A Study On The Impact Of Tenure-track System On The Academic Professional Behavior Of University Junior Faculties

The tenure-track system originated in the United States and was introduced and piloted as an important personnel system in some of our top universities at the beginning of this century.The original intention of the tenure-track system reform was to break the original tenure system for university faculty and to stimulate their academic enthusiasm and initiative and creativity by introducing a competitive mobility mechanism.Universities generally have an appraisal period for new teachers and they will be reappointed if they pass the appointment period assessment.Otherwise,the contract will be terminated,i.e.,‘up-or-not’.The future of university junior faculty contains infinite vitality and possibilities.Their growth and development not only affect the quality of teaching and research in universities,but also determine the effectiveness of China’s ‘double first-class’ universities and the reform of higher education in the new era,yet their academic profession development is affected by the impact of the tenuretrack system.Therefore,this paper takes four research-intensive universities(RIU)in Shanghai,which are J,F,S and H,and junior faculties for these RIU as an example.Through questionnaires,the current situation of their academic professional behavior and the impact of tenure-track system on the academic professional behavior of university junior faculties were investigated.The investigation shows that instead of producing the good motivational effect that was envisaged,the tenure-track system has become a major source of work pressure for most junior faculties.The academic professional behavior of junior faculties in the tenure-track system is affected by gender,discipline,professional and technical title,holding an administrative position and serving as supervisor.It is also affected by motivation,sources of pressure,recognition and support,criticality of social service,faculty evaluation standards,clarity of standards and procedures,level of competence.According to the interview data and the findings of the questionnaire,the author summarizes the problems of the tenure-track system of RIU in Shanghai and the negative impact on the academic professional behavior of university junior faculties.The first question is the unreasonable design and implementation of the tenure-track system.This is evidenced by academic career standards that ignore difference,an uncertain promotion process,and overly quantitative evaluation methods.The second is that there is a large gap between the presumptions and the reality of the tenure-track system,as evidenced by the fact that the salary package does not meet expectations,that the reverse incentive contributes to pressure and that there is a serious problem of‘Chineseization’.Thirdly,the academic professional behavior of junior faculties is negatively affected by the separation of teaching and research,the difficulty of balancing teaching,research and social service,and the neglected position of social service.The reasons for these problems are,firstly,the overall immaturity of the tenuretrack system.Secondly,the tenure-track system strengthens the "economic man" and "wage earner" identity of junior faculties.Then the inhibition of the junior faculties’ academic professional behavior by academic contractual relationship.And,the academic career in the tenure-track system is a combination of ideal and reality.The author then selects the case of University J,a typical representative university in China,which introduced the tenure-track system early,to explore its specific measures for the tenure-track system reform.Also,two junior faculties from different disciplines on the tenure-track at University J was interviewed to understand their state of existence and academic professional behavior since they joined the university,and to summarize the successful experience of the tenure-track system reform at University J.Finally,on the basis of the previous survey and analysis,relevant policy recommendations are put forward.First,the tenure-track system should manifest a humanistic orientation,provide practical institutional safeguards,respect individual heterogeneity and pay attention to the training of junior faculties.The tenure-track system should also stimulate the identity and endogenous power of junior faculties.Meanwhile,the tenure-track system should balance the needs of organisational and faculty development,strictly control the recruitment process,pay attention to the development of faculties themselves,and establish a scientific and perfect evaluation system.