Christian Spielman

Teaching-Track Economists in the United Kingdom, Canada and the United States

We study the current landscape of full-time, teaching-track economists in Canada, the UK, and the US to begin understanding how these roles manifest, evolve, and impact the discipline of economics. We conducted extensive one-on-one interviews and ran a wide-scale survey with teaching-track economists, which we analyzed with qualitative and quantitative tools. A mixed-methods approach provides insights into the varied experiences and career stories of teaching-track economists and offers a view of the teaching-track landscape from the perspective of those who hold these roles. We identified key themes and findings regarding the prevalence of teaching-track economists, their job characteristics, job security, financial compensation, and community/networks. Based on our research, we characterize teaching-track economists in a single, simplified headline for each country. Canada: Full amenities of academics, passionate focus on quality and quantity of teaching, with pioneers and a new generation addressing challenges. UK: Nearly a third of faculty, strong parallels to research track, most diverse portfolio of responsibilities – including scholarship and administration – and well-established networks. US: Vast within-country variation in definition of role and financial compensation, limited formal job security, and heavy focus on teaching provision. But each country has a richer story with subtleties and variations beyond what a headline can capture. There are three companion papers which provide further insights for Canada, the UK, and the US. Our findings allow those in these roles to compare their circumstances and experiences to those of the broader community of teaching-track economists, help those advising doctoral students and those mentoring teaching-track economists become more informed and effective help academic leaders as they consider introducing or refining teaching-track roles locally.