The Economics of Academic Tenure

In some countries, many universities use an employment system for teachers known as tenure. A tenured faculty member enjoys considerable job security for the rest of his or her working life and can only be fired for reasons of "moral turpitude" (bad or evil behavior) or "gross incompetence" or if the financial stability of the institution requires the elimination of an entire department or program.

The high degree of job security enjoyed by tenured faculty members has been the source of complaints about the tenure system. One issue that has been raised by many, including legislators evaluating the finances and managerial practices of state universities in the United States, is that tenure [#highlight2]shelters[/highlight2] faculty from accountability for poor performance. Another argument is that tenure makes the university inefficient in responding to changing instructional demands. [#highlight4]It is difficult to substitute computer engineering faculty for civil engineering faculty if most of the latter have tenure.[/highlight4] In 1988, the Education Reform Act significantly “softened” the tenure system in the United Kingdom, making it easier to fire individual faculty members for financial reasons. More recently, some universities in the United States have taken steps to give university administrators more control over tenured professors. And, in general, American institutions of higher learning have tended to increase the use of part-time and nontenured instructors over time.