Graduate assistants make up a larger share of the academic workforce than tenured faculty: Shares of the instructional academic workforce, by faculty status, fall 2017
| Position | Fall 2017 share |
|---|---|
| Tenured/tenure-track faculty | 24.4% |
| Tenured faculty | 17.1% |
| Tenure-track faculty | 7.3% |
| Nontenure-track instructional staff | 54.6% |
| Graduate assistants | 21.0% |
Note: “Nontenure-track instructional staff” refers to instructional staff members who are not on tenure track, have no tenure system, or do not have faculty status.
Source: Authors’ analysis of National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) data, retrieved November 19, 2019, using the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS)