Job Opportunities for Faculty in the Field of Entrepreneurship

Abstract

IntroductionThe purpose of this paper is to examine both the long-term and short-term faculty trends within the field of entrepreneurship. This topic is of vital significance to candidates interested in entering the field of entrepreneurship at schools of Business and Management. The findings of this study are also important to schools of Business and Management because they need to understand the trends that are occurring within the field.The findings of this study will allow both candidates and administrators from schools of Business and Management to learn about the trends in the market for entrepreneurship faculty and jobs from 1989-2012.This article breaks down the total number of candidates and jobs into three tables. Table 1 focuses on the overall number of U.S. and international positions and candidates (both tenure track and non-tenure track). Table 1 also examines the level of interest in entrepreneurship for both candidates and schools. Table 2 evaluates the number of tenure track candidates and jobs and their respective rank (Assistant, Associate, Full, Endowed Chair, Open). Table 3 shows the other areas that the candidates and schools advertise in addition to entrepreneurship.This study will answer the following research questions: What are the current trends in the global job market for faculty in entrepreneurship? What percentage of the current candidates and positions are tenure track and what are their respective ranks? What supporting areas (e.g., Business Policy, Organizational Behavior, etc.) are advertised by schools and candidates?Previous ResearchA few studies have investigated the changes in the market for entrepreneurship faculty Finkle and Deeds (2001; 2002) investigated whether or not schools of Business and Management were integrating entrepreneurship into their faculties, which in turn would enhance the legitimization of the field. The study examined jobs and candidates from 1989 through 1998 and found that the field of entrepreneurship was becoming increasingly institutionalized through the dramatic increase in rankings of entrepreneurship programs, press coverage, and demand for entrepreneurship faculty. Institutionalization means creating organizational stability, legitimacy and predictability, in order to provide a lot of resources and to adapt from a determined or loosely organized company with tight technical acts and structures to an organized, determined and socially integrated corporate environment. It is designed to interiorize this and to make it reach the same perception level in workers and managers, in different conditions and contexts. It is also the automatic application of settlements and behaviors related to this (Apaydin, 2008; Selznick, 1996; Scott, 1987). Finkle and Deeds (2001) concluded that the field was still not fully institutionalized because most of the positions had been either non-tenure track or untenured positions.From 1989 through 1998, the field of entrepreneurship struggled to legitimize its position at universities. Schools and faculty had to overcome the negative stigma where other business disciplines stated that entrepreneurship belonged in trade schools (Finkle & Deeds, 2001). Traditional faculty questioned the legitimacy of entrepreneurship journals, lack of rigor in the theoretical developments within the field and tenure was extremely difficult to earn. Departments of entrepreneurship were virtually non-existent and few pure entrepreneurship faculty existed. During this period, faculty had to earn a degree in an area within a more established field like business policy or organizational behavior with a secondary or tertiary area in entrepreneurship.Other studies built upon Finkle and Deed's findings (see Finkle 2006; 2007a; 2008; 2010; 2012). Finkle (2007a) concluded that the field was becoming increasingly institutionalized and noted that schools of Business and Management had committed more resources to hiring a larger number of tenured or tenure track faculty. …