Effects of the Pandemic on Faculty at Public Research Universities

Abstract

We provide results from the first national survey of research university faculty on the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on research productivity and tenure and promotion plans. Our analytic sample consists of almost 4,000 tenured and tenure-line faculty from 31 research universities. A large majority of faculty report disruptions to research due to the pandemic, with time spent moving instruction online listed as the most common cause (80%), followed by travel restrictions (80%) and inability to focus attention (66%). Although the extent of research disruption varied across academic disciplines, the reasons for disruptions were remarkably similar across disciplines. Forty-two percent of junior faculty stated they were likely to extend their tenure clocks due to the pandemic.