| Abstract: | The age profile and other characteristics of the full-time professoriate in Canada and Ontario are discussed, with particular focus on the geographical source, previous activity, and age distribution of new appointments to university teaching posts. Patterns of inter-institutional mobility within the regions of Canada for junior and senior faculty are presented. Analysis includes the sources and implications of attrition and changing age profile trends. Historical data, in most cases from the 1970s onward, are presented and analyzed. The increasing use of part-time faculty is discussed, particularly in the context of diminishing federal and provincial government financial support for universities. Discussion on the future demand and supply of professors in Canada and Ontario is presented, but focuses on Faculties of Education. Some reference is made to the comparable situation in Australia, the United States, and other major industrialized countries. Despite the rapidly aging professoriate, the article concludes that there will not be an overall shortage of university teachers in the coming decade or so. |
