Myths and realities of academic labor markets

Abstract This study examines national data on 4481 full-time faculty in 4-year colleges and universities to develop a model of faculty pay derived from competing propositions about the role of pay in faculty rewards. The traditional view of faculty pay is one based on market segmentation, where teaching-oriented institutions reward teaching productivity and research-oriented universities reward scholarly productivity highly. A competing school of thought holds that pay reflects a single national market for faculty, where the same type of faculty behavior is valued across different types of schools. This perspective is consistent with sociological research, which claims that pay reinforces a dominant cultural norm, prestige achieved through research and publishing, rather than reflecting variation in institutional markets. A third perspective is that pay reflects incentives to reinforce these internal norms rather than to reflect differences in markets. Findings suggest that some form of market segmentation exists, although the segmentation does not follow purported differences between institutional missions. Instead, research-oriented behaviors are valued across most types of institution, leading support to the national market perspective.

[1]  Ronald G. Ehrenberg,et al.  Faculty Turnover at American Colleges and Universities: Analysis of Aaup Data , 1990 .

[2]  C. Mueller,et al.  Ascription and labor markets : race and sex differences in earnings , 1984 .

[3]  W. Hansen.  Salary Differences Across Disciplines. , 1985 .

[4]  M. Clark.  Assessing Dimensions of Quality in Doctoral Education: A Technical Report of a National Study in Three Fields. , 1976 .

[5]  Gordon C. Winston.  Hostility, Maximization, & the Public Trust. , 1992 .

[6]  Henry M. Levin,et al.  Raising Productivity in Higher Education. , 1991 .

[7]  John J. Siegfried,et al.  Economic Challenges in Higher Education , 1992 .

[8]  Jack H. Schuster,et al.  American Professors: A National Resource Imperiled , 1986 .

[9]  Herbert W. Marsh,et al.  Academic Productivity and Faculty Supplemental Income. , 1980 .

[10]  Faculty Earnings Compared with Those of Nonacademic Professionals. , 1981 .

[11]  K. J. White,et al.  Teaching and Publishing as Determinants of Academic Salaries , 1973 .

[12]  K. Skeff,et al.  Developing the motivation for improving university teaching , 1988 .

[13]  N. Smelser.  The Changing Academic Market: General Trends and a Berkeley Case Study , 1980 .

[14]  P. Lingenfelter,et al.  Assessing Quality in Doctoral Programs: Criteria and Correlates of Excellence. , 1973 .

[15]  Katherine Lewellan Kasten,et al.  Tenure and Merit Pay as Rewards for Research, Teaching, and Service at a Research University. , 1984 .

[16]  N. Moore,et al.  Faculty salary equity: Issues in regression model selection , 1992 .

[17]  B. Clark,et al.  The higher education system : academic organization in cross-national perspective , 1984 .

[18]  T. Salthouse,et al.  An Experimental Investigation of Factors Affecting University Promotion Decisions: A Brief Report. , 1978 .

[19]  S. West,et al.  Multiple Regression: Testing and Interpreting Interactions. , 1994 .

[20]  James S. Fairweather,et al.  Dimensions of Academic Program Quality , 2017 .

[21]  Martin Trow,et al.  Research Activity in American Higher Education. , 1974 .

[22]  Derek Bok,et al.  Reclaiming the Public Trust , 1992 .

[23]  R. Jacobson.  Colleges Face New Pressure to Increase Faculty Productivity. , 1992 .

[24]  Thomas E. Morton,et al.  Faculty Salaries: Is There Discrimination by Sex, Race, and Discipline?. , 1974 .

[25]  J. S. Stark,et al.  Faculty roles and role preferences in ten fields of professional study , 1986 .

[26]  P. Blau.  The Organization of Academic Work , 2021 .

[27]  Academic Labor Markets and Careers , 1989 .

[28]  William G. Bowen,et al.  Performing Arts: The Economic Dilemma , 1967 .

[29]  Faculty Turnover at American Colleges and Universities: Analysis of AAUP Data , 1990 .

[30]  J. Baldridge.  Policy making and effective leadership , 1978 .

[31]  David Riesman,et al.  The Academic Revolution. , 1969 .

[32]  D. Garvin.  The Economics of University Behavior , 1980 .

[33]  J. S. Long,et al.  Productivity and Academic Position in the Scientific Career , 1978 .

[34]  Prospects for Faculty in the Arts and Sciences , 1991 .

[35]  Paul J. Andrisani,et al.  Job Preferences, College Major, and the Gender Gap in Earnings , 1984 .

[36]  E. Boyer.  A classification of institutions of higher education , 1987 .

[37]  H. Tuckman,et al.  An Analysis of the Reward Structure in Two Disciplines , 1976 .

[38]  D. Hoyt.  Interrelationships among instructional effectiveness, publication record, and monetary reward , 1974 .

[39]  R. Hind.  A Theory of Evaluation Applied to a University Faculty. , 1974 .