Understanding the new majority of non-tenure-track faculty in higher education - Adrianna Kezar

The American faculty is changing. Approximately 65 percent of allfaculty appointments being made are now nontenure track. Despitethese changes, many higher education institutions still operate asthough tenure-track faculty are the norm and that non-tenure-trackfaculty are a supplementary workforce. This monograph provides anoverview of the literature and research on non-tenure-trackfaculty. Who are these faculty members? What are their experiences?What does this situation mean for undergraduate instruction andstudents? What is the role of tenure in higher education? How didhigher education attain this majority of non-tenure-trackemployees? Where does higher education go from here? The researchfocuses on the demographics of non-tenure-track faculty,differences by discipline and institutional types, historicaldevelopments, experiences of non-tenure-track faculty, and theexperiences and outcomes of non-tenure-track faculty compared withthose of tenured or tenure-track faculty. Administrators andfaculty can make better-informed decisions about staffing if theyhave some understanding about trends and research and the impact ofnon-tenure-track faculty on institutional outcomes.

This is the fourth issue in the 36th volume of the Jossey-Bassseries ASHE Higher Education Report. Each monograph in the seriesis the definitive analysis of a tough higher education problem,based on thorough research of pertinent literature andinstitutional experiences. Topics are identified by a nationalsurvey. Noted practitioners and scholars are then commissioned towrite the reports, with experts providing critical reviews of eachmanuscript before publication.