Uncharted Waters
The perennial debates over tenure at Harvardwere on the backburner of this year, but quietcomplaints by departing junior faculty members andcontinued discussion at the administrative level,ensure it will flare up again.
This spring Harvard saw the departure of fourjunior Faculty in the English department and asteady trickle from other departments, such asgovernment and economics.
According to Marquand Professor of EnglishLawrence Buell, the high turnover results in alack of continuity for students since professorsleave after only a few years at Harvard to snatchother opportunities while they can.
The early departure of professors and thedifficulty of obtaining a tenured position atHarvard have also been cited as causes for the lowpercentage of tenured women in the Faculty.
In March the FAS Standing Committee on theStatus of Women reported that only 22 percent ofHarvard's tenured faculty in the humanities arewomen, even though women comprise 45 percent ofthe junior faculty in the humanities.
"The issue that seems most obvious from theinside of Harvard is the historic long odds ofgetting promoted from within," Buell says. "But tome the more significant issue right now is[that]...the jobs out there are bunched. They seemto be entry level or more senior jobs."
This structural problem--what Buell has calledthe hourglass shape of the job market inacademia--has squeezed the opportunities at alluniversities, meaning that Harvard is competingwith them for young, talented professors.
"The recruitment and retention of juniorfaculty is discussed often, and the past year isno exception," Knowles wrote in an e-mail message."As I announced at the full Faculty meeting inMay, I expect that we shall return to thesematters in the fall."
There have been hints that Harvard may sweetenthe Harvard experience for junior faculty, and todo so would be to take a leadership role. Whetherby moving first or moving most--or perhaps simplyby moving at all--Harvard can set precedents intenure and other areas of concern.
What remains to be seen is whether the schoolthat prides itself on training leaders is stillintent on being one.