Monitoring Educational Institutions Attended by American Professors
In an unprecedented move, researchers at the University of Colorado, Boulder have compiled a vast dataset detailing the educational backgrounds of tenure-track faculty members at universities across the United States that award Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degrees. The resource, which spans the years 2011 to 2020, covers all scientific disciplines and systematically identifies tenure-line faculty during this period.
The dataset, which can be accessed through the resource associated with Yifan Qian's 2025 study titled "Tenure and Research Trajectories," contains information for over 295,000 tenure-track faculty members employed at 368 universities. The study's direct PDF link is available here.
The dataset provides a wealth of information, including the institution and year each professor received their PhD, the faculty rank of each professor, and gender information when available. It also lists the number of faculty members who received their PhDs from some of the country's most prestigious universities, with over one in eight faculty members having earned their degrees from Harvard, University of Michigan, the University of California, Berkeley, Stanford University, or the University of Wisconsin.
The dataset is a valuable resource for those interested in understanding the educational backgrounds and career trajectories of tenure-track faculty members at U.S. PhD-granting universities. The dataset's comprehensive nature and systematic approach make it an invaluable tool for researchers, policymakers, and the general public alike.
[Image Credit: Flickr user Cindy Schultz]
The dataset is the result of painstaking research by the University of Colorado, Boulder team, and its creation marks a significant step forward in our understanding of the academic landscape in the United States. By providing a clear and accessible resource for the collection and analysis of this data, the team hopes to foster greater transparency and promote informed decision-making in academia.
As we continue to navigate the challenges of the 21st century, it is essential that we have access to reliable and comprehensive data on the educational backgrounds of our tenure-track faculty members. This dataset is a crucial step towards achieving that goal, and we look forward to seeing the insights it will yield in the years to come.
- The dataset, a result of painstaking research by the University of Colorado, Boulder team, is an invaluable tool for AI models in education-and-self-development and learning, as it offers a wealth of information about the educational backgrounds and career trajectories of tenure-track faculty members at U.S. PhD-granting universities.
- The dataset, with its comprehensive nature and systematic approach, can contribute significantly to the field of AI in education prediction algorithms, allowing for more accurate forecasts about the future research and academic impact of faculty members based on their educational backgrounds.
