Michigan State University Extension
Diversity and Pluralism - 20493035
12/95/
ERIC TITLE NUMBER: ED189450 AUTHOR: Linnell, Robert H.
TITLE: Age, Sex and Ethnic Trade-Offs in Faculty
Employment: You Can't Have Your Cake and Eat It Too.
YEAR PUBLISHED: 1979
NOTE: 18 p.; Paper presented at the National Conference on
Higher Education, American Association of Higher Education
(Washington, DC, April 16-19, 1979).
ABSTRACT: Age, sex, and ethnic trade-offs in faculty
employment in higher education give rise to dilemmas-
situations requiring a choice between equally undesirable
alternatives. When an over-age-65 faculty member retains a
full time position, someone else--probably a woman, ethnic
minority, and/or young person--is deprived of a position.
The problem of age discrimination against older people
becomes the probably worse problem of age discrimination
against younger people. Losses to the nation's future are
seen in negative impact on young people's professional
careers and negative feedback to secondary and
undergraduate students who will not consider academic
careers. National demographic and enrollment projections
and associated faculty requirement forecasts share a
pessimistic prediction of faculty demand in the 1980-90s.
Recommendations include expanding adult enrollment,
increasing retirement and/or quit rates, and providing
interim alternative "academic like" employment. Given the
situation of fluctuating and generally declining clientele,
continuing inflation, plus mandates to practice affirmative
action while protecting older faculty from age
discrimination, a possible but unjust trade-off is hiring
faculty not on tenure track. The issue of tenure must be
faced by designing some kind of
performance evaluation to create new positions and improve
quality. (Seven firures are attached.) (YLB)
KEY DESCRIPTORS: Affirmative-Action; College-Faculty;
Competence-; Employment-Practices; Faculty-Evaluation; Full
Time-Faculty; Job-Performance; Labor-Legislation; Older
Adults; Personnel-Policy; Retirement-; Reverse
Discrimination; Teacher-Supply-and-Demand; Teaching
Occupation; Work-Life-Expectancy; Young-Adults
KEY DESCRIPTORS: *Age-Discrimination; *Ethnic
Discrimination; *Higher-Education; *Sex-Discrimination;
*Teacher-Employment; *Tenure-
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