Abstract:

North American domestic interior design programs and international programs affiliated with these institutions are facing a severe shortage of faculty.

These issues are evident because:
1) existing faculty are retiring,
2) fewer people are acquiring appropriate degrees to teach at post-secondary institutions, and
3) state and provincial institutions are requiring terminal degrees versus interim degrees for permanent positions [1].

Design firms see little or no value in a graduate degree and are unwilling to pay a higher salary unless he/she directly fills a niche within the firm. Firms value professional experience and continuing education higher than a graduate degree [2]. In addition there is very little encouragement at the undergraduate level to encourage students to engage in a professional career, then pursue a graduate degree, enabling them to teach.

This research project tracked openings listed on Interior Design Educators Council and other higher education on-line position announcements beginning in 2011 to follow the number of openings per year, openings by type of academic rank, public or private institution, geographic location, where the academic program is housed and teaching expectations. Positions posted as ‘one year lecturer’, ‘full-time, non-tenure’, and/or ‘tenure-track’ were included while positions posted as ‘temporary’ and/or ‘part-time’ were excluded. Follow-up data concerning the number of vitaes submitted, how many people were interviewed, how well the candidate fit program needs. Follow-up information was very difficult to collect because the contact person was wary of providing what they considered confidential information, although new hires could be found on the program’s web site.

The number of full-time open positions since 2011 is fifty to sixty each year. Position announcements for fall starts beginning in 2012-2014 listed the MFA, MS, MA, MID, and PhD as the primary acceptable degrees by 90.9% of the advertisements. Those without a specific degree requirement were open ended with a “non-stated terminal degree in discipline” and the primary designation for administrative positions. Several announcements also used the “related to the discipline” as degree indicator, indicating no specific degree requirement. The confusion between what is required by an institution for assistant or associate professor or administrator is as confusing as the degrees offered.

The significance of this project the validation that the number of open positions was greater than the number of qualified candidates, therefore, programs are accepting lower degree requirements, hiring lower qualified candidates, hiring temporary faculty or leaving the positions open and re-advertising. Even with just tracking the openings for four years, investigators are identifying types of programs that are growing, geographic areas with the most openings, growth of private institutions and significant increase in the number of advertised by North American institutions with foreign locations/affiliations and foreign institutions with interior design programs.

References;
[1] Dickinson, J. I., Anthony, L. and Marsden, J. P. (2012), A Survey on Practitioner Attitudes Toward Research in Interior Design Education. Journal of Interior Design, 37: 1–22. doi: 10.1111/j.1939-1668.2012.01078.x
[2] (2007), Position Paper Overview. Journal of Interior Design, 33: 1. doi: 10.1111/j.1939-1668.2007.tb00314.x

Keywords:

Faculty shortages, design colleges.