But the major criterion for tenure--some would say the only criterion--is the publishing. Writing a great book might get you tenured, several junior professors say, but being a great teacher or a great departmental "citizen" won't. "This is a research institution. That's the bottom line," says one social scientist.

Junior faculty surveyed split on whether this emphasis was a good thing. On the one hand, says one assistant professor, "The person who is just a good teacher may not appeal to the next generation down the road," while a good researcher is more likely to keep abreast of developments in the field.

On the other hand, junior professors say they have little incentive to teach well or to take on administrative duties. Says one scientist: "I have very little incentive except my own desire to look good before the class." A colleague concurs, saying, "I hate to stand up there and look like a jerk...even though it doesn't count."

But while research and writing are what count in promotional considerations, many junior professors say they are not given enough time for such pursuits. In some departments, junior faculty must teach more classes than their senior colleagues.

Unwieldy introductory classes and administrative duties are often thrown in the laps of the junior professors in many departments. And often the same people end up with both burdens--this point was reportedly raised amidst much nodding of heads at the last meeting of the departmental head tutors.

Robert Putnam, incoming chairman of the Government Department, says the conflict of research and other duties is not reserved for junior faculty. "All of us have situations where we have to write a lecture for the next morning," he says. "At every major university, you are expected to do a good job of teaching and research."

But many junior faculty members say they feel the crunch more critically. The Crimson survey of junior faculty found that they spend on average only 30 percent of their working school-year time on research and writing, compared to 50 percent on teaching and 20 percent on administrative duties. "I need to publish more or I'm not going to get promoted," says one social scientist.

Another major gripe coming from the junior ranks is the distance they feel from the tenured faculty. The extreme view is that they are treated as hired help, brought in to teach a certain number of courses for a certain number of years. One social scientist says there is a rumor that "the senior faculty in History take pride in not knowing the names of the junior faculty members." In the Government Department, "the majority of the tenured faculty members just don't give a damn about the junior faculty members. They feel life was created for them, at least at Harvard," says another social scientist.

"There is a chilly atmosphere for junior faculty, which is hard to pin down," says an assistant professor. Subtle things like "who is called by a first name by the secretaries" create this atmosphere, she adds.

This alienation may be a function of department size--in the smaller departments, junior faculty seem to feel more integrated. In one small department, an assistant professor says, "I don't feel like a junior faculty member at all." "At the margins, departments can do things to improve...the climate and relations between junior and senior faculty," says Putnam, who adds that this is going to be one of his highest priorities as chairman in Government. Besides, says History Department Chairman John Womack Jr. '59, the distance across the tenure line hasn't gotten worse in the last 15 years: "I don't think it's any more the case now than when I was a junior faculty member...We don't in this department make a great deal out of socializing." But on the other hand, says one junior linguist, socializing helps. The senior faculty "really made an effort to make me feel comfortable by having me to lunch and to dinner...Perhaps if all the departments did that there would be fewer unhappy junior faculty members around."

The department's personality seems to make a great difference in the condition of the junior faculty in a number of ways. First, the promotion from assistant to associate professor has become, in several departments, like a "second tenure." It is disputable whether such promotions used to be routine--some senior professors say yes, and some no--but in the social sciences, primarily, promotion is definitely not automatic. "In eight years you can get a fair amount done," says one social scientist, adding, "But if you might have to look for work in your fifth year, that's different." "You can't coast at all," adds another assistant professor. "You can't really relax."

In the natural sciences other problems emerge. The feeling of alienation is particularly galling, professors say, because different research groups have little contact. Such atomization "doesn't foster any interaction between faculty members at any level," says one junior scientist. The best way to find out what's happening next door, says another, is to talk to friends at other universities.

Another difference between departments is the job market. Overall, academia has become in the last few years a "buyer's market," with too few positions for too many scholars. But the situation varies by field. In the humanities and languages--south of the Yard, as Whitla says--young teachers are reportedly hardest off. "I was very pleased to get this job," says one assistant professor. "I had trouble finding a job...I try to operate in a way that will make it easier for me to find another job."

In the social sciences the job market is a little better. Harvard "is a good place from which to seek your second job," says one social scientist. The Economics Department in particular, but also the Government Department, has recently sent junior faculty to tenured positions at prestigious universities around the country, says Economics Department chairman and incoming Dean of the Faculty A. Michael Spence.

In the natural sciences, the job market seems ambiguous for Harvard junior faculty. "Being an ex-Harvard professor is not as important an entree as it used to be," says one scientist. "As people get out of Harvard, there just aren't positions available." But others disagree. "I don't know of anybody who left here and didn't get a good job," says another junior scientist. A third scientist points out that "you find it easier to get the attention of your colleagues across the country if you are speaking from a podium with the Harvard name on it."