Update on FAS ladder faculty numbers, arrivals, and departures (October 14, 2021)
To: FAS Faculty and Staff
Cc: FAS Steering, FAS Dean’s Office, Yale College Dean’s Office, GSAS Dean’s Office, OIR, OFAS, OPAC, President’s Office, Provost’s Office
[Summary: Since Fall 2020, 30 new ladder faculty members have formally joined the FAS and 36 have departed; 16 additional new ladder colleagues have already committed to joining us in 2022-23, of whom 4 are already present on campus this academic year. During AY2021-22, the FAS is conducting some 70 ladder faculty searches. This level of search activity is the result of years of careful work and planning, and a sign of transformational and exciting growth.]
Dear colleagues,
Each fall, I write with an update on ladder faculty numbers in the FAS. This year’s update reflects how unusual last year was. The disruptions that affected all of our lives likewise shaped faculty arrivals and departures; some of the patterns that we have seen in ordinary years did not hold. What remains true, however, is that the FAS is a vibrant academic community in the midst of a period of transformational growth.
The generally steady growth of the FAS over the past years is the result of careful planning and choices by university leadership, and thoughtful, tireless work by department chairs, faculty members, and staff. Our increased level of search activity this year will be bolstered by the dedication of resources to new programs, spaces and physical infrastructure. More importantly, though, it is our investments in fostering a culture of ambition and trust in the FAS, and in creating systems whereby experience guides decisions, that will allow us to define and realize the intellectual shape of Yale’s FAS for the next quarter-century. That we are able to intensify the ongoing work of building our academic community at this particularly opportune moment for faculty hiring is cause for excitement.
Our ladder search efforts are robust across the divisions, and we continue to be successful in recruiting new colleagues—from freshly minted PhDs to senior experts—who enrich our scholarly community. At a time of remarkable diversity of talent among available faculty the world over, we are building in our areas of historical strength and fostering growth in new directions. What follows is some additional detail, presented in aggregate, on who has departed the FAS ladder faculty, who has joined us, and what we are planning for the future.
FAS Ladder Faculty Departures, Arrivals and Searches
The FAS is currently home to 676 ladder faculty members. This number represents a slight year-over-year decline in our numbers, the first since 2018, when the ladder faculty numbered 659 (vs. 692 in Fall 2020 and 683 in 2019). This dip is the result of limited recruitment during COVID, resulting in 30 rather than a more typical 35 formal arrivals this year, coupled with an unprecedented number of faculty retirements during 2020-2021, likely influenced by to the university’s time-limited retirement incentive plan. This academic year, we are conducting an unusually large number of searches: Approximately 40 new and 30 continuing ladder searches are in process, nearly twice the number of searches that took place last year. These searches will not only help bring the ladder faculty up to its targeted size, but will also enable us to realize ambitious intellectual goals across the divisions.
While every academic year brings an ebb and flow of faculty departures and arrivals, in 2020-2021, those tides were particularly strong. Over the course of the last academic year, five of our active ladder colleagues and three long-time affiliates passed away. In addition, 36 ladder and five long-serving instructional faculty entered into emeritus status. The ache of these absences is keenly felt. These numbers feel large, and they are: this is triple the number of retirements we see in a typical year. The effects on total headcount were offset somewhat by a decidedly lower than normal rate of lateral ladder departures: only 3 from the untenured ranks and 4 from the tenured ranks.
In total, 30 ladder faculty have joined or will be joining the FAS during the 2020-2021 academic year, including 15 new faculty in the Humanities, 3 in Social Science, and 12 in Science and the School of Engineering and Applied Science (SEAS). An additional 16 faculty have already committed to joining the FAS in July 2022, including 6 in the Humanities, 4 in Social Science, and 6 in Science and SEAS. Four of these additional new colleagues are already with us this year: they hold visiting appointments for 2021-2022, and will join the ladder faculty in 2022-2023. Of the 30 ladder faculty who joined or will join the FAS in 2021-22, 11 are tenured (8 Full Professors, 3 Associate Professors with Tenure), and 19 are untenured Assistant Professors. Of those who have already committed to joining the FAS in July 2022, 2 are tenured at the Full Professor level, 1 at the Associate Professor level, and 13 are untenured Assistant Professors.
The pace of arrivals will increase in 2022-2023 as a result of the 70-some searches for new ladder colleagues that we are pursuing this year. These new arrivals will complement the many strengths of our current faculty, positioning Yale’s FAS at the forefront of American universities in our scholarship, teaching, and impact.
The Demographics of the FAS Ladder Faculty
The search activity we have undertaken in recent years has brought with it a shift in faculty demographics: a greater number of our ladder colleagues are in the first decades of their careers than ever before. This change is most evident in the Humanities and Sciences: In 2020, 18% of Humanities faculty and 15% of Science and SEAS faculty had received their PhDs 40+ years ago. Today, those numbers are 13% and 12%, respectively. At the same time, the ratio of tenured to non-tenured ladder faculty FAS-wide has stabilized: 75% of FAS ladder faculty are tenured, a number on par with tenure ratios at peer institutions.
Our collective efforts at hiring in recent years mean that, as of this fall, nearly one third of the ladder faculty have arrived in the last five years. Indeed, just under half of our ladder colleagues have been with us for a decade or less. These arrivals, span all levels of seniority and all disciplines and divisions and represent both recommitment to areas of longstanding excellence and investment in emerging areas of student interest and faculty scholarship. This is consistent with our long-term vision for the faculty, and is reflected in the ways that the physical spaces of our campus are being transformed.
Recruiting and Retaining a Diverse Faculty
Each new cohort of FAS faculty has been increasingly diverse. Since Fall 2014, the FAS has seen net increases in the number of ladder faculty who self-identify as non-white or as a member of an underrepresented minority (URM): net totals of 15 URM faculty (a 27% increase) and 36 non-URM non-white faculty (a 62% increase) have joined our ranks since then. Among the cohort of new faculty who joined us on July 1, 2021, 13% (4) identify as URM, and 23% (7) identify as non-URM non-white.
Since Fall 2014, the FAS faculty has seen an increase in gender parity across all divisions: we have experienced a net increase of 28 faculty members who identify as female or non-binary – a 14% increase in the number of female- or non-binary-identifying faculty. Gender distribution among cohorts of incoming faculty has approached parity in recent years: in 6 of the past 8 years, the ratio has been between 45/55 and 55/45. Of the cohort who joined the ladder on July 1, 2021, 43% (13) identify as female or nonbinary, 50% (15) identify as male, and 7% (2) declined to identify.
Building a diverse and excellent faculty requires focused engagement and involves many members of the community: department chairs, search committee members, and those who have served on the advisory committees that have helped identify and implement best practices. Particular credit is due to Larry Gladney, Phyllis A. Wallace Dean of Diversity and Faculty Development in the FAS, who oversees efforts to ensure that all FAS faculty searches draw diverse candidate pools.
Concluding Thoughts
30 ladder arrivals for Fall 2021; 16 already confirmed for Fall 2022; some 70 searches in progress: this is an exciting moment for the FAS. Hundreds of acts of service by countless faculty members and hours devoted to envisioning the future of our scholarly communities have brought us to this place. I am grateful to be working with such dedicated colleagues as we build towards the next era of the FAS.
With excitement and gratitude,
Tamar
Tamar Szabó Gendler
Dean, Faculty of Arts and Sciences
Vincent J. Scully Professor of Philosophy
Professor of Psychology and Cognitive Science