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The career “ladder” and progression processes vary significantly between tenure-track and non-tenure-track faculty positions. Whereas the tenure-track career path is characterized by an “up or out” progression with the potential reward of tenure, the non-tenure-track career

path is one in which promotion is not a requirement for retention but even the most senior faculty members may lack true job security.

First, consider Figure 40, which provides a generalization of the typical tenure-track faculty career path.

Figure 40. Generalization of the Tenure-Track Career Ladder Doctoral Degree Assistant Professor Full Professor Associate Professor Academic Career Non- Academic Career Awarded Tenure Denied Tenure Promoted Not Promoted Out Out Doctoral Degree Assistant Professor Full Professor Associate Professor Academic Career Non- Academic Career Awarded Tenure Denied Tenure Promoted Not Promoted Out Out

Virtually all tenure track appointments first require completion of a doctorate degree (Gappa et al., 2007) , which generally involves achievement of four primary milestones:

• approximately two years of coursework, which provides the foundation of research knowledge;

• a comprehensive exam or set of exams;

• an acceptable dissertation research proposal and consequent written dissertation; and

• a successful oral “defense” of the dissertation to the faculty of the degree-granting institution(Briley, 1997)

Combined, the entire process of earning a doctorate degree in a business or management field requires an average of 7.7 years of “registered time” after receiving the baccalaureate degree, according to a 2004 Survey of Earned Doctorates conducted by the National Opinion Research Center. (AACSB, 2006b) The same survey concluded that the average age at the time of achieving a doctorate in business or management was 35.7 years old. (AACSB, 2006b)

Initial tenure-track appointments are generally at the rank of assistant professor, a position which can be held for only a limited amount of time before the faculty member is considered for promotion to associate professor, a promotion which usually (but not always) comes with the granting of tenure. The limited number of years during which a junior faculty member is allowed to “qualify” himself or herself for promotion to a tenured position is commonly referred to as the “tenure clock” and, while highly variable across schools, is commonly around six years in the business and management fields. The tenure- track career path is considered an “up or out” system in that, if denied tenure, a faculty member must subsequently leave the school, although he or she is often granted a one-year “grace period” in which to find another position. Tenured associate professors subsequently face the opportunity for promotion to “full” professor, although this promotion is frequently not an “up or out” decision.

While the above description is an attempt to describe the typical tenure-track career progression, it is important to note that the standards, process, and timelines vary significantly across schools and across disciplines. For example, while both associate professor and full professor are commonly tenured positions, a 2006 survey by the AAUP found that 6.1% of faculty with the title of professor were, in fact, untenured (4.9% being non-tenure-track positions) and 19.7% of faculty with title of associate professor were untenured (8.1% being non- tenure-track positions).(Thornton, 2006) At some business schools, in fact, associate professor is an untenured position and tenure is only granted at time of promotion to full professor, making this second promotion hurdle an additional “up or out” decision.

The non-tenure-track career ladder, on the other hand, could perhaps be described as providing potentially greater job security (relative to the tenure-track ladder) at the junior levels but less job security at the senior levels. A generalization of the non-tenure track career ladder is provided in Figure 41.

While it is not uncommon for lecturers or instructors to possess doctorate degrees, especially at higher-level research universities, it is often not a requirement for appointment to these non-tenure-track positions. Frequently, candidates with a master’s degree combined with significant practitioner experience are employed as lecturers, especially in “professional” fields such as business.

Figure 41. Generalization of the Non-Tenure-Track Career Ladder Not Retained Out Masters Degree Lecturer Senior Lecturer Academic Career Non- Academic Career Promoted Not Retained Retained But Not Promoted Out Out Retained But Not Promoted

Non-tenure-track faculty do enjoy the job security associated with not confronting a “tenure clock” or “up or out” promotion process. NTTF appointment contracts can conceivably be renewed indefinitely, even without promotion to a higher position such as senior lecturer. On the other hand, non-tenure-track faculty do not have the opportunity to achieve the ultimate job security of tenure. Even the most experienced senior lecturers face the possibility of losing their job if, for example, the school decides to reduce staff to save money, a danger not faced by tenured faculty (who can only be fired for cause).

With these generalizations of faculty career ladders in mind, it is instructive to observe Figure 42, which provides an illustration of the general distribution of faculty at all U.S. higher education institutions among different ranks. Unfortunately, however, research by the AAUP (which generated the data in the table) does not break down the instructor/lecturer category by junior vs. senior ranks.

Figure 42. Distribution of Faculty by Rank and Institutional Category, 2005-2006

Professor Associate _{Professor Professor} Assistant Instructor / _{Lecturer Rank} No Doctoral/Research Universities 37.4% 26.0% 24.3% 11.0% 1.2% Master's Degree Universities 29.0% 27.0% 29.7% 12.9% 1.4% Baccalaureate Colleges 29.5% 28.6% 32.3% 8.7% 0.9% Associate Degree Colleges 27.3% 25.2% 27.7% 19.1% 0.7% All Colleges &

Universities 33.1% 26.6% 27.2% 11.8% 1.2% Source: American Association of University Professors, “The Annual Report on the Economic Status of the Profession: 2005-06,” March-April 2006.