Nontenured faculty like the teaching and flexibility their track allows, but the lack of job security and respect creates dissatisfaction, a new U-M report states.
The Center for the Education of Women (CEW) conducted the study of employment conditions and career satisfaction of more than 340 full- and part-time instructional and research nontenured faculty from 12 research universities nationwide in 2008-09.
Respondents taught mainly in humanities, sciences and social sciences. Most of the sample — 80 percent — worked full time.
“The full- and part-time nontenure track faculty frequently told us they enjoy teaching and working with students in an environment less stressful and more flexible than that of their tenure-track colleagues,” says Jean Waltman, a CEW research specialist who was part of the study team.
“At the same time, however, our focus group participants raised a number of issues that trouble them about their careers — primarily the lack of job security and clear terms of employment, and the fact that they often encounter a lack of respect and inclusion within their departments. Inadequate salaries were also an issue, of course, but not to the extent we had expected.”
The full-time instructors in the study earned about $57,000 annually, whereas those who worked part-time earned nearly $38,000. The annual pay range difference between full-time and part-time researchers was smaller, with the former earning about $75,000 compared with $70,000 for the latter.
Some other key findings:
• Flexibility and personal life: Faculty value their ability to balance work and family responsibilities and value their freedom from the demands and stresses of the tenure process.
• Respect and inclusion: Respondents often perceived a lack of respect from some colleagues, as well as chairs and deans. They felt excluded from meetings, voting and curriculum design.
• Professional growth opportunities: The respondents desired such opportunities as funding to present at conferences, release time from teaching to write and research, and eligibility for university awards and grants.
• Unionization: Unionized faculty expressed concerns about their unions and their job situations, but also referred to the unions as a means of addressing issues, as well as a force in policy development.
Among the recommendations given to institutions seeking to improve working conditions and career satisfaction of nontenured faculty were developing institutionwide policies covering contracts, salaries and other terms of employment, involving them in evaluation procedures, offering compensation for added responsibilities and, for researchers, increasing autonomy and control over grant funds.
The study’s other authors were Carol Hollenshead, Louise August, Jeanne Miller and Inger Bergom.
