An examination of letters of recommendations written by English literature and chemistry professors for colleagues seeking academic positions in other universities revealed that particularism, nonprofessional and, perhaps, irrational factors were as much a part of the evaluation of their colleagues as were criteria usually thought to be germane to…

Faculty definitions of merit are analyzed through 417 recommendations for merit salary awards. The effects of the recommendation writer's academic characteristics on the case made were examined, and it was found that definitions of merit varied by academic discipline and rank, and teaching was generally less valued than research or service. (MSE)

Tenure appointments, it is suggested, are more difficult to achieve in the 1970s than in the 1960s, and performance expectations for the 1970s are more stringent than in the previous decade. The two populations examined were reviewed and received a tenure appointment during 1967-68 and 1977-78. (MLW)

The contemporary academic labor market is examined using concepts from labor market economics and sociology to elucidate why teaching, universally acknowledged to be at the center of American academic life, is not at the center of the academic labor market and is only modestly rewarded. First, tenets of the neoclassical labor market model are…