The Law School Admission Council recently reported that applications were heading toward a 30-year low, reflecting, as a "New York Times" article put it, "increased concern over soaring tuition, crushing student debt, and diminishing prospects of lucrative employment upon graduation." Since 2004 the number of law-school…

It's the night before one of Javier Jimenez's big job interviews at the Modern Language Association (MLA) meeting. The 35-year-old graduate student, who is scheduled to earn his Ph.D. in comparative literature this spring from the University of California at Berkeley, is trying to ward off anxiety and abdominal pains. The mystique of the MLA, the…

Colleges have added managers and support personnel at a steady, vigorous clip over the past 20 years, new research shows, far outpacing the growth in student enrollment and instructors. Support staff--like budget analysts, computer specialists, and loan counselors--nearly doubled from 1987 to 2007. Meanwhile, jobs for instructors increased by only…

In India's beleaguered higher-education system, the Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT) stand apart. The seven institutions have turned out some of the world's finest engineers and computer scientists, eagerly recruited by top graduate schools in the United States. Many of the institutes' graduates have gone on to become the chief executives of…

This article reports the finding of a study entitled, "Where the Engineers Are," conducted by a group of researchers at Duke University, which was published in the spring issue of Issues in Science and Technology and is a follow-up to a 2005 study. This new report on the number and quality of graduate engineering degrees conferred in…

For decades it has been happening everywhere in academe, but nowhere in particular. The sweeping shift toward non-tenure-track academic labor has been one of the most worried-over trends in American higher education. But it has been charted mostly with broad-brush data, which give little indication of the trend's progress at the institutional…

Scholars studying proportions of men and women in various occupations are undecided over whether trends are good or bad for women seeking equality of work and pay, worrying that women's gains may be overstated and may diminish awareness of the problem among women, awareness necessary to make further gains. (MSE)

Recent figures indicate that a 1970s pattern among universities of adding new layers to administrative staffs continued through the 1980s. The 28.1 percent increase in nonteaching staff in five years compares with an increase of 8.6 percent for faculty and an overall increase of 12.8 percent during the same period. However, institutions are now…

Nearly 40 percent of all Division I college basketball programs have either fired or lost their coaches in the last two years, reflecting instability in the profession and a shift in emphasis among institutions, favoring playing for program revenue over sports for education reasons. (MSE)

Average tenure of college presidents is seven years, a new study finds. From 1984-85 to 1991-92, about 14 percent of presidents left their job annually. The rate was similar at public and private colleges but varied in each sector for two- and four-year colleges. Findings refute assumptions about high turnover. (MSE)

From 1989-90 to 1991-92, the number of nonteaching professionals in colleges and universities has risen by 4.5 percent, despite the recession and concern over "administrative bloat." Overall, employment in higher education over that period grew only 0.4 percent. Faculty numbers increased by 1.5 percent. However, personnel in all other…

In most institutions, the faculty hiring process discourages affirmative action. The determination of top administrators is a key factor in success. (MSE)

Although the 1980s period of belt-tightening in higher education meant layoff of many tenured professors, financially troubled colleges are trimming part-time and nontenured faculty jobs and offering encouraging early retirement in the current period of retrenchment. However, the proportion of tenured faculty has shrunk as the overall size of the…

After years in which scholars avoided New York City, college faculty are now coming in large numbers, enticed by attractive work assignments and reduced-cost housing. Hirings often come in clusters to strengthen weak departments. While not for everyone, a get-tough administration has made New York more attractive, particularly for two-career…

Many colleges and universities are hiring full-time faculty on contract instead of on tenure tracks, saying alternatives to lifetime job security are needed to control costs and assure flexibility. The number of full-time non-tenure-track professors almost doubled between 1975 and 1995, while full-time faculty on tenure tracks fell 12%. (MSE)