The War on Tenure
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| Title: | The War on Tenure |
|---|---|
| Language: | English |
| Authors: | Deepa Das Acevedo |
| Source: | Cambridge University Press & Assessment. 2025. |
| Availability: | Cambridge University Press & Assessment. Shaftesbury Road Cambridge CB2 8EA. Tel: 44-1223-553311; e-mail: directcs@cambridge.org; Web site: https://www.cambridgeassessment.org.uk/ |
| Peer Reviewed: | N |
| Page Count: | 286 |
| Publication Date: | 2025 |
| Document Type: | Book Reports - Evaluative |
| Education Level: | Higher Education Postsecondary Education |
| Descriptors: | Tenure, College Faculty, Job Security, Professional Autonomy, Academic Freedom |
| ISBN: | 978-1-00-959682-4 |
| Abstract: | As academia increasingly comes under attack in the United States, "The War on Tenure" steps in to demystify what professors do and to explain the importance of tenure for their work. Deepa Das Acevedo takes readers on a backstage tour of tenure-stream academia to reveal hidden dynamics and obstacles. She challenges the common belief that tenure is only important for the protection of academic freedom. Instead, she argues that the security and autonomy provided by tenure are also essential to the performance of work that students, administrators, parents, politicians, and taxpayers value. Going further, Das Acevedo shows that tenure exists on a spectrum of comparable employment contracts, and she debunks the notion that tenure warps the incentives of professors. Ultimately, The War on Tenure demonstrates that the job security tenure provides is not nearly as unusual, undesirable, or unwarranted as critics claim. This book: (1) redirects conversations on tenure to its function as an employment protection; (2) combines quantitative with qualitative insights, as well personal narrative with generalized statistics and studies; and (3) demystifies academic life for non-academics. |
| Abstractor: | As Provided |
| Entry Date: | 2026 |
| Access URL: | https://www.cambridge.org/us/universitypress/subjects/law/employment-law/war-tenure?format=HB&isbn=9781009596824 |
| Accession Number: | ED678118 |
| Database: | ERIC |
| Abstract: | As academia increasingly comes under attack in the United States, "The War on Tenure" steps in to demystify what professors do and to explain the importance of tenure for their work. Deepa Das Acevedo takes readers on a backstage tour of tenure-stream academia to reveal hidden dynamics and obstacles. She challenges the common belief that tenure is only important for the protection of academic freedom. Instead, she argues that the security and autonomy provided by tenure are also essential to the performance of work that students, administrators, parents, politicians, and taxpayers value. Going further, Das Acevedo shows that tenure exists on a spectrum of comparable employment contracts, and she debunks the notion that tenure warps the incentives of professors. Ultimately, The War on Tenure demonstrates that the job security tenure provides is not nearly as unusual, undesirable, or unwarranted as critics claim. This book: (1) redirects conversations on tenure to its function as an employment protection; (2) combines quantitative with qualitative insights, as well personal narrative with generalized statistics and studies; and (3) demystifies academic life for non-academics. |
|---|---|
| ISBN: | 978-1-00-959682-4 |
