Charting the course for early career academics: a longitudinal analysis of U.S. academic job market trends post-pandemic

Abstract

Purpose: This paper aims to identify the extent to which the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted the academic job market in North America and the ways in which faculty job applicants altered their applications in response to a changing academia.

Design/methodology/approach: The data presented here is the portion relevant to COVID-19 collected in a survey of faculty job applicants at the end of the 2019–2020 job cycle in North America (spring 2020). An additional “mid-pandemic” survey was used in fall 2020 for applicants participating in the following job search cycle to inquire about how they were adapting their application materials. A portion of data from the 2020–2022 job cycle surveys was used to represent the “late pandemic.” Job posting data from the Higher Education Recruitment Consortium is also used to study job availability.

Findings: Examination of faculty job postings from 2018 to 2022 found that while they decreased in 2020, the market recovered in 2021 and beyond. While the market recovered, approximately 10% of the faculty job offers reported by 2019–2020 survey respondents were rescinded. Respondents also reported altering their application documents in response to the pandemic as well as delaying or even abandoning their faculty job search.

Originality/value: This paper provides a longitudinal perspective with quantitative data on how the academic job market changed through the major events of the COVID-19 pandemic in North America, a subject of intense discussion and stress, particularly amongst early career researchers.