Tenure and the entrepreneurial academy: A reply

Professor Finkin unpacks the critique of tenure written by the economist David Breneman for the American Association of Higher education's New Pathways project. Finkin argues that Breneman's argument is historically inaccurate, that his economic assessment is indeterminate of the result he claims for it, and that his proposal for change is intrinsically inimical to academic freedom. Finkin sees Breneman's proposal as an effort to socialize young academics to accept a market-driven model of the professoriate that pits young against old and more applied disciplines against the humanities and many of the social sciences. He questions whether Breneman's proposal will better conduce toward "the common good" than does academic tenure.