The Shrinking Professoriate (Scott Jaschik, Inside Higher Ed, 13 March 2008)

In the fall of 2004, 50.6 of professional full-time employees in higher education (excluding medical schools) were faculty members. In the fall of 2006, for which data were released Tuesday, 48.6 percent of professional, full-time jobs in higher education were held by faculty members.

Faculty jobs remain the majority among full-time positions at two-year colleges and in public higher education, but because there are far more full-time jobs at four-year institutions than at two-year institutions, the balance has tilted away from professorial positions. (Adding part-time positions would of course also swell the faculty ranks across sectors, but this data set focuses on full-time positions.)

Full-Time Professional Positions in Higher Education, Fall 2004 and Fall 2006

Category

2004 Faculty

2004 Administrators

2006 Faculty

2006 Administrators

Total

50.6%

49.4%

48.6%

51.4%

Public

53.1%

46.9%

51.1%

48.9%

Private nonprofit

45.6%

54.4%

44.0%

56.0%

Private for-profit

48.0%

52.0%

44.1%

55.9%

4-year colleges

47.3%

52.7%

45.5%

54.5%

2-year colleges

63.6%

36.4%

61.4%

38.6%

— Scott Jaschik

The original story and user comments can be viewed online at http://insidehighered.com/news/2008/03/12/jobs.

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