Breaking the Golden Handcuffs: Recreating Markets for Tenured Faculty

Abstract

The present system of tenure in American colleges – combined with a dramatic rise in the proportion of non-tenure-track faculty – has led to a near-closure of active markets for most tenured faculty. In turn, this produces two types of mismatches: some departments/colleges have faculty they do not want; and some faculty would much prefer to relocate to another department/college. These mismatches are not without costs for professors and departments/colleges. Without abolishing or diluting tenure, colleges can alleviate these inefficiencies by initiating reforms to recreate markets for tenured faculty. This can be accomplished by establishing computerized job ex-changes that allow departments/colleges to engage in mutually beneficial trades – within and across disciplines and across colleges – of tenured professors who are currently mismatched.