Social Science Space

In the following Q&A, George Justice, an English professor and author of “How to Be a Dean,” explains the origin of tenure and the waning protections that it affords professors in the United States who have it.

Do sociology graduate students need to publish more today than they did a generation ago to get a faculty position? Do assistant professors need to publish more to get tenure?

Alice Dreger says shecan see clearly that universities in which the majority of the faculty feel unsafe in terms of job security become places where no one feels safe to do anything that might risk upsetting someone.

Universities need faculty who are dedicated to teaching, but the most persuasive argument in support of tenure – its role in protecting academic freedom– has come to be too narrowly associated with research.

With university tenure under scrutiny in Wisconsin and tenure itself under assault elsewhere, Jürgen Enders examines how academics are protected in three European countries.

Cathy Sandeen, chancellor of University of Wisconsin Colleges and the University of Wisconsin-Extension, argues that universities need to be more honest on how academic freedom applies to different teaching roles in an environment where tenure is no longer a given.

What one group of tenure-track faculty did to fight for the dignity and success of their adjunct colleagues, and for the ultimate survival of academia. Read how they’re exceeding all expectations, and how you can bring the fight to your own institution.