Equity, Quality, and Cost in Higher Education

Abstract

The nationwide decline in college and university enrollment has produced the unprecedented problem of unemployment in academe. Under conditions of fiscal exigency, drastic measures such as reduction of programs and faculty positions have been taken or are being contemplated by the appropriate administrators. Ordinarily, the first positions eliminated by administrators are part-time and temporary faculty appointments. I question the justice and wisdom of this dismissal policy. National statistics reveal that women, compared to men, are overwhelmingly represented in part-time, nontenured, lower-ranking positions at institutions of higher learning.1 By eliminating part-time and temporary positions, administrators are in effect reducing the number of women, especially married women.2 By eliminating nontenured positions, administrators are in effect reducing the number of women and men in the younger age brackets. Not only is any form of sex and age discrimination unjust, but also it may be unwise from an educational and economic viewpoint. Female students need to have role models. The absence of com-