:: netwoman's blog ::

Academia or Industry?

Academia or Industry?

Two articles I came across today - talking about the shortage of tenured faculty - and the alarming amount of adjunct faculty in the US. Not a pretty picture. In Canada, we're facing the same type of faculty shortage with people retiring. Given the issues with faculty hiring and departmental budgets - why would we (meaning those almost ready or on the job market already) want to go to academia given the problems?

Other issues:

What has not changed as dramatically is the representation of women in faculties, especially in some disciplines such as engineering, physical sciences, mathematics and computer sciences. Women are also far less likely to hold senior posts. Women make up 33 per cent of full-time faculty but hold just 20 per cent of full professor positions. They account for 36 per cent of associate professors, 41 per cent of assistant professors and 55 per cent of lecturers.

The study predicts that the turnover and expansion expected in the next decade will likely increase the number of women on faculties and in senior posts. Still, the gender gap among graduate students in some areas of study means that some disparity is likely to continue.

Why hire Tenure when you can hire part-time workers to help your dept budget?

Three decades ago, adjuncts — both part-timers and full-timers not on a tenure track — represented only 43 percent of professors, according to the professors association, which has studied data reported to the federal Education Department. Currently, the association says, they account for nearly 70 percent of professors at colleges and universities, both public and private.

John W. Curtis, the union’s director of research and public policy, said that while the number of tenured and tenure-track professors has increased by about 25 percent over the past 30 years, they have been swamped by the growth in adjunct faculty. Over all, the number of people teaching at colleges and universities has doubled since 1975.

posted by Netwoman @ 12:50 PM