Quantifying hierarchy and dynamics in US faculty hiring and retention

Area of Science:

• Sociology of Science
• Higher Education Studies
• Academic Workforce Analysis

Background:

• Faculty hiring and retention shape academic workforce composition, educational outcomes, and research priorities.
• Hiring dynamics reflect societal shifts, generational changes, and diversity initiatives.

Purpose of the Study:

• To analyze academic employment and doctoral education for US tenure-track faculty (2011-2020).
• To quantify inequalities in faculty production, prestige, retention, and gender representation.
• To understand the processes shaping academic scholarship and workforce dynamics.

Main Methods:

• Analysis of academic employment data for tenure-track faculty at PhD-granting US universities.
• Examination of doctoral education and career trajectories over a decade (2011-2020).
• Quantification of faculty production, attrition rates, and gender representation across institutions.

Main Results:

• A small minority of universities produce a majority of faculty, indicating concentrated power and prestige.
• Higher attrition rates were observed for faculty trained internationally or employed by their doctoral institutions.
• Gains in women's representation are attributed to demographic turnover, not necessarily improved hiring practices, suggesting slow progress toward gender parity.

Conclusions:

• Significant inequalities persist in the US academic workforce structure and dynamics.
• Attrition patterns reveal vulnerabilities in faculty retention, particularly for international scholars and those remaining at their alma mater.
• Current trends suggest limited long-term impact of recent diversity efforts on achieving gender parity in most academic fields.