Career paths of department chairs: A national perspective

Department chairs in 101 Carnegie Council Research I and II and Doctorate-Granting I and II institutions were surveyed to describe their career movements prior to becoming chair, and the length of tenure as chair and the movement from the chair position that their two predecessors in the position of chair had made. Additional variables addressed were discipline, department size, chair's age and gender, the nature of departmental hiring practices, and whether chairs had previous administrative experience. The Biglan model of discipline classification was used to differentiate among disciplines. Sixty-five percent of chairs return to faculty status after their tenure as chair. However, gender, departmental hiring practices, and discipline all have significant effects on the likelihood that a chair will return to faculty status or go on to further administrative service.