What's it like for women faculty off the tenure track?

Faculty members ineligible for tenure have the lowest pay, fewest benefits, least job security and least access to resources. Most are reasonably satisfied in their work but that's no substitute for fairness, Dr. Jennifer Hart said at the American Educational Research Association (AERA) conference in San Diego in April.

In 2001, three-fourths of new faculty appointments were non-tenure-track (NTT) and they're weighted toward women, who are up to about half of NTT faculty and growing (142% from 1976 to 1993), while men still dominate tenured and tenure track positions.

Male NTTs are often moonlighters, holding other full-time jobs and teaching at a university on the side. Women, whether part-time or full-time, more often aspire to full academic careers.

Hart, an assistant professor of educational leadership and policy analysis at the University of Missouri-Columbia, interviewed 14 non-tenure-track faculty women at a large research university. Their mixed experience highlights challenges to schools increasingly dependent on NTT faculty.

Second class

Women in NTT positions are a mixed bag. Some chose them, wanting to work part time or focus on teaching with less pressure to publish. Others would prefer tenure track jobs, for which they're fully trained. Some are in fields where all the faculty are NTT, like two librarians.

Many enjoy their work but they're conscious of being an underclass whose scholarship isn't taken seriously. "I'm always very aware that I am a second-class citizen," said one. Another told Hart, "I really have felt divorced and disempowered for my whole career at the university."