It remains unclear just how many professors are leaving their jobs during the Great Resignation, but stories about who is leaving, and why, abound. Will institutions be forced to respond with real change? Bureau of Labor Statistics data do show a decline in postsecondary instructor employment between May 2020 and May 2021 (1,369,930 versus 1,340,560, respectively), but 2022 data aren’t yet available. The American Association of University Professors’ annual faculty salary survey report shows a slight 0.6 percent dip in overall faculty head counts between fall 2019 and fall 2021, with bigger declines at associate and master’s degree–granting institutions, but of course this doesn’t reflect faculty departures happening now. There is also another possible explanation for the 2021 numbers: pandemic-era layoffs, which are still happening on some campuses.
