The Question Pulses: Is Tenure an Era of Research Prosperity?
Tenure and Academic Research: A Closer Look
Tenure, a long-standing tradition in academia, significantly shapes the research output and career trajectories of faculty members, according to a recent study. The research, led by a team from the Kellogg School, reveals that tenure influences both productivity patterns and the nature of research undertaken.
The analysis of data from 12,611 U.S. faculty members across 15 disciplines, granted tenure between 2012 and 2015, uncovered clear differences between a professor's research output before and after tenure.
Before tenure, there is an average rapid increase in publication rates, peaking just before tenure is granted. This surge reflects the high pressure faculty face to demonstrate productivity and secure a permanent position. After tenure, research output trends diverge by discipline. Faculty in lab-based fields, such as biology and chemistry, tend to sustain high publication rates, while those in non-lab-based fields, like sociology and mathematics, often show a decline in productivity.
This shift occurs because tenure acts as a selection and incentive mechanism. It screens for high performers, motivates intense output before tenure, and supports risk-taking afterward by providing job security. However, the focus on publication quantity before tenure can lead to burnout and may prioritize productivity metrics over innovation or longer-term projects.
Beyond research output, tenure influences faculty identity and engagement with public scholarship, often shaped by intersectional identities and institutional barriers.
The implications for scientific innovation and advancement are nuanced. On the one hand, tenure enables researchers to pursue more creative and exploratory work with less immediate pressure for high-impact citations, potentially fostering groundbreaking discoveries. On the other hand, the decline in highly cited papers post-tenure in some fields suggests a trade-off between novelty and broad influence. Furthermore, disparities in post-tenure productivity across disciplines underscore the need for tailored support mechanisms and mentorship, especially for junior and mid-career faculty, to sustain scholarly activity and innovation.
Organizations that want to boost innovation might benefit from the finding that the security of tenure may promote novelty and risk-taking. Structured mentorship, collaborative environments, and career development programs aligned with these dynamics can help balance productivity with innovative and impactful scholarship.
The study, which focused on the research publications of thousands of professors from hundreds of PhD-granting institutions across the U.S., was conducted by a team including Giorgio Tripodi, a postdoctoral research fellow at the Kellogg School, Dashun Wang, a Kellogg professor of management and organizations and the Kellogg Chair of Technology, and Benjamin Jones, a Kellogg professor of strategy.
Scholars tend to produce their most novel ideas after tenure. About a third of professors stopped researching one of the topics they previously studied after tenure, while approximately two-thirds began to research at least one topic that was new for them. Professors almost always published their single most novel or innovative research article after they received tenure. Interestingly, professors typically published their single most-cited research article before they received tenure, after controlling for age.
In sum, while tenure provides critical job stability that facilitates creative risk-taking and long-term research pursuits, it also coincides with discipline-specific changes in research productivity and impact that institutions need to address to maintain scientific advancement and faculty vitality. Understanding the relationship between tenure and research trajectories is important for the broader public, given the role of public funding in supporting university research and the role of scientific advances in propelling technological developments, raising standards of living, and improving human health.
Education and self-development are essential for faculty members as they aim for personal growth and learning throughout their academic careers. The tenure process, while intensifying the pressure to demonstrate productivity, can also provide opportunities for scholars to delve deeper into innovative and exploratory research after securing job security.
