Strengthening Faculty Morale

Budget-friendly steps to motivate and retain professors in tough economic times

It's easy to find reasons for faculty members to be anxious right now. Many of the political, economic, and technological changes buffeting higher ed have been directed at the very nature of faculty work — what professors teach in the classroom and what they research in a lab, in the field, or in the quiet of an office. Those stressors are taking a toll. 

In a new Chronicle survey commissioned for this report, we asked 411 leaders — including presidents, provosts, deans, and department chairs — if faculty morale was worse compared with 12 months ago, and 56 percent agreed or strongly agreed. Likewise, respondents also acknowledged that faculty work is changing, and not always for the better. Almost everyone agreed — 86 percent — that “anyone hired to be a faculty member today faces a more difficult set of teaching and research circumstances compared with five years ago."

What can campus administrators do to better support professors in these turbulent times? This report will spotlight strategies that institutions can take to boost morale on campus, improve faculty motivation and retention, and deepen a sense of mission.

With your purchase of a print or digital copy of the report, you’ll receive a separate digital download of our survey results for independent analysis.

Readers of this report will:

• Find out from our new survey how other administrators view the faculty morale problem and what steps they are planning to deal with it in the years ahead.
• Understand the science of faculty motivation and what drives professors to do their best work.
• Explore specific, practical, and cost-effective steps that leaders are taking to shift faculty mood and better support their work.
• Understand why faculty retention is still important in an overcrowded academic-job market.
• Consider how to deal with a potential “brain drain” of American researchers to foreign countries offering research support.
  

Date: May 2026
Pages: 62
Digital file size: 10.7 MB

Data file size: 26.4 MB

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