Aging and the Quality of Faculty Job Performance

Abstract

An aging professoriate is said to be a serious problem pervading colleges and universities. This review examines the claims being made about the performance of older faculty and separates supportable from nonsupportable assertions. It also investigates how age is related to numerous factors affecting faculty performance. We first consider four types of aging theories-biological, psychological, sociological, and social psychological-and then draw inferences for faculty behavior. Then assuming a life course perspective, we focus on the empirical evidence regarding faculty performance, especially in their scholarly role, and test prediction against research evidence. Extant research is criticized, especially with respect to its methodology. Last, an effort is made to sort out aging effects from cohort and historical effects.

An Evaluation of Factors Regarding Students’ Assessment of Faculty in a Business School*

“…This was also confirmed by Paswan and Young (2002). Even though Blackburn and Lawrence (1986) found that the rank of faculty could influence student ratings, we did not observe a significant effect between full time and adjunct faculty. Finally, one interesting finding of this research is the significant difference in average student ratings for day and night sessions (classes).…”

“…Among the teachers’ attributes influencing the ratings are the teachers’ position or rank, expectations—demanding or non‐demanding—as well as experience, training, communication skills, and age (Blackburn & Lawrence, 1986).…”

Norming of Student Evaluations of Instruction: Impact of Noninstructional Factors

“…Among the instructors’ attributes that potentially influence the ratings are the instructors’ positions or ranks, how demanding they are perceived to be, as well as experience, training, communication skills, and age (Blackburn & Lawrence, ). Isley and Singh () found that while higher expected grades result in more favorable student evaluations, this relationship is significantly different depending upon faculty rank.…”

The Stratification of Academic Accounting in the U.S.: The Role of Doctoral Funding Grants

“…Such an assumption is dif ficult to defend . Blackburn and Lawrence (1986) studied the impact of aging on faculty research productivity . They concluded that cohort ef fects were more important than individual aging as an ef fect on research output .…”