Tenured faculty and those on the tenure track are now a minority on American college and university campuses as the number of part time instructors and professors hired on a contract has increased. A disproportionate number of these non-tenure track faculty members are women. With greater demands for publications and funded research in the first five or six years of their careers, many women fear the consequences of having children during this period, which coincides with their prime childbearing years. In response, they may be opting out of the race for tenure in order to achieve what they perceive as a more desirable work-life balance by choosing part-time or non-tenure track full time academic positions. At the same time, there is a critical shortage of skilled science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) professionals in the United States, as well as in many Western European nations, which, in turn, decreases the pool from which to recruit faculty, who are urgently needed to educate students in these disciplines. Therefore, it becomes increasingly important for colleges and universities to learn what impact, if any, the availability of tenure-track positions may have on their ability to attract and retain women faculty to meet this need. Using qualitative and quantitative data, this study examines the work life balance and job satisfaction of women engineering and technology faculty both on and off the tenure track. Recommendations for academic policies and practices based on their responses are offered.
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