A Look at Tenure as the Peak of Academic Research Productivity
In the world of academia, the impact of tenure on the research efforts of faculty members has long been a subject of interest. A recent study by a team of researchers, including Benjamin Jones (Kellogg professor of strategy), Dashun Wang (Kellogg professor of management and organizations and the Kellogg Chair of Technology), and Giorgio Tripodi (a postdoctoral research fellow at the Kellogg School), has shed light on this complex topic.
The study, which focused on 12,611 U.S. faculty members across 15 disciplines who were granted tenure between 2012 and 2015, revealed some intriguing trends.
Before tenure, faculty generally produce steadily increasing research output as they build their careers and credentials. However, after tenure, trajectories diverge. In lab-based fields, such as biology and medicine, faculty tend to sustain high research output and often produce more novel work, though their papers may receive fewer citations on average. In contrast, in non-lab-based fields like math and business, there is a sharp and sudden decrease in publication rates after tenure.
The number of "hit" research articles, defined as those in the top 5% of most-cited articles in the same publication year and subfield, tends to be higher before tenure than after tenure. This dip in research impact after tenure coincides with an increase in novelty.
Tenure provides job security, which can both facilitate taking intellectual risks leading to novel research and simultaneously reduce pressure to maintain high publication volume or chase citations. This may explain why professors almost always publish their single most novel or innovative research article after they receive tenure.
Regarding the broader career trajectory, securing tenure is widely regarded as a pivotal milestone, symbolizing recognition of scholarly potential and enabling long-term academic career planning. Post-tenure, some institutions, such as Duke University School of Medicine, are increasingly tying continued salary and career progression to sustained external research funding and productivity, signaling changing expectations even after tenure.
Post-tenure review systems aim to evaluate multiple aspects of faculty performance (research, teaching, service), but have mixed effects on faculty productivity and retention. In some university systems, stricter reviews have been linked to departures of younger, productive scholars, though measuring productivity solely by publications and citations oversimplifies impact.
Social and structural factors, like collaboration networks, influence early career faculty placement and may shape post-tenure research trajectories by affecting access to resources and influence.
In summary, tenure influences research efforts by affording job security that encourages novel and sustained research, especially in lab-based fields, but can correspond with declines in output in others. It shapes career trajectories by acting as a key milestone that affects funding, collaboration, and institutional expectations, with evolving policies altering the incentives and pressures faced by tenured faculty.
The study's results may apply to different kinds of organizations that seek to balance output and risk-taking. Organizations that want to boost innovation might benefit from the finding that the security of tenure may promote novelty and risk-taking. However, it's important to note that the study authors emphasize that their findings reflect general patterns and not causal relationships.
Science and education-and-self-development through online learning can greatly benefit from understanding the impact of tenure on faculty research efforts. The study's findings suggest that tenure, by providing job security, encourages faculty to take intellectual risks, leading to innovative research, particularly in lab-based fields. Consequently, organizations aiming to boost innovation might consider adopting policies that offer similar levels of job security to encourage novelty and risk-taking.
