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Changing Faculty Employment at Four-Year Colleges and Universities in the United States

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  • Liang Zhang
  • Ronald G. Ehrenberg
  • Xiangmin Liu

Abstract

We use panel data models to examine variations and changes over time in faculty employment at four-year colleges and universities in the United States. The share of part-time faculty among total faculty has continued to grow over the last two decades, while the share of full-time lecturers and instructors has been relatively stable. Meanwhile, the share of non-tenure track faculty among faculty with professorial ranks has been growing. Dynamic panel data models suggest that employment levels of different types of faculty respond to a variety of economic and institutional factors. Colleges and universities have increasingly employed faculty whose salaries and benefits are relatively inexpensive; the slowly deteriorating financial situations at most colleges and universities have led to an increasing reliance on a contingent academic workforce.

Suggested Citation

  • Liang Zhang & Ronald G. Ehrenberg & Xiangmin Liu, 2015. "Changing Faculty Employment at Four-Year Colleges and Universities in the United States," NBER Working Papers 21827, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:21827
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Cheslock, John J. & Callie, Trina M., 2015. "Changing salary structure and faculty composition within business schools: Differences across sectors and state funding levels," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 42-54.
    2. Eric P. Bettinger & Bridget Terry Long, 2010. "Does Cheaper Mean Better? The Impact of Using Adjunct Instructors on Student Outcomes," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 92(3), pages 598-613, August.
    3. Scott E. Carrell & James E. West, 2010. "Does Professor Quality Matter? Evidence from Random Assignment of Students to Professors," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 118(3), pages 409-432, June.
    4. Ronald G. Ehrenberg & Liang Zhang, 2005. "Do Tenured and Tenure-Track Faculty Matter?," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 40(3).
    5. Manuel Arellano & Stephen Bond, 1991. "Some Tests of Specification for Panel Data: Monte Carlo Evidence and an Application to Employment Equations," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 58(2), pages 277-297.
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    Cited by:

    1. Muhammad Asali, 2019. "A tale of two tracks," Education Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 27(3), pages 323-337, May.
    2. Zhu, Maria, 2021. "Limited contracts, limited quality? effects of adjunct instructors on student outcomes☆," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 85(C).
    3. Hilmer, Christiana E. & Hilmer, Michael J., 2020. "On the labor market for full-time non-tenure-track lecturers in economics," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    4. G. Thomas Sav, 2017. "Are American Universities Mismanaged?: Tenure vs Non-Tenure Faculty Employment Decisions," Information Management and Business Review, AMH International, vol. 8(6), pages 19-31.
    5. Ozan Jaquette & Bradley R. Curs, 2023. "Enrollment Growth and Faculty Hiring at Public Research Universities," Research in Higher Education, Springer;Association for Institutional Research, vol. 64(3), pages 349-378, May.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • I23 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Higher Education; Research Institutions
    • J23 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Labor Demand

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