explored In New Study
A new study measures research trajectories associated with the granting of faculty tenure. Does the awarding of tenure spur or slow the rate of university faculty research output? Do faculty members produce their most impactful work before or after they earn tenure? Do they become more creative and innovative after tenure or does their work take a turn toward safer, more incremental questions after they achieve the tenure milestone. Those and other questions are explored in a new, large-scale study — Tenure and Research Trajectories — published July 22 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. The researchers — Giorgio Tripodi, Yifan Qian, Dashun Wang, Benjamin Jones, (all of Northwestern University), Xiang Zheng and Chaoqun Ni (University of Wisconsin-Madison), and Dakota Murray (Northeastern University) — examined the careers of 12,611 U.S. faculty members across 15 disciplines, spanning the sciences, engineering, business and social sciences. Each of the scholars had been granted tenure between 2012 and 2015. Using multiple data sources, the researchers evaluated those faculty member's publication records between 2011 and 2020, thereby capturing the five years before and the five years after each one had been awarded tenure. That time period also ensured that the results were not affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, which had a significant impact on tenure clocks and research production. On average, they found that publication rates rapidly increased up to the year before tenure, where they hit a peak. The most productive year for faculty on average was the one right before tenure was granted. That productivity was followed by a plateau around the time faculty were given tenure. This pre- versus post-tenure pattern took place regardless of how many years it took someone to earn tenure. 'Basically, as you start, you grow and produce more, and then (after tenure) there is often a stabilization,' said Tripodi in Northwestern's KelloggInsight. Research Impact The researchers also found a similar trend when it came to the publication of a scholar's research that carried the most impact. On average, the number of 'hit' research articles — those in the top 5% of the most frequently cited articles in the same publication year and field—were higher before tenure than after tenure. Faculty typically published their most-cited research article before they received tenure, even after controlling for age. Major Differences Between Disciplines However, if one looks at the individual disciplines, major differences in post-tenure publication rates are observed. In non-laboratory-based fields like business, social sciences, and mathematics, there were sharp declines in publication rates after tenure. In contrast, the publication rates for lab-based fields like biology, engineering and medicine mostly stayed stable after tenure. In other words, those disciplines that tend to depend more on extramural grants to support faculty research saw more sustained productivity. 'This is telling us that tenure, which is universal for professors, interacts with the disciplinary norms and the organizational structure of the scientific workforce,' Tripodi noted. Exploratory Work Increases After Tenure Another major finding was that the granting of tenure was associated with an increase in the novelty or exploratory nature of faculty research. Within the first five years after tenure, about two-thirds of professors starting exploring topics that were new to them, and roughly a third stopped researching one of the topics they previously had studied. Faculty almost always published their single most novel research article after they had earned tenure. 'Contrary to research impact, we see that the most-novel paper tended to appear after tenure,' Tripodi said. 'This is, to some extent, in accordance with the idea that tenure gives you more job security and thus more freedom to explore, and so you embark on potentially more-risky, more-novel projects.' 'Overall, the U.S. tenure system appears powerful and distinctive,' concluded Benjamin Jones. 'Tenure calls forth ever-increasing output during the 'tenure clock' years, followed by a shift to more novel and exploratory work. These trajectories appear distinctive compared with the patterns we see for scientific researchers in other organizational settings, including at either U.S. national laboratories or foreign universities that don't have the tenure system.'
Yahoo
21-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Mark Murphy reflects on time as Packers president and CEO ahead of retirement
As Green Bay Packers president and CEO Mark Murphy prepares to retire, he spoke with the Green Bay Press-Gazette about the organization's accomplishments during his 17-year tenure and how he hopes fans will remember him.
Forbes
03-07-2025
- Politics
- Forbes
Why Universities Shouldn't Mimic Corporate Work Culture
Universities are currently under significant pressure on a number of fronts. Facing budget cuts, the looming elimination of critical funding sources, and accusations of ideological rigidity, public confidence in universities and the services they provide is hitting new lows. One recent broadside comes from a concerted push in some states to eliminate tenure, a form of employment protection that protects faculty from being fired for the subject and content of their academic work. Critics of the tenure system argue that faculty are largely abusing its protections and suggest instead replacing it with a system of annual reviews that ensure faculty are welcoming a diverse range of viewpoints. These critics deride the university system as being obsolete and ill-matched to the needs of our modern society. Instead, they encourage universities to function more like other work environments, with fewer job protections, more layers of bureaucratic review, and heavier oversight. CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS - JUNE 29: People walk through the gate on Harvard Yard at the Harvard ... More University campus on June 29, 2023 in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that race-conscious admission policies used by Harvard and the University of North Carolina violate the Constitution, bringing an end to affirmative action in higher education. (Photo by) SOURCES OF JOB INSECURITY Yet a review of the norms common in many other industries suggests that these models are actually quite ineffective in heightening job satisfaction or performance. Consider the question of tenure. Contrary to popular belief, the tenure system does not protect faculty from being fired, nor does it insulate underperforming workers from consequences. But it does ensure that faculty can teach and research controversial topics—climate change, political polarization, economic inequality—without fear that they will be fired either for pursuing questions in these areas, or for the answers they uncover. In contrast, many workers today are employed at-will. But their will is not central—the employer's is. Consequently, most workers labor in jobs with little to no security where they can be fired with or without cause. The knowledge that employees can do their best work, generate returns for their company, yet still face termination at any point predictably produces heightened stress and emotional strain for many workers. Noncompete clauses, increasingly common in a variety of industries (though not yet in academia), also create an additional source of job insecurity. Initially applied to high status workers in tech and related fields, noncompete clauses bar these workers from going to a competitor and taking valuable intellectual property with them. But as noncompete clauses are becoming more widespread, they make less sense for the workers to whom they apply. Estimates suggest that up to 20% of workers are subject to these stipulations, and that these now include workers in industries like sales, food and beverage, or personal service. For workers in these fields, noncompetes do not protect intellectual property. They just trap these workers into jobs with few prospects for mobility, economic improvement, or options. Instead of the security of the tenure system, critics system suggest that regular performance reviews would be preferable. But many universities already implement annual reviews of both tenure-track and tenured faculty. Relying solely on performance reviews can create additional problems. Manager reviews often reflect bias, particularly against underrepresented groups. In a classic study, management professors Emilio Castilla and Stephen Benard found these biases were especially pronounced in companies that prided themselves on being meritocracies. Known as the 'meritocracy paradox,' these researchers found that when managers assumed their workplaces were completely fair and equitable, they were less likely to self-reflexively consider their own biases. Universities already face racial and gender gaps in their faculty demographics—replacing tenure with a more traditional review system may seem innocuous, but instituting practices like these risks exacerbating rather than reducing these disparities. Dartre Green (left) has a performance review meeting with Sprouts Cooking Club founder and director ... More Karen Rogers and Flora restaurant executive chef Rico Rivera in Oakland, Calif. on Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2014. Green is working as a chef's apprentice for six months in the Sprouts Cooking Club's chef-in-training program. (Photo By Paul Chinn/The San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images) CHANGING NORMS IN THE UNIVERSITY The attributes that make jobs attractive to workers—having autonomy, input into procedures and systems that affect them, predictable scheduling, job security, opportunities for advancement, and being treated with dignity and respect—are all features that, for many years, had been a key component of faculty work. But ironically, a closer look at the university system reveals that for decades it has been moving away from these features. As of 2021, tenured faculty comprise only 24% of workers, with 68% of faculty working in contingent positions. These adjunct positions are more like jobs in many other sectors. They put faculty on annual contracts where they may not have any promise of long-term employment, they have little control over their schedules from year to year, and are very much at-will employees who can be terminated no matter how strong their performance. Importantly, his shift has not resulted in better outcomes or greater satisfaction among adjunct workers. Instead, many report heightened stress, economic instability, and greater challenges to job performance. We are already seeing university work coming to resemble the norms in other settings, and the results are not encouraging. Autonomy, worker voice, job security—all these features that used to characterize faculty work are key ingredients to creating maximal outcomes for workers. By maintaining a commitment to these aspects of work, universities could set an example of the kinds of jobs that are rewarding and productive for workers. Following the lead of other industries in making jobs less secure, certain, and stable does the opposite.
Washington Post
18-06-2025
- Politics
- Washington Post
New state laws target job protections for college professors
HONOLULU — The 'gravy train.' That's what a Hawaii state senator called the practice of awarding tenure to university research faculty when she proposed legislation in 2022 stripping this long-standing form of job protection from them. The bill got little notice at the time. Now, obscured by the turmoil of the many other challenges to higher education since the start of Donald Trump's second presidential term, tenure has come under siege in states across the country.
Yahoo
07-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
UNC trustees' explanation for tenure delay is troubling and ‘chilling'
John Preyer, chairman of the UNC-Chapel Hill Board of Trustees, finally has explained why the board delayed voting on 33 faculty tenure applications for months before hurriedly approving them this week with an email vote between its regular meetings. 'Deferring the tenure vote was the responsible thing to do given the lack of clarity at that time on the state budget,' Preyer said in a statement to The News & Observer on Friday. 'Our concern was to wait and see what amount of money is coming from the state of North Carolina before we act on tenure, and it would be reasonable and responsible to get that information. The board will always try to be a good steward of state dollars provided to the University.' The explanation is unlikely to reassure faculty. Many were alarmed by the board's breaking with the usually routine approval procedure and its withholding action on all but one tenure application from faculty in the College of Arts and Sciences. Tenure approvals for faculty in health sciences were not delayed. Tenure-track faculty typically complete a six-year probationary period at the university and then expect to be approved for tenure or leave. To be approved for tenure, a candidate's work must pass an extensive review, including assessments by outside experts. Faculty leaders said leaving tenure applications hanging at the last step of approval was unfair and added uncertainty about the process that could make it difficult to recruit faculty for tenure-track positions. Belle Boggs, president of the North Carolina chapter of the American Association of University Professors, said trustees should not be suspending tenure applications that have passed several levels of the university. 'The Board of Trustees is not expert in any of these fields,' she said. 'It goes beyond inappropriate. This is an egregious abuse of their power.' Comments made by trustees in emails obtained by Inside Higher Ed and The Daily Tar Heel indicate that the delay reflected not only funding concerns but opposition to tenure itself. Apparently the trustees were prepared to deny tenure to save money if the next state budget reduces the university's funding. The board relented after an outcry by faculty leaders. Trustee Jim Blaine said in an email that the board should have waited until its meeting at the end of July to vote on the tenure applications, despite the faculty protests. Blaine wrote: 'The optics on this are terrible and make the administration look weak and irresolute. The reversal of course appears responsive to public groaning and gnashing of teeth – bad behavior by a few members of the faculty.' Trustee Marty Kotis opposes the idea of tenure. He said in an email, 'I find it difficult to believe university professors uniquely require lifetime job security comparable to positions held by the Pope or Federal Judges.' But trustee Richard Allison said in an email that the board should respect the process despite fiscal concerns and philosophical objections. 'People on the slate did what was expected of them over an extended period of time under long-established rules. I just do not believe that we should change the rules on them at the final hour,' he said. The tenure issue is resolved for this round, but the delay has added to faculty concerns that political conservatives among the trustees are out to weaken the role and the job status of faculty members in the College of Arts and Sciences, which some on the right consider a liberal indoctrination center. For Victoria Ekstrand, a professor at the Hussman School of Journalism and Media, the tenure episode adds to fears that conservative political appointees want to intimidate and possibly dismiss faculty. 'The chilling effect on the campus in this past year has been extraordinary,' she said. 'People have been quite under the radar. They're afraid, especially at the junior (faculty) level.' Ekstrand said open and honest discussion between trustees, administrators and faculty could defuse the situation. 'When you create a chilling effect like this, people stop talking to each other. We lose the shared governance and the trust in each other,' she said. 'It doesn't have to be this way.' But with reactionary Republican lawmakers controlling university appointments and President Trump leading a war on universities, it looks like 'this way' is the way it will be. Associate opinion editor Ned Barnett can be reached at 919-404-7583, or nbarnett@
