On Campus
Tenure, Gender and the Enterprise University: An Analysis
At his inauguration as NYU's President in 2002, John Sexton articulated a vision of what he calls, "the Common Enterprise University." He refined that vision in an essay entitled, "The Common Enterprise University and the Teaching Mission," in which he wrote:
Taken together, these factors-the reality of decreasing government support, the need for increasing investments in both traditional areas and new knowledge and teaching, and the limits on tuition-manifest the depth of the dilemma faced by universities committed to high standards and even higher aspirations. We will generate the resources to fulfill our mission only if we move to common enterprise, with its emphasis on faculty engagement in the setting of priorities as well as faculty ownership of the decisions made and in all parts of the university, led by the faculty, a willingness occasionally to sacrifice for the collective good.
The analysis offered here begs the question "who is being
asked to sacrifice for NYU's future?"
Analysis of NYU data shows a marked increase in
the number of full time, non-tenure track faculty along with an
increase in the salary gap between men and women among tenured and
tenure track faculty.
Increasing number of Non-Tenure Track Faculty
Source: NYU Faculty Demographics 2001-'02 and 2004-'05
Between the '01-'02 academic year and '04-'05, the number of non-tenure track faculty rose 28% constituting 35% of the non-medical school faculty at NYU (this number includes only full-time faculty; it does not include the adjunct faculty who teach at NYU).
From 2001-02 to 2004-05, the largest numerical increase in faculty came in the category of "No Rank" which grew from 131 to 233 according to statistics from the National Center for Education Statistics. At the same time, the number of assistant professors has dropped from 279 to 268.
Among the categories of tenured, tenure track and non-tenure track faculty, it is only in the category of non-tenure track faculty that women's representation approaches 50%. In 2004-05, women made up 47.5% of the non-tenure track positions as compared with 32.1% of the tenured positions, which are paid the best and have the most job security.
For example, the average salary for non-tenure track faculty at NYU is 21% less than the average salary for assistant professors.
In the words of a report entitled Casual Nation, increased reliance on non-tenure track faculty:
harms both educators and the education they provide because teachers lack a voice in their working conditions. Without such a voice, they cannot protect the quality of education by advocating for limits on workloads and class sizes or for increased teacher training and support.
Pay Disparities Increasing
The National Center for Education Statistics
compiles data about educational institutions-including average salary
data. Those data show that the average salary remains lower for
women than for men in all categories except "no rank,"
where there are 3 more women than men.
Between '01-'02 and '04-'05, the wage gap between
men and women increased for full Professors and Assistant Professors.
In 2004-05, a male full professor was paid, on average, $19,144
more than a female full professor. That disparity level increased
by $4,551 from 2001-02. At the Assistant Professor level,
the gap between male and female salaries is over $11,000, an increase
of $845 since 2002. This is particularly disturbing since
Assistant Professors are entry-level positions for tenure track
faculty.
Source: Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System, Academic Year '04-'05
Another indication of the pay disparity is that while women comprise 34.4% of the faculty, they constitute only 29.6% of NYU's faculty payroll.
Conclusions
Three years into John Sexton's presidency, data show that there are almost 30% more non-tenure track faculty than when Sexton became president. NYU women make an average of 88¢ on the dollar that men make for comparable work.
For a version of this article with notes, see the PDF. |
