WHO MOVES FROM INDUSTRY TO ACADEMIA AND WHY: AN EXPLORATORY SURVEY AND ANALYSIS

A growing number of universities strive to employ faculty members with industry or government experience. This study explores the characteristics of those who have transitioned from industry to post-secondary education. Survey data from 88 faculty members at 33 different universities who made the transition was collected and analyzed for experience prior to entering academia, starting position, change in salary, and reasons for entering academia. Those who make the transition often accept reduced starting positions and salaries even though they have significant industry experience. The primary reason for making the transition is a desire to teach. As new Ph.D.'s decrease, faculty retire, and industry downsizes, individuals with a desire to teach may provide a ready population of potential new faculty.

As the average age of university faculty continues to climb (Magner, 2000) and vacancies become increasingly difficult to fill, experienced government and industry workers may prove to be a potential source of new faculty. This paper will explore the characteristics of individuals who made the move from industry or government to post-secondary teaching. This study uses a survey to gather information about these individuals, explore their motivation, and assess the economic impart that accompanies such a change.

Most faculty members at institutions of higher learning began their career in academia; and most individuals with doctorate degrees entered graduate school with plans to teach after graduation (Hoffer & Selta, 2001). Today, many colleges and universities desire faculty with industry experience. Some institutions encourage their faculty to seek employment in industry during sabbaticals or the summer months. Other institutions encourage their faculty to collaborate with public and private sector organizations. Still others seek to hire faculty who have been employed in industry or government. Hands-on experience can augment teaching skills, and increase a faculty member's ability to provide practical lessons-learned and equip students with skills needed to function and succeed in the work world.

The focus of this study is on faculty who did not begin their employment in the classroom. These faculty members had careers in full-time industry or government before transitioning into the academic environment. Multiple articles have been written which highlight the experiences of one to three individuals who have made the transition from industry or government to academia. These articles, however, have been limited to a review of personal experiences or have provided suggestions on becoming better qualified to make the transition to higher education (Borba, 2001; Journal of Accountancy, 2000; Pollock, 1999; Turley, 2002). Although they provide an initial review of a largely unexplored topic, they do not attempt to address the larger population. This article attempts to begin the process of gathering data and examining the larger population of transitioned faculty.

The results of this study should be insightful to faculty, potential faculty and administrators. This study may also help to address a larger issue that the nation's universities face, as nearly one-third of all full-time professors are over age 55 (Magner, 2000). As this population approaches retirement, the results of this study may assist in recruiting new faculty from industry and government. This study explores the transitioned faculty member's experience prior to entering academia, starting position, salary difference, and reasons for entering academia. A later effort will examine challenges of the new faculty, orientation programs, assistance institutions can provide to aid in the transition, and the transitioned faculty member's attitude toward tenure requirements. The term industry will refer to both industry and government for the remainder of this paper.

The Survey

To capture the information about transitioned faculty, a survey instrument of 23 multiple choice and short answer questions was developed. These questions focused on four categories - experience prior to entering an academic position, current position, new faculty issues, and demographics.

Two methods were used to disseminate the survey. First, surveys were sent to the electronic mail address of members of the Southern Business Administration Association (SBAA). The SBAA is a professional networking organization of collegiate business school deans. Many of these programs are located in the Southern United States, but some are outside the South and as far away as Canada. The SBAA was selected because deans have access to information regarding employment histories of school faculty.

The second method of distribution was to deans at the author's institution, and to deans and individuals known to the author at other institutions. Those contacted were asked to forward the survey or provide contact information for persons in the target population. Some contacts forwarded the survey, others provided a list of e-mail addresses of appropriate faculty. In addition, individuals known by the author to be in the target population were asked to complete the survey.

Eighty-nine surveys were received. One of these was discarded because the responder did not answer any industry questions, indicating that he may not have been in the target population. Two others were from Ph.D. students who were preparing to make the transition to full-time academia. They did have industry experience and their responses are included where appropriate. Some responders did not answer all questions so the number of responders per question varies slightly.

Who Responded?

Thirty-three different universities were included in the responses. One institution is unknown. Multiple responders requested that their institution not be identified. The universities were located in the southern and eastern Unites States from Texas to New Jersey. Sixteen schools had a single responder. The highest number of responders from a single institution was 18. Responses came from four colleges at these universities: Arts & Sciences, Education, Engineering and Business/ Business Administration/ Business & Economics. Over 90% of the participants were in a scientific or business discipline.

The gender of the study participants is as follows: 77.3% male, 21.6% female, and one not given. The ethnicity is as follows: White: 7.5%, African American: 4.5%, Asian: 2.3%, Black African, American Indian (mixed): 1% each, Rather not say or not given: 11.4%.

Experience before entering academia

The participants in the survey had significant industry experience. The 88 responders represent 1,307 years (1,260 without the two students) of industry experience. The number of years in industry range from 2 to 34 with a mean and standard deviation of 14.85 and 8.5 years.

Over half the participants (52%) had some prior teaching experience. Teaching positions included adjunct or part-time faculty (42%), full-time post-secondary (8%), and high school (2.3%). No responders had elementary teaching experience. The average years of teaching experience was 5.3 with a range of less than a year to 25 years. The fact that over half had some teaching experience compliments the finding that most survey respondents said the desire to teach was a consideration in the career change.

Effect of experience on starting position

Prior experience could not be used to predict starting position. Twenty-three or 27.4% (n=84) of the respondents did not begin their academic career as professors. Twenty began as instructor, one as lecturer, one as Executive in Residence and one as a senior administrator. These twenty-three responders had an average of 17 years industry experience and eight years prior teaching experience. Fourteen of these responders presently hold higher academic rank. Some schools, as one responder commented, allowed non-Ph.D.'s to work as professors; but, this seems to be the exception.

Fifty-one percent of the responders started as Assistant Professor. The number of industry years for these respondents ranged from 2 to 34 with an average of 13 years industry experience. Those starting as Associate Professor, 11.9%, had an average of 15 years industry experience with a range of 3 to 28 years. Respondents stating as Full Professors, 9.5%, averaged 19 years in industry. One of these worked initially in academia for six years then went to industry for two years before returning. The others had from 8 to 34 years in industry.

Prior teaching experience did not guarantee a higher starting position but the absence of teaching experience may have prevented higher starting positions. There is a statistically significant relationship between starting position and prior teaching experience (p=.0282). Eighty percent of the responders starting as Associate Professor had some prior teaching experience and 87.5% (all but one) of the responders starting as Full Professor had teaching experience prior to full-time employment in academia. However, only 46.5% of those starting as Assistant Professor had teaching experience. There is no statistical significance in the number of years of prior teaching experience among the positions (p=.1179). Responders starting as Associate Professor had the highest average years of teaching experience followed by Full Professors then Assistant Professors (7.12, 4.5, and 3.33, respectively).

These findings suggest that starting position is primarily a function of negotiation skills, institutional need, and policy. This data supports and makes stronger the assertion by Pollock (1999) that even with several years education past graduate school, a reduction in position relative to experience may be required to move from industry to academia. Even with a terminal degree and many years experience, the transitioning industry employee may have to start below the level of Associate Professor.

Starting salary

Three times as many respondents accepted a reduction in salary as those experiencing an increase (75% and 25% respectively). For 71.7% of the responders, the reduction in pay was over $10,000. It should be noted that $10,000 was the highest selectable category. However, some participants commented that the reductions were $15K, $30K, $100K and more than one-half the industry salary. Excluding those responders that did not start as professors does not significantly change the findings: 73% received a reduction in salary with 77% of these experiencing a decrease of greater than $10,000. These figures dispute the claim sometimes made that academic salaries are not really reduced when one takes into account that most annual faculty salaries are based on 9 or 10 months rather than 12 months. Of those starting as professors and receiving an increase, 34.6% had their salary increased by over $10,000.

The salary reductions crossed starting rank, including Full Professors. Only one of the eight participants starting as Full Professor indicated a salary increase. Sixty-two percent of the Full Professors experienced a decrease of greater than $10,000 with one experiencing above a 50% reduction in salary from industry. See Table 1 for a composite of salary change, both increase and decrease. Note that one responder was unwilling to reveal the magnitude of the salary decrease even within the broad range of selectable categories.

According to the National Center for Education Statistics, average faculty salaries vary by academic rank (Fernandez, 2000). However, receiving a salary reduction was not related to academic rank for transitioning faculty. This supports the supposition that academic salaries are lower than industry salaries. Efforts have been made at some institutions in recent years to make salaries more competitive. The data of respondents who recently made the transition was examined to add to the data available comparing industry and academic salaries. Nineteen of the respondents who had been in full-time academia less than five years started in professor positions. Sixty-eight percent of them received a reduction in salary. Seventy-seven percent experienced a reduction of over $10,000, with four of these specifically expressing that the figure was much higher. Narrowing the focus to those with one year in academia did not significantly change the results. Ten respondents had been in academia for one year or less and eight experienced a decrease in salary. Seven indicated the reduction in salary was greater than $10,000 and one responder did not reveal the magnitude of the reduction. The average industry experience for those a year or less in academia was 19 years, 23 years for those receiving a reduction in pay and 12 years for those receiving an increase. These results suggest that in general the salaries available to transitioning industry professionals are not commensurate with their experience.

All ranks combined, male faculty earn an average of about $10,600 more than female faculty, according to the National Center for Education Statistics (Fernandez, 2000). In addition, CareerBank.com's 2003 Salary Survey of accounting, finance, and banking professionals across the country reveals that women earn $28% less than men. The magnitude of salary change for male and female participants in this study did not show a significant difference based on gender. The same percentage of males and females received a salary reduction, 76%. Fifty percent of females and 56% of males in this study received greater than a $10,000 salary reduction.

Why Make the Transition?

Allen (2003) in a special report on human resources reported that three-quarters of those participating in a re-employment study changed industries, and half accepted jobs with different duties. However, with such significant salary decreases, the natural question arises - why make the transition to academia? Thirteen of the participants had retired from their previous career so salary may not have been a consideration for them. What about the others? The overwhelming reason sited by all participants was a desire to teach. The second by almost half was lifestyle. In addition to the selectable options, respondents sited the following reasons for the transition: wanted a new career, opening available when job was needed, more challenge, family, give back/ improve society/mentor students, job security, professional appeal/professional goals, fulfill intellectual potential, and reduced travel. See Table 2 for the list of selectable reasons by frequency of selection.

A sample of specific comments from respondents gives insight into their desire to make the transition:

"It was time for a change. I went back to get a doctorate without any intention of teaching. I was asked to teach an upper level course in my area of expertise. I got hooked."

"Prior career was very rewarding monetarily, but did not provide me with much intrinsic satisfaction - I didn't feel like I was contributing to the improvement of society."

"Desire to mentor students, reduced travel, and attraction to a high-energy continuous-learning work environment."

"I wanted to learn how to do research in organizations as an outsider looking in. My favorite things are learning new things and then talking about them - academia seemed perfect."

"Desire to teach students to be better professionals through advanced research programs."

It should be realized that a flexible schedule or lifestyle does not equate to fewer working hours. The time it takes to prepare for classes, grade papers, attend meetings and jump-start a research program may be equal to or greater than the number of working hours of the experienced industry professional. The difference is that many of these hours can be worked at a time convenient to the professor.

While there are opportunities for research in industry, some still prefer the academic research environment. Pollock (1999) said that one of the biggest concerns of industry research is that individuals do not have control over the research they conduct. Academics have much more freedom in their research programs. A desire to research was the third reason given for making the transition to academia.

Borba (2001) concluded that all the advantages of moving from K-12 school administrator to academia could be categorized using the broader description of reduced stress. It is interesting that only 12 of this study's participants selected reduced stress as a contributing reason for making the transition.

Conclusion

As new Ph.D.'s decrease (Hoffer et. al., 2003), faculty retire, industry downsizes and becomes more and more demanding, individuals with a desire to teach may provide a ready population of potential professors even without competitive salaries. This is good news for administrators seeking to fill vacancies. However, to increase the number of individuals willing to make such a transition, administrators should continue to work on improving salaries. In addition, the many years of a candidate's industry experience should not be ignored when negotiating starting position and salary.

The results of this study have shown that industry professionals seeking to make the transition to academia may have to accept a starting position and salary below their current levels. However, this study also shows that competitive salaries and positions are sometimes possible.

In addition to the recorded findings, this study also revealed no correlation between type of experience, profession, change in discipline, industry position, or institution in predicting starting position or salary. Therefore, those aspiring to a career in academia may be best served by gaining teaching experience and improving their negotiation skills.

A follow-up study might examine these same issues for institutions in the north and west, and by institution type. Additional investigation could also be done to determine if starting position or salary is related to a change in geographic location. Additional opportunities exist for examining the challenges encountered by transitioned faculty.

References

Allen, M. (2003). Special report: Human resources, (re-employment study shows workers change industries). San Diego Business Journal, 24(24),13-15.

Borba. J. A. (2001). From K-12 school administrator to university professor of educational administration: similarities, differences, risks and rewards. Education, 122(1), 50-59.

Careerbank.com (2003). 2003 CareerBank.com salary survey. Retrieved September 1, 2004 from http://www.careerbank.com/resource/ survey/2003%20Salary%20Survey%20Report .pdf

Fernandez, R. M. (2000). Salaries and tenure of full-time instructional faculty on 9- and 10-month contracts 1998-1999 (NCES 2001-181). U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics.

Hoffer, T.B., Sederstrom, S., Selfa, L., Welch, V., Hess M., Brown, S., Reyes, S., Webber, K., & Guzman-Barron, I. (2003). Doctorate recipients from United States Universities: Summary report 2002. Chicago: National Opinion Research Center.

Hoffer, T., & Selfa, L. (2001). Academic employment of recent science and engineering doctorate holders (NSF 01-332). National Science Foundation, Directorate for Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences.

Journal of Accountancy (2000). Making the switch (CPAs career change to academia) (Interview). Journal of Accountancy, 190(1), 52.

Magner, D. (2000, March 17). "The imminent surge in retirements". The Chronicle of Higher Education.

Pollock, D. M. (1999). Going from the pharmaceutical industry to academia. The Physiologist, 42(5), 323-326.

Turley, R. S. (2002, Summer). The transition from industry to the academy, American Physical Society Forum on Education.

Vizzard, W. J. III & Dart, R C.. (2002). Planning for a change in careers: From practice to academia. The Police Chief, 69(6), 27-35.

CHLOTIA P. GARRISON

Winthrop University

316 Thurmond Building

Rock Hill, SC 29733

garrisonc@winthrop.edu

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