Doctoral fields (PHD FIELDS) are also drawn from the published ARL data. ARL instructs member libraries to use the same definition as that employed by the U.S. Department of Education’s Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) (ARL,Instructions, 2003;National Center for Education Statistics, 2005). The number of instructional faculty (FACULTY) is also based on IPEDS definitions and includes only full- time faculty members.
DETERMINANTS OF TENURE IN ACADEMIC
library (L), institutional (I), and regional (R) characteristics or attributes.
Thus,
ProbðTÞ ¼fðL;I;RÞ (1)
whereL¼UNION, RESEARCH, % PROFESSIONALS, DEAN, AGE, ARL1;I¼MLS PROGRAM, TYPE, ARL1, FACULTY, URBAN; and R¼SOUTH, MIDWEST, WEST.
While Model 2 will examine variables as they relate to beginning salaries, Model 1 uses a probit analysis to examine library and institutional characteristics of tenure-granting academic libraries.
A summary table of the operational variables and their definitions is found inTable 5. The variables chosen are based on factors that are hypothesized to influence an institution’s choice to offer tenure to librarians as suggested by the literature review.
Table 5. Model 1: Probit Equation Variables.
Variable Labels Definition
Dependent variables
TENURE Librarian positions are tenure track¼1; otherwise¼0 Library attributes [L]
UNION () Library is unionized¼1; otherwise¼0
RESEARCH (+) Librarians have a research requirement¼1; otherwise¼0
% PROFESSIONALS (+) Librarians (professionals) as a percentage of total library staff DEAN (+) Head of library holds title of dean¼1; otherwise¼0
AGE () Years as an ARL member library
ARL1 () Top quartile of ARL members¼1; otherwise¼0 Institutional attributes [I]
MLS PROGRAM (+) The university has an ALA-accredited master’s program¼1; otherwise¼0
TYPE () The university is private¼1; otherwise¼0 FACULTY (+) Number of instructional faculty at the institution URBAN (?) The university is located in an MSA¼1; otherwise¼0 Region [R]
NORTH (?) Library is located in the North¼1; otherwise¼0 SOUTH (?) Library is located in the South¼1; otherwise¼0 MIDWEST (?) Library is located in the Midwest¼1; otherwise¼0 WEST (?) Library is located in the West¼1; otherwise¼0 Note:( ): Expected value when entered as a right-hand side variable.
A number of library-specific characteristics are hypothesized to influence the use of tenure. The presence of a labor union may be seen as a surrogate for tenure. Unions provide many of the protections and benefits traditionally found in tenure track positions, thus the expected sign for UNION is negative. RESEARCH reflects whether the librarians have an explicit research requirement or expectation as a component of their job. Librarians with faculty status may or may not have a research expectation comparable to other faculty on campus. Librarians with a research expectation as a condition of employment should have a greater likelihood of holding a tenure track position; therefore, the expected sign for RESEARCH is positive.
% PROFESSIONALS measures professionals as a percentage of the total library staff. Larger, more organizationally complex academic libraries are hypothesized to be positively related to the use of tenure. The head of academic libraries may hold various titles. Some have the title of ‘‘University Librarian,’’ others ‘‘Dean,’’ and some simply are called ‘‘Directors.’’ DEAN reports whether the head of the library holds the title of ‘‘Dean.’’ It is hypothesized that academic libraries whose administrative head carries the title of ‘‘Dean,’’ a traditional academic title, will be positively related to the availability of tenure.
AGE is assumed to have a negative relationship with the probability of tenure. This assumes that the oldest ARL member libraries represent the largest, most elite institutions and that these institutions may have been less likely to adopt the faculty status model when introduced by ACRL in the 1970s. Likewise, ARL1 measures the library’s ranking in the top quartile of ARL libraries based on the membership criterion score. The expected sign for ARL1 is also negative.
Data for the variables TENURE, UNION, RESEARCH, and FACULTY STATUS were obtained from the survey administered to the head of each library in the sample. Data for the variables % PROFESSIONALS and AGE were taken from published ARL statistics. Information concerning the title of the library’s top administrative officer (DEAN) was obtained from the library’s web page.
Institutional variables are hypothesized to play a key role in an academic library’s decision to offer tenure track positions. MLS PROGRAM reports on the presence of an ALA-accredited library science program at the university. As discussed above, the accepted terminal degree for academic librarians is the MLS, obtained from a graduate program accredited by ALA. The presence of such a program, with its attendant faculty, may contribute to the perception that academic librarians are faculty. Therefore, the expected sign for MLS PROGRAM is positive.
The number of instructional faculty (FACULTY) is included as a proxy for the size of the institution. It is hypothesized that FACULTY size will be positively related to the probability of tenure track librarians. Note that other measures of institutional size, such as the number of students were not chosen.
In matters pertaining to tenure, faculty governance, and academic freedom, larger faculty bodies may have a more developed promotion and tenure process.
Finally, URBAN measures the local environment of the university.
Specifically, the variable measures whether the university is located in a metropolitan statistical area, as measured by the Census Bureau. No a priori assumption is made about the relationship of this variable with the probability of tenure.
MLS PROGRAM data were obtained from the ALA’s list of accredited programs and the number of instructional faculty is reported in the annual ARL statistics. Again, URBAN was developed using the Census Bureau’s regional geographical descriptions.
The final vector of variables are proxies for geographic region. The universities included in the study have been divided into four categories, based on the Census Bureau’s geographical divisions: NORTH, SOUTH, MIDWEST, and WEST. NORTH was omitted as the reference variable.
Likewise, no a priori assumption is made about the expected signs these regional variables will take.