Trends in dental school faculty: An analysis of the results of the 2021‒2022 ADEA Dental School Faculty Demographic Census and 2018‒2019 ADEA Survey of Dental School Faculty.

PURPOSE/OBJECTIVES: Each year, American Dental Education Association (ADEA) collects data on U.S. dental school faculty demographics, compensation, and vacant and lost positions. One of the purposes of the reports associated with this project is to provide information to U.S. dental schools on national trends on dental school faculty. This report examines the landscape of faculty workforce at U.S.-accredited dental schools in 2021‒2022 and changes relative to the 2018‒2019 academic year. The information contained within this report includes faculty position information, new and separated faculty, open or vacant faculty positions, lost faculty positions, and faculty demographics.

METHODS

The report analyzes data from the 2018‒2019 ADEA Survey of Dental School Faculty (representing an estimated 91% of the full-time and part-time faculty) and 2021‒2022 ADEA Dental School Faculty Salary and Demographic Census (an estimated 84% of the faculty).

RESULTS

The analysis revealed that more than half of dental school faculty was in the south and northeast in 2021‒2022. Among responding schools, 85% of the faculty concentrated on teaching, research, and training in 2021‒2022, a proportion similar with 2018‒2019. One in five faculty was tenured or on tenure track, similar with 2018‒2019. More than three-quarters of full-time and part-time faculty were clinical faculty in 2021‒2022. There was a 62% increase in open faculty positions between 2018‒2019 and 2021‒2022. Women accounted for four in 10 faculty members in 2021‒2022-more than 3 years before. The median age of dental school faculty declined from 56 to 54 years old between 2019 and 2022.

CONCLUSIONS

This study found that dental school faculty was increasingly younger, with more women members and more open positions in 2021‒2022 than in 2018‒2019.