Rank Distribution of 1997 Geoscience Teaching Faculty

Abstract

The ranks of assistant professor, associate professor, and professor are held by 15%, 20%, and 43% of the 1997 geoscience teaching faculty members, respectively. Approximately 22% hold nontenured positions (adjunct, visiting, lecturer, instructor, and so forth).Forty-five percent of geoscience faculty members at two-year institutions (those granting AA/AS degrees) hold nontenured positions. At the other end of the spectrum, 43% of geoscience faculty members at PhD-granting institutions are professors. Assistant professors comprise between 9% and 22% of geoscience faculty members depending on the institution type.Although the total number of geoscience faculty members has increased over the last ten years, the number of faculty members at undergraduate institutions has remained constant.Currently, about one of four geoscientists with recently acquired PhDs can expect to find employment in post-secondary education, whereas prior to 1970 almost half of the geoscientists with PhDs secured academic teaching positions.