
The Questions of Tenure
Richard P. Chait(Editor)
Harvard University Press
Published on 1. February 2005
Book
Paperback/Softback
352 pages
978-0-674-01604-0 (ISBN)
Description
Tenure is the abortion issue of the academy, igniting arguments and inflaming near-religious passions. To some, tenure is essential to academic freedom and a magnet to recruit and retain top-flight faculty. To others, it is an impediment to professorial accountability and a constraint on institutional flexibility and finances. But beyond anecdote and opinion, what do we really know about how tenure works?
In this unique book, Richard Chait and his colleagues offer the results of their research on key empirical questions. Are there circumstances under which faculty might voluntarily relinquish tenure? When might new faculty actually prefer non-tenure track positions? Does the absence of tenure mean the absence of shared governance? Why have some colleges abandoned tenure while others have adopted it? Answers to these and other questions come from careful studies of institutions that mirror the American academy: research universities and liberal arts colleges, including both highly selective and less prestigious schools.
Lucid and straightforward, The Questions of Tenure offers vivid pictures of academic subcultures. Chait and his colleagues conclude that context counts so much that no single tenure system exists. Still, since no academic reward carries the cachet of tenure, few institutions will initiate significant changes without either powerful external pressures or persistent demands from new or disgruntled faculty.
In this unique book, Richard Chait and his colleagues offer the results of their research on key empirical questions. Are there circumstances under which faculty might voluntarily relinquish tenure? When might new faculty actually prefer non-tenure track positions? Does the absence of tenure mean the absence of shared governance? Why have some colleges abandoned tenure while others have adopted it? Answers to these and other questions come from careful studies of institutions that mirror the American academy: research universities and liberal arts colleges, including both highly selective and less prestigious schools.
Lucid and straightforward, The Questions of Tenure offers vivid pictures of academic subcultures. Chait and his colleagues conclude that context counts so much that no single tenure system exists. Still, since no academic reward carries the cachet of tenure, few institutions will initiate significant changes without either powerful external pressures or persistent demands from new or disgruntled faculty.
Reviews / Votes
Most books about academic tenure are based on anecdotal or subjective information, but this one attempts to analyze this contentious topic using empirical research. Chait...and several colleagues collected faculty employment policy statements from over 200 colleges and universities and then surveyed and interviewed many professors and administrators on a variety of topics related to tenure. This provided the data for the 11 chapters, which range from an overview of current policies to a study of trends in academic employment in foreign countries. -- Will Hepfer * Library Journal * [A] thoughtfully constructed book that brings light to several aspects of tenure and related issues, where, until now, there has been mostly a good bit of heat and smoke. -- Stephen Vicchio * Baltimore Sun *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Cambridge, Mass
United States
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Illustrations
10 line illustrations, 21 tables
Dimensions
Height: 227 mm
Width: 144 mm
Thickness: 25 mm
ISBN-13
978-0-674-01604-0 (9780674016040)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

Richard P. Chait
Questions of Tenure
E-Book
06/2009
1st Edition
Harvard University Press
€30.69
Available for download
Previous edition
Richard P. Chait
The Questions of Tenure
Book
03/2002
Harvard University Press
€62.03
Article exhausted; check for reprint
Persons
Richard P. Chait is Professor of Higher Education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Charles T. Clotfelter is Z. Smith Reynolds Professor of Public Policy Studies at Duke University.
Content
List of Tables and Figures Acknowledgments Introduction Richard P. Chait 1. Why Tenure? Why Now? Richard P. Chait 2. What Is Current Policy? Cathy A. Trower 3. Does Faculty Governance Differ at Colleges with Tenure and Colleges without Tenure? Richard P. Chait 4. Can the Tenure Process Be Improved? R. Eugene Rice, Mary Deane Sorcinelli 5. What Happened to the Tenure Track? Roger G. Baldwin, Jay L. Chronister 6. How Are Faculty Faring in Other Countries? Philip G. Altbach 7. Can Colleges Competitively Recruit Faculty without the Prospect of Tenure? Cathy A. Trower 8. Can Faculty Be Induced to Relinquish Tenure? Charles T. Clotfelter 9. Why Is Tenure One College's Problem and Another's Solution? William T. Mallon 10. How Might Data Be Used? Cathy A. Trower, James P. Honan 11. Gleanings Richard P. Chait Contributors Index