Incentives On The Job, And How They Matter

What would happen in a world where permanent employment was guaranteed? The concept of academic tenure provides an interesting case study.

- Johan Fourie

Let there be little doubt: academics have the best jobs. When we teach, we get to fill young, smart minds with ideas we care about and believe in. When we undertake research, we get to explore these ideas further, understanding the world and how it works a little better.

We often work in tranquil settings, surrounded by like-minded individuals in search of (the) truth, or, for those of us who shy away from people, books that do the same thing. Sometimes we get to travel to nice places to meet more like-minded people and share ideas. Sometimes we even take sabbaticals, to reflect more deeply about the world and how it works without the need to do anything else.

Best of all: even if we don’t do most of these things, we have job security for life.

Universities are some of the oldest institutions. Although the role of professor has changed somewhat over the centuries – we used to have to earn our income when students paid to enter our classrooms! – the system of academic tenure, where an appointment is permanent, and one cannot be fired except under extraordinary circumstances, has been around for more than a century. It’s decidedly different to the private sector, where the biggest incentive for working hard is to not get fired.