Contract employment vs. tenure -track appointments: Faculty at master's degree universities speak about their choices

Rebecca House Stankowski, Purdue University

Abstract

This qualitative study investigates and analyzes the reasons that full-time teaching faculty at master’s universities in the United States choose contract employment instead of traditional tenure-track appointments, and how they feel about that choice. The academy has changed a great deal since the concept of tenure was first introduced in the early 20th century, and a variety of alternatives to traditional tenure-based academic employment arrangements have been introduced in recent years. A number of studies have investigated this phenomenon and reported its evolution, but to date there has been a dearth of research into the reasons why faculty would choose contract employment over tenure. The theoretical framework for this study involves a phenomenological paradigm employing naturalistic inquiry, which is used to understand the reasoning process faculty members employ to make the “contract vs. tenure track” choice. Through a series of in-depth, open-ended interviews with selected full-time faculty at master’s universities that offer term contracts as an employment option, this study investigates the attributes and thoughts of faculty who have chosen to take positions other than those on the traditional tenure track. The transcribed interview data has been separated into coded categories as suggested by the literature and the data itself, and then analyzed in order to seek meaning through the development of patterns and themes. After comparing themes across cases, the categories were tested for plausibility and reviewed for credibility and accuracy with the faculty who provided the data. This inductive data analysis provides insight into and understanding of the underlying reasons that shape faculty members’ choice of academic appointments. Although a number of recent research studies have investigated faculty appointments, much of the research to date has been quantitative and has focused on faculty and other academic staff employed at research institutions. This research has identified certain trends in faculty employment choices, but many of the reasons for those trends have been speculative. In contrast, the study presented here provides answers to questions about why teaching faculty in master’s universities choose contract employment and how they feel about those choices. These insights illuminate some of the motivations driving faculty employment decisions in the 21st century.

Degree

Ph.D.

Advisors

Hirth, Purdue University.

Subject Area

School administration|Higher education

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