ABSTRACT
The US professoriate is a large and differentiated group, numbering some 600,000 in more than 3000 colleges and universities. The profession is organized hierarchically, with scholars at the top 100 research-oriented universities wielding the most influence. Yet, faculty members at liberal arts college, comprehensive universities and the more than 25% of the profession who teach in the 2-year community college sector also constitute important segments of US academia. The academic profession faces difficult and, in some ways, unprecedented challenges in the final years of the century. Cutbacks in resources have been combined with steady or increasing enrollments. Research funds are more difficult to obtain. There are efforts to redefine the role of the professor and to place more emphasis on teaching and less on research. Despite these pressures, however, the US academic profession remains quite stable. The tenure system is firmly established and academic freedom is not in jeopardy. Yet, around the edges change is taking place. For example, the number of part-time faculty has dramatically increased and there has been a significant move from basic to applied research funding. The future of the US professoriate is not bright, nor is it disastrous.
