American University Professors Claim Their Age Kept Them From Getting Tenure
This is certainly sad if true. Ageism is a serious charge.
Colleen Flaherty of Inside Higher Ed has the story.
Too Old for Tenure
Does American University have an age discrimination problem when it comes to tenure? That’s what two former assistant professors over 50 are alleging. One is already suing the university and another plans to file a suit soon, after an unsuccessful mediation session last week.
A Faculty Senate committee also has expressed concern, saying it has found statistical evidence of possible age discrimination in recent tenure decisions. The university, meanwhile, denies the claims and says it plans to defend its decisions in court.
Loubna Skalli-Hanna, a former assistant professor in American’s School of International Service, says she did everything right to earn tenure: got rave teaching reviews, published in esteemed journals and received a contract for her third book, from Columbia University Press. And her colleagues apparently agreed. Skalli-Hanna’s bid was approved by peers at the program, school and university level, as well as her dean — leading her to believe the provost, Scott Bass, would sign off on their recommendations.
But the provost rejected her bid, saying in an April 2014 letter that her research volume wasn’t up to par and lacked sufficient impact. Bass also said she hadn’t made enough demonstrable progress on her new book in the three years since she’d received a contract. Skalli-Hanna’s previous book, Through a Local Prism: Gender, Globalization and Identity in Moroccan Women’s Magazines (Lexington Books) was published just before she earned a tenure-track position at American.
Skalli-Hanna was stunned.
Two American U. professors say they didn't get tenure due to their age (Inside Higher Ed | News)
Comments
Soapboxing here:
Research is highly valued at all levels but it is top, prohibitive value at the higher admin level because they see dollar signs that can help curb the hemorrhaging of their budgets, which are often a consequence of the provost/president’s own action (administrative bloat).
They see research as a cash cow to bail out their decoupling hubris of student tuition to salary payments of professors. Higher ed bubble, administration is thy progenitor.
Anyway, back on point, highlighting book publications on the brag forms suggests that she may have been “guilty” of the wrong kind of scholarship. Of course, not everyone is told the unwritten rules but writing books in many academic disciplines is considered post-tenure, pre-retirement work.
At least they had a shot at tenure; my age kept me from even getting a full-time position. After three years and over 200 applications to various universities, colleges, and community colleges, I was unable to secure a position, even though I had published several articles as a grad student (in top tier scholarly journals), demonstrating my ability to do research. I got the laughable “there were many other candidates who more closely matched the requirements of this position” canard, even when I had 100% of what was listed on the position description. Tenure is the pink elephant in the room of higher education, but getting a tenure-track position is for the youngsters whom they can pay little and push around a lot.