Description: Chait and his colleagues offer the results of their research on key empirical questions and conclude that no single tenure system exists. Still, since no academic reward carries the cachet of tenure, few institutions will initiate significant changes without either powerful external pressures or persistent demands from new or disgruntled faculty.
Brief description: Richard P. Chait is Professor of Higher Education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education.
Review Quotes: Most books about academic tenure are based on anecdotal or subjective information, but this one attempts to analyze this contentious topic using empirical research. Chait...and several colleagues collected faculty employment policy statements from over 200 colleges and universities and then surveyed and interviewed many professors and administrators on a variety of topics related to tenure. This provided the data for the 11 chapters, which range from an overview of current policies to a study of trends in academic employment in foreign countries.--Will Hepfer "Library Journal" (2/15/2002 12:00:00 AM)