noshabbytigers:npr:Protected by tenure that prevents them from being dismissed without cause, and wi

noshabbytigers:npr:Protected by tenure that prevents them from being dismissed without cause, and with no mandatory retirement age, a significant proportion of university faculty isn’t going anywhere. A third are 55 and older, compared with 20 percent of the rest of the workforce, according to the University of Iowa Center on Aging.And while 36 percent of all workers plan to put off their retirements beyond the age of 65, the proportion of university and college faculty who intend to delay stepping down is more than double that, the financial services company TIAA-CREF reports. Another study found that 60 percent of faculty planned to work past 70, and 15 percent to stay until they’re 80.This dramatic trend foretells more than a future of campuses populated by white-haired professors in sensible shoes and tweed jackets with elbow patches. Universities say it’s making it harder for them to cut costs and improve productivity exactly at a time when students and their families are balking at the high cost of a higher education.And when those students — not to mention politicians and business leaders — are expecting a better return on that investment, the institutions say the buildup of aging faculty leaves them less able to respond to changing demand for new kinds of majors, or to declining enrollments, and that it’s also blocking younger Ph.D.s from entering the workforce.On Campus, Older Faculty Keep On Keepin’ OnIllustration: Paul Blow for NPRInteresting issue…This is an interesting issue, and I have feelings about it! Full disclosure: I am a young almost-Ph.D. I happen to wear sensible shoes and tweedy things, but stereotypical academic dress as a gender/class/ethnicity signifier is an issue unto itself! Anyway!1) On that “dramatic trend” paragraph: 1) it’s not a trend, it’s a prediction. 2) The ballooning of university expenses is not driven by faculty. University admin has grown dramatically in recent years (see here and here.) Moreover, a worrying trend I’ve observed (though one that’s been less commented on by media, afaik) is for institutions to focus on the “student experience” in terms of the 2-day campus visit, more than the 4-year educational experience. So, shiny recreational facilities are a must, as are new coffee shops, new dorms, new sports facilities, etc. Do students need safe, adequate housing and safe, adequate sports facilities? Of course! But it’s hard to impress students with the value of a liberal-arts subject when there’s a saucepan in the corner of their instructor’s shared office cubicle to catch the rusty water that’s coming through the roof. (I wish I were exaggerating.) And when the equivalent of a Ph.D. candidate’s annual stipend is given away in prizes on the night of a university sports game… well… the priorities seem off.2) “Better return on investment” rhetoric worries me.  As faculty do retire, they aren’t being replaced 1-for-1 with bright-eyed young Ph.D.s (whether in new, exciting fields, or bringing fresh perspectives to traditional ones.) They’re being replaced with adjunct faculty. These are exhausted, overqualified young Ph.D.s who teach for a pittance (try a national average of $3000 per course) without benefits. This means piecing together work at multiple institutions. This means having to take more courses to make ends meet (and that’s with food stamps.) Of course, this means having less time for individual students, and less time for class prep… less “value for money” for the students, to put it in the crudest terms possible. 3) While I’m at it, what about the Old Faculty? Over 25% of my old-subject department have been hired in the last decade. Maybe that’s not great, but it’s more than 1 new hire a year; many of these comparatively new faces are from historically underrepresented groups in academe, and are studying historically underrepresented specialties. Adaptability: it’s necessary, and it’s great. But here, too, are some anecdotal histories of Old Faculty. Professor A. is just over 70. A. is also in high demand as a public intellectual, is adored by undergraduates, and is mentoring several dissertations. Professor B. is 65-ish, and on the verge of retirement; B. wants to devote time to grandkids and research, definitely in that order. Professor C., an internationally-renowned scholar, is almost 65 and has been talking about retirement for several years. But bright-eyed wannabe grad students keep begging C. to take them on, and C. feels a sense of responsibility towards this new generation of scholars.Knowledge is often a slow process. Wisdom is a slower one. Is providing new jobs (full-time jobs, with benefits) for new faculty important? Yes. Is flexibility in educational programs important? Absolutely yes. Are Old Faculty the ones responsible for the erosion of tenured faculty positions, the outrageous rise in tuitions, and the ballooning budgets of universities? No, no, and again no.Do better, NPR. Do better, universities… and send someone to fix our ceiling. -- source link
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