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

38 Pages Posted: 28 Dec 2015 Last revised: 20 Feb 2023

See all articles by Liang Zhang

Liang Zhang

Pennsylvania State University

Ronald G. Ehrenberg

ILR-Cornell University; National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER); IZA Institute of Labor Economics

Xiangmin Liu

Pennsylvania State University

Date Written: December 2015

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

Zhang, Liang and Ehrenberg, Ronald G. and Liu, Xiangmin, Changing Faculty Employment at Four-Year Colleges and Universities in the United States (December 2015). NBER Working Paper No. w21827, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2708713

Liang Zhang (Contact Author)

Pennsylvania State University ( email )

University Park
State College, PA 16802
United States

Ronald G. Ehrenberg

ILR-Cornell University ( email )

Higher Education Research Institute
Ithaca, NY 14853-3901
United States
607-255-3026 (Phone)
607-255-4496 (Fax)

National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) ( email )

1050 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, MA 02138
United States

IZA Institute of Labor Economics ( email )

P.O. Box 7240
Bonn, D-53072
Germany

Xiangmin Liu

Pennsylvania State University ( email )

University Park
State College, PA 16802
United States

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