This year, Republican lawmakers in multiple states proposed bills eliminating tenure and targeting diversity, equity and inclusion. But legislatures only ended up passing significant bans on DEI. That doesn’t mean tenure is safe. It’s been eroded for decades, including through posttenure-review policies that higher education leaders enact outside of statehouses, and by institutions offering fewer tenured positions. The American Association of University Professors says 68 percent of U.S. faculty members held contingent appointments in fall 2021, compared to about 47 percent in 1987.
