Attracting and retaining qualified faculty

Transcription

1 Association Report Dental Schools Vacant Budgeted Faculty Positions, Academic Year Tanya Wanchek, PhD, JD; Bryan J. Cook, PhD; Franc Slapar, MA; Richard W. Valachovic, DMD, MPH Abstract: Every year the American Dental Education Association (ADEA) surveys U.S. dental schools on their faculty workforce. The ADEA Survey of Vacant Budgeted Faculty Positions gathers information on vacancies, sources of new hires, and reasons for separations. This report, which highlights trends from the academic year, allows assessment of faculty workforce developments over time and across schools. For this report, 63 out of 65 U.S. dental schools provided data, for a 97% response rate. The results showed that the rise in full-time vacancies that occurred during the past few years continued as the economy recovered from the recent recession. Given the large number of faculty members who came from private practice (n=483) or left their positions for private practice (n=185), the private sector appeared to continue to be an attractive alternative with which dental schools must compete. Nonetheless, schools were typically able to fill vacant positions within a year. The primary obstacle to filling vacant positions related to the ability of schools to offer sufficient compensation to attract qualified applicants. Schools did not have many lost positions (n=16) relative to new positions to be filled (n=82), suggesting an expansionary trend among dental schools. Overall, there continued to be a need for more faculty members, but that demand was not significantly greater than in prior years. Dr. Wanchek is Assistant Professor, Department of Public Health Sciences, University of Virginia School of Medicine; Dr. Cook is Senior Vice President for Educational Research and Analysis, American Dental Education Association; Mr. Slapar is Director of Research, American Dental Education Association; and Dr. Valachovic is President and CEO, American Dental Education Association. Direct correspondence to Dr. Bryan J. Cook, American Dental Education Association, 655 K Street, NW, Suite 800, Washington, DC 20001; ; cookb@adea.org. Keywords: dental education, dental schools, dental faculty, faculty vacancy, careers in dentistry Attracting and retaining qualified faculty members are essential to a well-functioning dental school, yet schools have experienced periods of prolonged faculty shortages over the past two decades. 1 To understand the flow of faculty members into and out of dental schools, the American Dental Education Association (ADEA) conducts an annual survey, the ADEA Survey of Vacant Budgeted Faculty Positions. The survey covers the faculty workforce at U.S. dental schools. The first part of the survey collects school-level data on the overall number of budgeted vacant faculty positions by appointment, discipline, and full- or part-time status, as well as the number of positions added or eliminated at each school. The second part of the survey collects faculty-level employment data to identify the characteristics of separated faculty members and new hires, as well as information on the reasons for separating and the sources of new hires. Together, these two parts of the survey provide a unique view of the flow of faculty members into and out of U.S. dental schools. This report covers the dental school workforce for the academic year. In addition to reporting the most recent data, some results are presented alongside data from previous years to examine longer term trends. Observing trends and matching those trends with broader economic events, such as recessions, provide a more complete picture of the U.S. dental school workforce. However, some caution should be taken when comparing trends over time as differences in reporting methodology and in the number of dental schools participating limits the comparability of the data. Methodology Sixty-three out of 65 U.S. dental schools provided data in the survey, for a 97% response rate. The school-level component of the survey gathered data on vacant, lost, and new positions. The second component of the survey gathered data from administrators on the demographics and characteristics of individual faculty members, from 1012 Journal of Dental Education Volume 80, Number 8

2 which vacant or lost positions and new hires were identified. The 63 schools submitted data on 12,098 faculty members who were employed at some point during the academic year. This total consisted of 4,722 full-time faculty members, 5,295 part-time faculty members, and 2,081 volunteer faculty members. At the end of the academic year, the 63 schools reported 11,090 faculty members employed. This total consisted of 4,431 full-time members, 4,811 part-time members, and 1,848 volunteer faculty members. Characteristics of Vacant Budgeted Positions Each dental school reported on the number of its budgeted positions that remained vacant. In addition, the survey collected information on the characteristics of vacant positions, including the number of full-time and part-time vacancies and the primary appointment and discipline of each vacancy. Figure 1 provides an overview of the total number of budgeted vacant positions. After a drop in full-time vacancies during and immediately following the Great Recession, which lasted from 2007 to 2009, the number of full-time vacancies stayed low for several years. Faculty members considering retirement or job transitions may have delayed those professional changes during the height of the recession, but are expected to follow through on their plans as the economy recovers. 2 However, over the past three years, 3 the number of full-time vacancies has steadily increased to bring the trend closer to historical levels. In , 5.3% of full-time faculty positions were vacant, and 1.8% of part-time faculty positions were vacant. The number of part-time budgeted vacancies increased by 75% in one year, from 55 in to 96 in The increase in part-time vacancies appears to mirror the increase in full-time vacancies that we saw in the previous two years. However, a closer look at the data shows that only three schools had a large number of part-time vacancies (Figure 2). Together, those three accounted for 59 of the 96 part-time vacancies. The more common situation was to have zero part-time vacancies (28 schools). An additional 13 schools had between one and four part-time vacancies. Figure 1. Number of vacant budgeted faculty positions in U.S. dental schools, to August 2016 Journal of Dental Education 1013

3 Figure 2. Number of vacant faculty positions in U.S. dental schools by full-time, part-time, and total, In contrast to the part-time vacancies, nearly all schools had some full-time vacancies. Twenty-one schools had one to four vacancies, and a comparable number had five to nine vacancies. These findings suggest that full-time vacancies were broadly distributed across all schools. Only two schools did not have any budgeted vacancies. The survey collected additional information on vacancies by discipline and by primary appointment. In the reported data, the majority of dental school faculty members were appointed to clinical sciences, including 54.1% of all full-time faculty positions. Given that the largest share was in clinical sciences, it is not surprising that clinical sciences also had the largest number of vacancies. In fact, clinical sciences has long been recognized as facing persistent shortages. 4 Together, these dental schools had 189 full-time vacancies in clinical sciences, which was 72.5% of all full-time vacancies (Table 1). The number of full-time clinical science vacancies meant that 6.7% of all full-time budgeted clinic sciences positions were vacant. After clinical sciences, the number of vacancies dropped off with only 20, 19, and 17 vacancies in research, administration, and basic science, respectively. The part-time vacancy rate was much lower than the full-time vacancy rate. There were 96 vacant part-time positions for a vacancy rate of 1.8%. Like full-time vacancies, the majority of part-time vacancies were in clinical sciences, with 63 part- Table 1. Vacant faculty positions by primary appointment, Full-Time Part-Time Total Appointment Clinical science % % % Research % 2 2.1% % Administration % 4 4.2% % Basic science % % % Allied dental education 5 2.0% 3 3.1% 8 2.3% Behavioral science 2 0.8% % Total % % % Note: Total includes vacant faculty positions that did not have a status (full-time or part-time) designated. Percentages may not total 100% due to rounding Journal of Dental Education Volume 80, Number 8

4 time vacant clinical sciences positions. The vacancy rate for part-time clinical science positions was less than 1% of all part-time clinical sciences positions at dental schools. The discipline with the largest number of vacancies was general, operative, and restorative dentistry with 81 vacancies (22.9%), followed by pediatric dentistry with 42 vacancies (11.9%) (Table 2). General, operative, and restorative dentistry employed 10.9% of total budgeted faculty positions, and pediatric dentistry faculty members were 6.8% of total budgeted faculty positions. The number of vacant positions in each of these two disciplines had also increased over the past few years. General, operative, and restorative dentistry had 52 vacancies in , 65 in , and 81 in The increase in pediatric dentistry was even larger. In , there were 14 vacancies, 25 in , and 42 in The relatively high and growing number of vacancies suggests that schools are facing increasing difficulty in filling positions in these disciplines. The survey collected information on both newly created positions and existing positions that were recently vacated (Table 3). A newly created position suggests an expansion within a dental school. Alternatively, an existing position that is newly vacated is more likely to represent movement and turnover in the workforce. There were 82 newly created positions to be filled in The number of new positions was comparable to those of the previous three years, which also saw between 80 and 86 newly created positions. The number of existing positions to be filled (201) in was the same as the 201 existing vacant positions in the previous year. 3 Many searches were ongoing, with over twice as many existing positions that were vacant (201) than newly created positions that were vacant (82). However, it is worth noting that 157 searches were reported to be inactive, with only slightly more (184) active searches. There was a similar number of active searches as in the previous year (183), but the number of inactive searches had increased from 103 in to 157 in Without active searches, we would not expect vacant positions to be filled. The survey also collected data on the length of time a position had been vacant (Table 4). The largest share of searches, 104 vacancies (32.2%), was for positions that had been vacant for less than four months. In fact, 85.8% of vacant positions had been vacant for less than a year. Alternatively, 14.2% (46 positions) had been vacant for over 12 months. Table 2. Vacant faculty positions by primary discipline (full-time and part-time), Discipline General, operative, and restorative % dentistry Pediatric dentistry % Endodontics % Periodontics % Prosthodontics % Orthodontics % Oral and maxillofacial surgery % Oral medicine, oral diagnosis, % oral radiology, and diagnostic sciences Research 8 2.3% Clinical dentistry 5 1.4% Oral biology 5 1.4% Community dentistry 3 0.8% Pathology, general/oral 2 0.6% Public health 2 0.6% Other/not reported % Total % Table 3. Number of vacant new vs. existing positions and active vs. inactive searches (full-time and parttime), Position/Search Number Type of position New position to be filled 82 Existing position to be filled 201 Total reported 283 Not reported 70 Total 353 Type of search Active search 184 Inactive search 157 Total reported 341 Unsure or not reported 12 Total 353 Table 4. Length of time positions had been vacant (fulltime and part-time), Time Vacant 1-3 months % 4-6 months % 7-12 months % More than 12 months % Total reported % Not reported 30 Total 353 August 2016 Journal of Dental Education 1015

5 Given the large number of inactive searches, it is not surprising that some vacancies were not filled. Table 5. Vacant faculty positions by academic rank (full-time and part-time), Academic Rank Professor % Associate professor % Assistant professor % Instructor % Lecturer 2 0.6% Other rank % Total reported % Not reported 4 Total 353 Note: Percentages do not total 100% due to rounding. Table 6. Lost faculty positions by primary appointment, Appointment Clinical sciences % Basic sciences % Behavioral sciences 1 6.3% Research 1 6.3% Administration 1 6.3% Allied dental education 0 0 Total % Note: Percentages do not total 100% due to rounding. Table 7. Number of lost faculty positions by primary discipline, Discipline Anatomy, general 1 6.3% Behavioral science 1 6.3% Community health/preventive dentistry 1 6.3% Comprehensive dental care 1 6.3% Continuing education 1 6.3% Genetics 1 6.3% General, operative, and restorative % dentistry Oral biology % Oral medicine 1 6.3% Orthodontics 1 6.3% Other 1 6.3% Pathology, general/oral 1 6.3% Pediatric dentistry 1 6.3% Pediatrics 1 6.3% Total % Note: Percentages do not total 100% due to rounding. Finally, the survey identifies the academic rank assigned to vacant positions. Assistant professor was by far the academic rank that had the most vacancies (Table 5). There were 231 assistant professor positions, compared with associate professor, the next largest category, with 45 vacancies. Assistant professor is the entry-level rank of a professor, so we would expect schools to primarily seek to hire new faculty members at that level. Lost Faculty Positions The survey also collected information on previously budgeted positions that were eliminated (Table 6). There were very few eliminated positions relative to the total number of vacancies, with only 16 total eliminated positions. This number of eliminated positions was about half of the number of positions that were eliminated during each of the previous three years. 3 Furthermore, there was no single discipline that was disproportionately affected (Table 7). Rather, the eliminations were evenly distributed across disciplines. The low number of eliminated positions relative to the 81 newly created vacant positions (Table 3) suggests that dental schools have been expanding their faculties. Factors Influencing Ability to Fill Vacancies Dental schools reported a number of reasons for not being able to fill their vacancies (Table 8). There were 353 vacancies, including full-time, parttime, and volunteer positions. Among the vacancies, dental schools provided specific reasons for not being able to fill 172 vacancies. The most common reason was that candidates were not able to meet the dental school s expectations or requirements (55 vacancies). Among other explanations given were the lack of response to the position (24 vacancies) and budget limitations that prevented the school from offering a competitive salary (23 vacancies). When viewed together, these explanations may all be capturing similar problems. Dental schools must compete for faculty members whose alternative in many cases is private practice. Therefore, the schools must be able to offer compensation that is sufficiently competitive to attract qualified applicants away from private practice. As with previous years, 1016 Journal of Dental Education Volume 80, Number 8

6 geographic locations and licensure requirements were not a major obstacle to filling vacancies in most cases. This is a promising sign because, unlike compensation, location cannot be modified and licensure modifications can require major legislative action. Faculty Separations In addition to collecting vacancy information at the school level, the survey also collected information on faculty separations and recruitment at the individual level. This faculty-level data provided information on the specific characteristics of faculty members who left or joined a school, including age, race/ethnicity, and academic rank. These characteristics allow us to analyze the flow of different types of faculty members into, out of, and between dental schools. During the academic year, 797 faculty members left their positions at their then-current dental schools (Table 9). The separations included 38% full-time faculty members and 62% part-time faculty members. Nearly a quarter of separations were to enter private practice; of those, 70% were part-time faculty members. The second largest reason for a separation was for retirement, with a roughly equal number of full-time and part-time separations. Additionally, ending a fixed-term appointment was an important reason for part-time separations, while leaving for another school drove a number of fulltime separations. In sum, it appears that full-time faculty members typically leave when transferring to another school or retiring, while part-time faculty members may be joining a dental school faculty on a shorter term, part-time basis while taking time off from private practice or as an interim period between private practice and retirement. Looking at the age, gender, and race/ethnicity of separations can give us even more insight into the faculty members who are leaving dental schools and why they are leaving (Table 10). The age of faculty members who left their positions appeared to be related to reasons for leaving. Young faculty members were more likely to leave to enter private practice or to finish a fixed-term appointment. Transferring to another dental school was relatively evenly distributed among 30- to 60-year-olds. Faculty members over age 60 were likely to leave for retirement. Faculty members who left, similar to faculty members overall, were overwhelmingly men (66.7% men) (Table 11). Most reasons for leaving were simi- lar for men and women, with several notable exceptions. A larger share of men vacated their positions by dying or retiring. This likely reflects the fact that recently it has become more common for women to Table 8. Recruitment factors influencing schools ability to fill faculty vacancies, Factor Candidates ability to meet dental % school expectations/requirements for position Other % Lack of response to position % announcement Budget limitations that affect ability % to offer a competitive salary Other department needs/priorities % Geographic location 4 1.3% Licensure requirements 3 1.0% No factors % Total reported % Not reported 41 Total 353 Table 9. Reasons for full-time and part-time faculty separations, Reason Total % Full-time % Part-time % Entered private practice % Full-time 56 30% Part-time % Went to another dental school 88 11% Full-time 71 81% Part-time 17 19% Retired % Full-time 88 51% Part-time 83 49% Finished fixed-term appointment % Full-time 23 14% Part-time % Deceased 22 3% Full-time 11 50% Part-time 11 50% Went to a hospital/advanced dental 18 2% education program Full-time 11 61% Part-time 7 39% Other % Full-time 42 28% Part-time % August 2016 Journal of Dental Education 1017

7 Table 10. Number of faculty members who left position for each reason by age (full-time and part-time), Went to a Hospital/ Separated Went to Advanced Prior to Another Dental Entered Finished Last Age Dental Education Private Fixed-Term Fiscal Range School Program Practice Retired On Leave Deceased Appointment Year Other Total and over Total Table 11. Number of faculty members who left position for each reason by gender (full-time and part-time), Went to a Hospital/ Separated Went to Advanced Prior to Another Dental Entered Finished Last Dental Education Private Fixed-Term Fiscal Gender School Program Practice Retired On Leave Deceased Appointment Year Other Total Women Men Total Journal of Dental Education Volume 80, Number 8

8 enter academic dentistry, resulting in older faculty members being predominantly men and younger faculty members being more evenly distributed between men and women. In the 70 to 79 age group, there were 99 women and 1,246 men. In contrast, the ratio of women to men was evenly divided in the 30 to 39 age group, with 1,059 women and 1,018 men. Among combined full-time and part-time employees, most race/ethnic groups had a majority of faculty members leave for private practice (Table 12). The most common reason for white faculty members to leave was retirement (24.2%), followed by entering private practice (20.3%). Nonresident aliens were most likely to leave to join the faculty at another dental school (40.8%). Hispanics/Latinos were most likely to leave for private practice (31.2%), while Blacks/African Americans were most likely to leave for retirement (27.0%). Almost half of the faculty members who left were assistant professors (45.3%) (Table 13). This is the entry-level academic, tenure-track level, so we would expect more of the departing individuals to be at this level and there to be more movement as individuals careers are being established. Dental schools observed faculty separations among all three types of faculty: full-time, part-time, and volunteer faculty members (Table 14). Of the total number of separations, 28.9% were full-time faculty members. Full-time faculty separations represented 6.5% of the total full-time faculty positions, including both employed and budgeted vacant positions. Nearly half of the faculty members who separated were part-time. Part-time faculty separations represented 10.0% of all part-time faculty positions. Understanding the source of new faculty recruitment can help build a picture of the flow of faculty members into and out of dental schools. The private sector was the primary source of part-time faculty members, with 364 part-time compared to 119 full-time new hires coming from the private sector (Table 15). The other two major sources of new faculty members were other dental schools and advanced dental education programs. The majority of individuals from these two sources obtained fulltime faculty positions. The largest share of new faculty members was in the 30 to 39 age group (n=365) (Table 16). These faculty members came from a variety of sources. The largest sources were private practice (n=162), advanced dental education (n=94), and faculty positions at other schools (n=57). For individuals age 50 and above, private practice was the only large Table 12. Number of faculty members who left position for each reason by race/ethnicity (full-time and part-time), Went to a Hospital/ Separated Went to Advanced Prior to Another Dental Entered Finished Last Other, Dental Education Private Fixed-Term Fiscal Please Race/Ethnicity School Program Practice Retired On Leave Deceased Appointment Year Specify Total American Indian or Alaska Native Asian Black/African American Hispanic/Latino Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander White Two or more races Do not wish to report or unknown Nonresident alien Total August 2016 Journal of Dental Education 1019

9 source providing new faculty members to dental schools (n=215). Men were more likely than women to come from the private sector: 57.9% (n=312) of men compared with 46.8% (n=171) of women (Table 17). The next largest source of women was from an advanced degree program (19.7%). The second largest share of men was from a faculty position at another school (17.6%). The largest share of white (62.2%), Black/African American (51.6%) and Hispanic/Latino (45.8%) new faculty members came from the private sector (Table 18). Alternatively, the source of new faculty members among Asians was more evenly distributed between faculty members at another dental school and private practice, The numbers of new faculty members who were American Indian/Alaska Native (n=1) and Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander (n=6) were too small to identify trends. The majority of new faculty members entered as assistant professors (55.5%) (Table 19). Instructors accounted for 25.1% of new faculty members. Conclusion The lack of qualified applicants for faculty positions at many U.S. dental schools has been noted Table 13. Academic rank of faculty members who left positions (full-time and part-time), Rank Professor % Associate professor % Assistant professor % Instructor % Lecturer % Teaching/research associate or % assistant Professor emeritus % Other % Total % Table 14. Status of faculty members who left positions, Status Full-time % Part-time % Volunteer % Total 1, % for years. The annual ADEA Survey of Dental School Faculty examines the flow of faculty members into and out of dental schools. The survey examines the ability of schools to fill budgeted vacant positions and the characteristics of faculty members who left their positions, thereby creating the vacancies. It provides unique information on the sources and characteristics of new faculty hires. By including these characteristics, we can get a picture not only of the number of positions, but also why the positions were vacated. While vacancy rates declined for several years during the recession and subsequent recovery, fulltime vacancies have been on a clear upward trend for the past three years. There appeared to be a sharp upturn in part-time vacancies, but a closer look at the data revealed that only three schools reported a large number of part-time vacancies for the academic year. Table 15. Sources of new dental faculty members in full-time and part-time positions, Source Total % Full-time % Part-time % New from private practice/private % sector employment Full-time % Part-time % New advanced degree graduate % Full-time % Part-time % New from faculty position at another % school Full-time % Part-time % New dental school graduate % Full-time % Part-time % After leaving armed services 4 0.4% Full-time % Part-time % New from faculty position at another % hospital Full-time % Part-time % Retired % Full-time % Part-time % Other % Full-time % Part-time % 1020 Journal of Dental Education Volume 80, Number 8

10 Table 16. Number of new faculty members from each source (full-time and part-time), by age range, New from New New from New After New from Private Practice/ Advanced Faculty Position Dental Leaving Faculty Position Age Private Sector Degree at Another School Armed at Another Range Employment Graduate School Graduate Services Hospital Retired Other Total Total Table 17. Number of new faculty members from each source (full-time and part-time), by gender, New from New from New from After New New Faculty Position Faculty Position Private Practice/ Leaving Dental Advanced Other, at Another at Another Private Sector Armed School Degree Please Gender School Hospital Employment Retired Services Graduate Graduate Specify Total Women Men Total Table 18. Number of new faculty members from each source (full-time and part-time), by race/ethnicity, New from New from New from After New New Faculty Position Faculty Position Private Practice/ Leaving Dental Advanced at Another at Another Private Sector Armed School Degree Race/Ethnicity School Hospital Employment Retired Services Graduate Graduate Other Total American Indian or Alaska Native Asian Black or African American Hispanic or Latino Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander White Two or more races Do not wish to report or unknown Nonresident alien Total August 2016 Journal of Dental Education 1021

11 Table 19. Academic rank of new faculty members (fulltime and part-time), Rank Professor % Associate professor % Assistant professor % Instructor % Lecturer % Teaching/research associate or % assistant Professor emeritus 1 0.1% Other % Total % Note: Percentages do not total 100% due to rounding. Most vacant positions were in clinical sciences, which is expected since clinical sciences was the primary appointment of most faculty members. The higher vacancy rate in basic sciences relative to the percent employed in basic sciences suggests that faculty members in basic sciences are relatively more difficult to recruit. Dental schools created an additional 82 positions during the academic year. Given that only 16 positions were reported as lost, the net gain in faculty budgeted positions suggests dental schools are expanding. Schools seem to face moderate challenges filling those vacancies, with the majority of vacancies remaining vacant for less than a year. There was a steady flow of faculty members, particularly part-time, into and out of private practice. Full-time faculty members frequently flowed between schools. Going to or coming from another school was a common source of separation or recruitment. Men, who tended to be more highly represented in older faculty members, were more likely to leave for retirement than women. Women faculty members were likely to be recruited from the private sector or an advanced degree program. Men were more likely to be recruited from private practice or a faculty position at another school. This difference also likely reflects an older average age of men, who have likely already established their academic careers. The ADEA Survey of Vacant Budgeted Faculty Positions allows us to capture a historical picture of dental school faculties over time. As the economy moved on from the recession, vacancies returned to their historical levels. With more newly created positions than lost positions, dental schools appear to be on an expansionary trend. While recruitment was not seamless, most positions were not vacant for more than a year. Overall, the trends suggest a dynamic labor market with movement in both directions from the private sector to dental schools and between dental schools. REFERENCES 1. Ballard RW, Hagan JL, Armbrus PC, Gallo JR III. Methods used by accredited dental specialty programs to advertise faculty positions: results of a national survey. J Dent Educ 2011;75(1): Dickens WT, Triest RK. Potential effects of the great recession on the U.S. labor market. BE J Macroecon 2012;12(3): Wanchek TN, Cook BJ, Anderson EL, et al. Dental school vacant budgeted faculty positions, academic years through J Dent Educ 2015;79(10): Vanchit J, Papageorge M, Jahangiri L, et al. Recruitment, development, and retention of dental faculty in a changing environment. J Dent Educ 2010;75(1): Journal of Dental Education Volume 80, Number 8