While most conversations about colleges are geared towards the students education, less attention is paid to the other side of the coin: To the professors who teach the courses and generate research.
In fact, while my ultimate plan was to be a tenured PhD Entrepreneurship faculty, while I was doing an environmental scan for the industry (as every entrepreneur should), I determined the climate was awful for this path. Tenured jobs are in a huge decline both due to social pressures and collegiate cut backs. Socially, there’s been a huge push back against tenured professors, with the argument that professors should only retain their jobs if they remain quality teachers. Colleges are cutting back permanent professors with the inclusion of adjuncts, due to their much cheaper nature. Forbes reports over half of faculty are now adjuncts. Colleges are in the “business” of maximizing revenues while minimizing costs (but don’t call that profit because most are after all, “non-profits”! Unfortunately, that term doesn’t mean what most people think it means).
On top of these two factors, college attendance is projected to decline due to the high costs and reduced benefit brought about from the number of people completing degrees in college. After all, basic economics- High supply, static demand, equals decreased price, known in this case as “salary”. Therefore the benefits of a degree are in decline. If the cost is high and the benefit is low then basic economics suggests demand, in this case for a degree, will decline. What makes things tricky is that many colleges grew and new universities sprouted up to meet the influx of demand that was en route through the late 90s and into the great recession of 2008. There is frankly too many schools and too many professors for the shrinking enrollment.
Does this sound like an industry for a career future you are interested in? probably not, which is exacerbating the death of the college professor. You see, when many of the smartest potential professors determine it’s not a good career field, and that is coupled with cost pressures driving the pay of adjunct professors to disturbing levels, our education system is going to lose the one thing that makes college worthwhile. Glassdoor.com reports Adjunct Professors make an average of $42,451. Not starting salary, but overall average salary. For someone generally expected to have advanced degrees and a lot of experience, that is not a number that instills confidence.
I personally teach not for this “unimpressive pay check” but rather because I love to help students and see them excel in life. It is out of this passion for helping others that I launched the “MillionaireWho” education network, as its very clear to me that there are some skills that aren’t even covered well in schools for those who do attend. I still teach, and still believe it’s a great way to learn for those who will benefit from it.