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Nov. 28th, 2006 12:35 pmWhy does academia need tenure?
Oh, I know the arguments about the freedom to pursue unpopular topics, and I generally like those (though I am becoming skeptical of how often they're useful in practice). I certainly also am painfully aware of the reasons our current non-tenured jobs suck: semesterly appointments that may not renew, lack of employer benefits in most cases, no time granted to do research, you're a pariah, and the pay is shit. Basically you have all the downsides of being a contractor but none of the upsides.
But you know, there's no necessary connection between any of those desirable tenure-track benefits and an actual permanent position, from which they can never fire you no matter how much you suck. Would some of the things that are ugly about academia go away if we scrapped the tenure system? Is it unreasonable to imagine in its stead a model where scholar-teachers are hired on a continuing basis, with the understanding that they can be fired if they fail to perform in either realm? I know that the current trend away from tenure is not healthy for academics, because the alternative that's being pursued is the expansion of the crap-job pool. But I don't see why that's the only alternative.
Oh, I know the arguments about the freedom to pursue unpopular topics, and I generally like those (though I am becoming skeptical of how often they're useful in practice). I certainly also am painfully aware of the reasons our current non-tenured jobs suck: semesterly appointments that may not renew, lack of employer benefits in most cases, no time granted to do research, you're a pariah, and the pay is shit. Basically you have all the downsides of being a contractor but none of the upsides.
But you know, there's no necessary connection between any of those desirable tenure-track benefits and an actual permanent position, from which they can never fire you no matter how much you suck. Would some of the things that are ugly about academia go away if we scrapped the tenure system? Is it unreasonable to imagine in its stead a model where scholar-teachers are hired on a continuing basis, with the understanding that they can be fired if they fail to perform in either realm? I know that the current trend away from tenure is not healthy for academics, because the alternative that's being pursued is the expansion of the crap-job pool. But I don't see why that's the only alternative.