Faculty mobility in baccalaureate and higher degree nursing programs in Research I and II universities.

Abstract

Over a 3-year period, 1979–82, in 30 public Research I and ResearchII university nursing schools, 1014 faculty left positions, for a turnover rate of 15.5 per cent. Of these, 594 were tenure track faculty, for a turnover rate of 12.7 per cent, and 420 were nontenure track faculty, for a turnover rate of 22.5 per cent. Fifty-five per cent of tenure track faculty who moved were under 40 years of age, while 71 per cent of nontenure track faculty who moved were under 40. Doctoral preparation appears to add stability, as 32 per cent of tenure track faculty were doctorally prepared but only 20 per cent of those who left the 30 programs were doctorally prepared. A higher percentage of Research I schools require the doctorate for promotion to associate professor and tenure than Research II schools. Thirty-one per cent of tenure track faculty held the rank of professor or associate professor, while 19 per cent of those who left held those ranks. Eighty-nine per cent of tenure track faculty who left had been employed less than 10 years, as compared with 98 per cent of the nontenure track faculty. A combination of family concerns accounted for the highest percentage of reasons for leaving.