| Faced with a growing demand for computer science classes and a shortage of new computer science Ph.D.s choosing to remain in academia, college administrators often must look to business and industry to recruit qualified professionals for their faculties. Though it is difficult for administrators to match industry salaries, other aspects of academic life can serve as incentives in the recruiting process—factors such as flexible working conditions, opportunities for research or travel, relative job security, tuition reimbursement, mentoring opportunities, and continuing advancement opportunities for older workers. This study uses data gathered through the National Study of Postsecondary Faculty in 1993 and 1999 to develop a profile of the working conditions of computer science faculty at four-year colleges and universities in the United States.; The “hygiene/motivator” theory of job satisfaction was used as a theoretical framework for this study, which analyzed responses to questions about intrinsic factors, extrinsic factors and demographic factors related to the teaching of computer science in a collegiate setting. The original data set for the two surveys (25,780 responses in 1993 and 18,043 responses in 1999) was filtered to isolate the responses of full-time faculty members at four-year or greater institutions, whose primary activity was teaching “for credit” classes in a computer science field. This brought the final sample size to 202 for 1993 and 145 for the 1999 survey. Analysis of the NSOPF data included use of independent samples t-tests to compare conditions reported at upper echelon institutions vs. other, smaller colleges and universities; data were also subgrouped by survey year to analyze differences in responses in 1993 and 1999.; Significant differences in salary and work patterns were found between responses from different types of institutions, but all reflected a high degree of satisfaction and security in the work. Results suggested that academic recruiters can and should whenever possible offer candidates a high degree of autonomy, flexible work time, tuition remission, and institutional support for professional growth through travel, continued training, professional organizations, and sabbaticals, because these factors can have a strong appeal to computer science professionals who are considering a move to academia. |
