It becomes important for the identity of the institution. Yet for many, the turnover is exhilarating. But younger scholars also have expectations different from what their elders had, and many of them are less interested in small schools than in big research universities, higher education officials say. Eric Wilson, a Harvard PhD who specialized in Shakespearean drama, was happy to come to a college where the focus is on teaching undergraduates, not on publishing. School officials say these efforts are meant to further professional development, not research.
Small colleges face other challenges in recruiting the best young minds.
Lexington, with its small size and relative isolation, offers few job opportunities for faculty spouses. When Stewart finished his doctorate, the college allowed the couple to share the one job, each teaching part time. When a second full-time job became open, Stewart was selected after a national search, he said. Stewart, though, sees his selection in more pragmatic terms. Sixteen years after the once all-male college started enrolling women, its faculty remains only about 30 percent female.