Megatrends

The University's survey, distributed last fall and collected in early summer, was intended to update and expand on the so-called Dunlop Survey of 1968, conducted by then-Dean of the Faculty John T. Dunlop.

Comparisons between the two surveys reveal some demographic trends: junior faculty now are a bit older, less reliant on their Harvard salary as sole income, and more likely to live outside Cambridge, with more women and fewer Harvard Ph.D.'s than in 1968.

The survey also turned up significant differences across departments and across fields, though administrators said it is difficult to make any generalizations from these data.

Of the 17 junior faculty who felt they were on a tenure track, for instance, 13 came from the natural sciences. Natural scientists wrote many more articles than humanists and social scientists, but fewer books.

More importantly, academic guidance and support varies from "systematic in some departments to much more chancy in others," according 10 Secretary to the faculty John R. Marquand.

The Harvard survey is handicapped by the lack of similar studies elsewhere, administrators said yesterday. "We have no comparative data in a serious way for our peers," stated Whitla.

However, the Harvard junior faculty members gave an inkling as to their standing nationwide.

42 percent of the 121 respondents (out of 180 assistant and associate professors solicited said their scholarly output way "above average" in comparison with that of their peers.

At the same time, 42 percent reported that they received no job offers other than Harvard's.

They accepted the Harvard offer most often because of the quality of the students, the opportunities for research and the stimulating environment, according to survey statistics.

On the basis of their experiences, though, a not total of 37 junior faculty members downgraded their opinion of the research opportunities, while 30 downgraded the environment